Grrl Power #1096 – Layover
Okay, before you’re all “I don’t think Maxima would tell them to just take the day off,” Anvil explains on the next page.
Sydney’s smart enough to know that while some of her contributions to the team extend beyond the abilities granted to her by the orbs, she’s not at a level where she’d be viable as a field specialist the way Dabbler and Math are. It’s not unrealistic to think the team might retain her as an analyst or some similar position, especially now that she’s been read in on some fairly classified stuff, but analysts don’t often get anywhere near the same breadth of experiences that the field people do. To be fair though, no one else on the team besides Dabbler has fought giant alien supermonsters and sampled Fracture Station’s many food courts and made it with an alien space privateer, so Sydney’s a little ahead of the experience curve relative to the rest of the squad.
I’ve been trying to stick to the simpler coloring style to make up a little time, but you can see it drifting in and out. I have to actually catch myself when I start overdoing it cause I’d been doing the other style for quite some time. I experimented with making Max a little shinier too, but in this particular panel, she’s staring into the open breach of her T-Rex pistol, meaning there’s some dark circles reflecting on her face, which kind of makes it look like she’s developing a case of measles or something, IMO. Well, I’ll keep at it. Sometimes shiny people are going to have weird stuff reflected on them.
The October Vote Incentive is up!
Why did it take so long? I couldn’t tell you. Well, I hand drew the lace on Lorlara’s body stocking, so that took about an hour by itself. Anyway, it’s likely the next one will be single character, and hopefully it won’t be so late. Usually with fewer characters I can do more outfit variants but we’ll see.
So I have enough “Blue Babes” to do a theme. Eventually I’ll be able to fill in the whole rainbow of my own characters. I did a rainbow lineup previously for those who hadn’t seen it. I’d love to revisit that one of these days.
Enjoy variant outfits and lack thereof over at Patreon.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
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Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
even if the orbs did lose all power, syd still has her cheer leader pompom powers.
And some gum and tree-fiddy in her utility belt.
And that’s when Sydney noticed that the orbs were not actually orbs, but were in fact a 16 foot tall monster from the Paleozoic era.
Oh, well in that case she just needs about tree fiddy to recharge the orbs.
WHAT? YOU GIVE THAT MONSTER ANOTHER TREE FIDDY, WHY NO WONDER THE GODDAM MONSTER KEEP COMIN BACK TO HER ORBS YOU KEEP GIVING IT ANOTHER TREE FIDDY!
Pander finds 3 greenbacks and 4 bits on her desk.
I’d want her around for the sass and silliness, never mind how her spontaneity occasionally nets them progress. (…..wouldn’t surprise me if Deus hired her just for the personality and how she “gets him”.)
See page 4 of the comic, please.
And a friend who is conveniently able to hack reality and change the variable representing their stored power level. Convenient that. Krona 2op4me.
One thing to keep in mind, Senegal isn’t the U.S. They’re probably going to have some premade clothes that you can buy off-the-rack…but they’re also probably going to have a lot of tailoring shops so that you can get “bespoke clothes,” i.e. made-to-order, and altered-to-order. I met an immigrant lady from Morocco who was surprised and a bit upset that there weren’t “dress shops” (places where you could get an outfit made to order) on “practically every corner.” A lot of the off-the-rack shops from local manufacturers, she said, made up clothes with lots of seam allowance, and you were *supposed* to go to a tailoring shop to get the outfit adjusted to your body type. I told her the closest we had to that was Men’s Wearhouse, where the suits have tailors standing by to adjust their fit, but…women “aren’t allowed” to have that here, by cultural expectation. I told her I wished we had it, too. I can sew, and I can do a little bit of shaping / fitting on others…but I can’t do it for myself, now can I?
There are a few like that around here (Netherlands), but not a lot. And those I know of are run by immigrants. I agree with your Moroccan acquaintance, I wish there were more shops like that around here.
That’s pretty common in poorer countries. While we were waiting on my fiancee’s visa to be approved, she had her wedding dress made by a local seamstress. It cost about $120, as I recall, which included a simpler dress she made first to confirm the fit.
I hate to think how much that would have cost in the US. Thousands, I expect.
The wedding-industrial complex is insane. Forget the stupidly-overpriced venues and catering, just look at the resale value on diamond rings and wedding dresses.
diamonds aren’t even the most rare of gems, except maybe blue diamonds; i guess they do have the advantage of being able to scratch up your partner’s car if they cheat, or to be more precise if you think they cheated, since the kind of person who’s liable to damage property isn’t necessarily so picky about getting solid proof
Diamonds are one of the more common stones. Who do you know who doesn’t have a diamond?
Now, who do you know who owns a high grade black opal, or a precious emerald? Or even a nice two carat ruby?
It’s all advertising and restricting sales by a cartel. Over 50 tons of gem grade diamonds are mined each year, less than a ton of gem grade emeralds are mined in a typical year. Most of the emeralds and opals you see in jewelry stores are either fake or grown in a lab.
Diamonds are exceptionally common. Diamonds that are suitable for use in jewelry are not. However even diamonds that are suitable for use in jewelry are not rare enough to warrant the price they command. THAT happens these days predominantly to people being suspicious of low cost diamonds, if you’d believe it.
See, the diamond cartels have lost power. They are no longer even the primary source of diamonds. Jewelers are now free to use diamonds sourced from anywhere, not just from the cartels. The cartels simply don’t pose the humongous threat to free trade that they used to… But when you put a 2 carat diamond ring on the shelf for $800 instead of $3000-5000, people get suspicious. Even if you can convince them it’s real diamond, you might be unable to convince them it wasn’t made in a laboratory.
That said, I’m not really a jewelry type of girl. I have one pair of earrings, they were cheap, I don’t know what kind of gems are in them, they were made for toddlers, and I only wear them to keep the piercing holes from shrinking too much. I have no rings, bracelets, necklaces, etc… If a someone buys me something, I’ll wear it, but only to not be rude. Instead of spending $5000 on a ring, I’d rather they got me a more practical gift. Like a new engine for one of the KZ1000s I’m trying to restore… I’d appreciate it a lot more, and it wouldn’t cost quite as much.
Structurally (or whatever you call it), lab-made diamonds (or other ‘gems’) are indistinguishable from ‘natural’, and that was why they were frowned upon… by the cartels they were undercutting
Sure, but again, people who aren’t in the know are so used to diamonds being super expensive that they get suspicious if they aren’t being over charged for them… They think diamonds are rare, they think jewelry quality diamonds are rare… And therefore anything inexpensive must necessarily be suspect in quality, or might even be counterfeit. So the prices are higher due to a demand for high prices. It’s one of the dumbest things ever.
I know a few things about gemstones, including diamonds, and can take a reasonable pass at evaluating the 4 C’s visually with a loupe, but I’ve never seen the appeal of any of it beyond “sparkly things are kinda pretty”. I too would way rather spend $Ks on a motor or other functional grown-up toy than an ornamental rock.
We’re drawn to shiny things instinctually because our distance ancestors grew up on an arid plane where shiny meant water. Water means both something to drink and it means potential prey to eat.
But yeah, shiny rocks are definitely not preferable, nor functional, practical things. I have no problem with shiny rocks, just I’d rather have fake gems made from glass than expensive gemstones. And that’s entirely about it looks basically the same and costs a lot less… so the fakes are a more efficient use of resources.
About 47% of all Senegalese live in poverty, even for Senegal standards (which is way below the US standard of poverty), so… it’s pretty likely you’d still be able to get REALLY good deals in a market there with US currency. And it’s less likely to have a wide variety of pre-made high end goods if such a large portion of the nation is impoverished, since…. well… companies sell products in places where people are going to be able to buy the products.
Outside of major cities like Dakar (I can’t think of any other ‘major’ cities in Senegal – where more of the better-off-financially people might live, as well as more tourists), you probably wouldn’t find a lot of ‘big name department store’ type stores. Clothing merchants would more likely be a lot of ‘local seamstress’ style outfits instead.
… And what’s the percentage for USAsia?
I have no idea what you are asking, but I will try to decipher it since USAsia is probably your naming scheme for USA, like you do with Earth or Deus, etc.
If Asia that makes no sense as a comparison since thats a continent, not a nation, and includes some countries that are not impoverished.
If you mean USA, the poverty line in the USA is about 11.4% is $13,590 a year per person and you add $4720 per additional person.
In comparison, the poverty line in Senegal at the same time period is $350-$450 a year per person (about $1.25 a day), adjusted as US dollars (for comparison).
is about = at about
(I would have edited this grammar error but there’s no way to edit)
To be fair, all of the USA citizens’ naming options suck.
Was meaning the percentage at or below the poverty line, not where the line was placed
And ‘USAsian’ is to distinguish Americans from one particular country from all the other American countries (and not just the three in the North)
11.4%. Compared to 47% for senegal.
But if you mean the amount of Americans that make whatvwould be poverty in Senegal ($350-450 a year), its actually almost negligible. Even homeless people tend to make more than that in a year. The USA is extremely wealthy in comparison with most other nations, even for those at the poverty line or below.
The amount of Senegalese who make even the poverty line in the US is faaaaaaar less than 53% though.
Hey, what if THAT is the final orb? It’s the power source for the others, so just don’t use them for a few days, and they’re fine?
It’s been suggested. Or, maybe you have to USE the orb to recharge them, somehow…
I will be really disappointed if that’s the case. It would break the symmetry of the orbs each having interesting and varied uses.
If it IS a recharging orb…maybe it absorbs different types of energy in different ways:
Absorbing heat: A cold ray
Absorbing Sound: Silence aura
Absorbing momentum: Slow Field
Absorbing….time?: Time Stop
heh. a “fuck entropy” orb. thats terrifying.
That would be awesome actually.
“Time Stop” – there’s a Hammer Time/Space joke in there somewhere.
I’ll leave that joke to The Doctor. I prefer the Time Warp.
Until DaveB (via Dabbler most likely) explains otherwise, I don’t believe the orbs that we see and she touches are anything but controls – there’s more machinery, somewhere else, that generates the force field, tentacle and gasses, moves her and the orbs, creates the space-time tunnels / performs teleportation, etc.
I see them as the “buttons” projected from some 4 dimensional or 5 dimensional machinery, projected into her local 3D space to receive input and provide limited feedback to her, then feed literally through a 4D/5D command pathway to machinery that exists outside of our 3D 3-brane of spacetime, but directly adjacent in 4D or 5D spacetime. scanners can’t see anything there because the inside of the orbs, in our 3-brane, literally IS empty. there’s nothing occupying that 3D space.
The tentacle and shield might actually be solid, completely rigid structures (or even a single structure) that is nudged or pushed or placed into “our” local spacetime in the shape of a sphere (in the case of the shield) or a flexible light tentacle of whatever shape and length she needs (in the case of the tentacle) by “slicing” the hypersphere or other hypershape in the right way, much like we might place a cylinder onto a table top to stop some theoretical 2D being from leaving or entering an area on a flat surface.
The pew pew orb could be the result of opening something like a tiny valve into an matter/antimatter reactor, that could be fed by a 4D machine that keeps the matter and the antimatter in separate branes until it needs to release energy. At which point it would place them into a separate “rector” brane and open a portal into our space at just the right angle to project the explosion where she wants it to go.
Whatever powers the giant machine behind all of the functions (perhaps the matter/antimatter) could be running low on fuel and needs a little while to produce more. If it’s more like it’s sapping the fusion in a star, then maybe using it too much requires the machine to move to a new star? Hopefully we’ll get another Dabbler’s corner at some point when she figures all this out.
I think it’s already been shown that the orbs are connected to something else.
Anvil seems to be a firm believer of “When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.”
Seriously though, Sydney’s orbs tend to “go to sleep” when Sydney does too…And even sometimes when she’s awake but hasn’t used them for a while. Sydney first indicated as such during her interview with General Faulk & the others (Chapter 2). During times like that, the orbs might be “topping off their charge,” as it were, so it doesn’t really surprise me that they have some kind of limiter on excessive use anyway.
I’m kinda thinking the answer is ‘Take an hour* to rest and eat, then head to the nearest friendly airstrip where a military plane will meet you to fly you home’ (the ‘hour’ may be longer depending on availability of nearby transport)
I like the new “time saving” coloring style! It’s a return to the earlier and more simplistic style you had before. The ultra “realistic” colorations seemed to clash too much with a lot of the comedy format of the comic and sometimes was uncomfortable to look at.. at least for me.
This development would probably have been more dramatic if the comic wasn’t book ended. We know she still has power later and is considered one of the heavy hitters given the dialogue before this long flash back began.
Well, story aside. Anything else about recharging and such, pretty much discussed last comic. So guessing Sidney and the Orbs just need some R&R and to be out of the way while the stateside plot continues without these three, but keeping Maxima, a little team swap up like the big hero teams do from time to time. Get a few different characters interacting that the audience hasn’t really seen together that often.
What if the Orbs don’t need a recharge, and its not a battery issue. This is just Dabbler speculating, she is smart but this is tech above even her paygrade.
Idea borrowed from someone last page and expanded on.
What if this a *parental lock* feature. Going back to the Orbs are Nth toys concept, what if they detected a misused in violation of the parental controls set into them so they are temporarily locking up either as a detention period or until the owner turns the lock off. Also on that the toys may have sent a message via a parental control app to the parent or owner of the orbs about the misuse and their current location (in the event the product was lost and someone else is using them against the wishes of the original owner).
Mass murdering space faring giants: Not against parental protections
Vitrifying a mostly lifeless desert: Definitely against parental protections
or for your alternative suggestion
Orbs: Notifying parental figures of theft.
Parental Figure 1 to Parental Figure 2: Hey honey, you know those toys the kid lost 65 million Earth years ago? They just sent a ping, we know where they are not.
why is max playing her gun I thought she kept it unloaded as she didnt use it
She does use it. Remember Brut?
I’ve never been a comic reader to the point of emotional attachment, but this development I NEED to know what happens to her orbs. I’d always assumed that, like ht Eire orb, they were dimensionally linked to a singularity to create vacuum energy on demand through a kind of cross dimensional capacitor. Kind of like how the rings in the Expanse draw their energy from the pocket dimension and the station. I really hope Sidney will continue her career, she’s a fantastic character!
Well we know the orbs will work again. The beginning of the comic shows that. This is all still in the past.
Heh. Do you think we’ll ever reach the end of those ‘few months’? In the Grrlpower’verse it’s still 2010, early 2011 at the latest. I wonder how the Ukraine war will go in their world? Too bad we’ll all be long gone by the time the comic reaches 2022. ;)
I doubt the next President in their world will even be the same as this one, too many differences. So depart from reality at the point of superhumans are real and aliens are real, so have some made up character and drastically different world events. Not unlike how most comic books eventually stopped referencing real politicians and world events and even had made up countries (note: past tense some comics especially DC and Marvel did reference real politicians and world events in-universe for years before stopping, and a lot of indy comics will start out referencing the world when they start just as this did but stop after a few years creating their own history).
There’s probably not going to be an Ukraine War – Deus playing at politics will seriously disrupt the timeline.
If Putin tries anyway, he’ll get a visit by a superpowered assassin team.
Only if they want a superpowered third world war.
Not sure why you would assume Russia has no formidable supers.
Or why the council would not step in to try to preserve the status quo.
Plus Deus is not going to get into a military conflict with any of the financial or military major superpowers. He is taking his time in an economic competition with China right now.
> Only if they want a superpowered third world war.
Why would assassinating the only one who wants the war lead to a world war?
> Not sure why you would assume Russia has no formidable supers.
What are they supposed to do? Guard Putin 24/7? And it’s not like superpowers mean you can see a superpowered assassin coming.
> Or why the council would not step in to try to preserve the status quo.
If the council had the power and the will to enforce the geopolitical status quo, they would have stopped Deus in Galytn already. Even if they could, I assume peace is the more important part of the status quo than keeping Putin alive and in power.
> Plus Deus is not going to get into a military conflict with any of the financial or military major superpowers. He is taking his time in an economic competition with China right now.
I didn’t say he would – just that Galytn becoming the new superpower will seriously impact all world politics to the point where everyone’s focus shifts. I feel compelled to point out that Deus done a lot in a few months – in 10 years, a lot more things will happen.
“Why would assassinating the only one who wants the war lead to a world war?”
Is this a serious question that you’re asking me about if assassinating the head of one of the largest nuclear-armed superpowers in the world next to the USA in order to interfere with a war between them and a third nation would not cause a world war?
Okay.
Do you remember what set off World War 1?
“What are they supposed to do? Guard Putin 24/7? ”
Um… yes. That is something that happens with heads of state. They are guarded 24/7.
Also, they can decide to assassinate the President. Or assassinate all of Congress. Or… yknow… start World War 3.
“And it’s not like superpowers mean you can see a superpowered assassin coming.”
Pretty much any argument you make about assassinating Putin can be used to argue about assassinating Obama (the President at this point in time in the comic), or assassinating any other head of state of a major nuclear armed nation with huge economic power..
Also yes, you can see a superpowered assassin coming. Unless they’re invisible or a shapeehifter I suppose. Unless the other person has a super that’s a clairvoyant or psychic, or has magic to detect them. Or has powers similar to the comm orb. Or….
You see what I’m saying? superpowered world war would not end well for anyone. In a world with weapons of mass destruction (or superpowered people of mass destruction), it’s probably better to not be such a war hawk if you do not know for a fact that your side will win the war and win resoundingly.
Although I admit living in the Fallout style armageddon might be fun.
“If the council had the power and the will to enforce the geopolitical status quo, they would have stopped Deus in Galytn already.”
Um….why? What Deus is doing is actually going to cause MORE stability, not less. Plus create a lot of profitable ventures for them and the world in general, if not the wider galaxy. What Deus is doing is also not starting a military world war – he’s using economics instead. If you’re on the right side in an economic battle, you can profit greatly. Deus tends to go for win-win scenarios for both sides as his first, second, and third methods. It’s only when the other side is dead set on war that he uses military tactics, and even then he does so in a restrained manner to minimize loss of life.
“just that Galytn becoming the new superpower will seriously impact all world politics to the point where everyone’s focus shifts”
One can argue rather easily that China losing economic power in favor of Galytn gaining economic power would be a GOOD thing for the world, and for the Council. Also Deus is trying to create a situation where other nations WANT to do business with Galytn, or join Galytn (or at least their people want to, if not certain corrupt governments like the government of Mozambique).
“I feel compelled to point out that Deus done a lot in a few months – in 10 years, a lot more things will happen.”
Actually I think that what Deus has done in Galytn has TAKEN 10 years.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-1018-the-troll-under-the-extol-bridge/
(see panel 5 where Lorlana explains)
Lorlana: “You forget, Lord Deus has had a DECADE to build up the infrastructure of Galytn, bringing stability, education, irrigation, and reliable power and medical care. He turned this modest capital into an oasis of pedestrian-friendly clusters connected by mass transit lines, minimizing the cost of living to a population emerging from extreme poverty!”
Red Son.
Designated Survivor.
Mostly Tom Clancy novels as well.
True true. But mine is even better as an example because the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria actually did cause World War 1 in real life. :)
He also caused a decent rock band name, which sadly is probably better known to most people than his assassination.
> Do you remember what set off World War 1?
Yes, an important part of which was that the assassin was captured and his hintermen seemingly identified. There’s no point in starting a world war if you only know someone killed your leader, unless by world war you mean “a war against the entire world”. Even then, maybe it was an internal rival. And that’s assuming Putin’s successor will be interested in messing up his shiny new post avenging the guy who had to die for him getting the post.
> Um… yes. That is something that happens with heads of state. They are guarded 24/7.
Not by supers though, because if tie up too many supers on guard detail they aren’t available for other important shit, and it’s not like there’s going to be many supers with bodyguard training or inclination.
> Also yes, you can see a superpowered assassin coming. Unless they’re invisible or a shapeehifter I suppose.
Or a teleporter. Or able to portal straight into the room, which Deus has. Deus’ assassin team is known to have invisibility too.
> You see what I’m saying? superpowered world war would not end well for anyone. In a world with weapons of mass destruction (or superpowered people of mass destruction), it’s probably better to not be such a war hawk if you do not know for a fact that your side will win the war and win resoundingly.
Yes, which is why Putin being a war hawk incentivizes killing him.
> Um….why? What Deus is doing is actually going to cause MORE stability, not less.
Deus is literally conquering his way through Africa, using diplomatic and economic inventives when possible, but invading (with demonic legions) when not. That’s a rather serious change of the status quo.
You can argue it’s not a bad thing, but neither is stopping the Ukraine war. And if you want to argue they want to stop WWIII, then (aside from the question whether WWIII would follow) I’d point out that the didn’t stop at least to other world wars, at a time where they had more power than now (less supers, weaker tech on the human nations.)
> One can argue rather easily that China losing economic power in favor of Galytn gaining economic power would be a GOOD thing for the world, and for the Council. Also Deus is trying to create a situation where other nations WANT to do business with Galytn, or join Galytn (or at least their people want to, if not certain corrupt governments like the government of Mozambique).
Okay, but that doesn’t actually address my argument. Whether it’s a good or bad thing for Galytn to gain power, focus will be on them one way or the other, and therefore not on messing around in Ukraine.
> Actually I think that what Deus has done in Galytn has TAKEN 10 years.
Good catch, I had been assuming Deus’ assassination of the old King was contemporary, but apparently it was a flashback.
“Yes, an important part of which was that the assassin was captured and his hintermen seemingly identified. There’s no point in starting a world war if you only know someone killed your leader, unless by world war you mean “a war against the entire world”. ”
You seem to be playing a little bit fast and loose with the potential for starting World War 3. :) Especially given they can use the death to claim ANY of Russia’s enemies were responsible, plunging the planet into a Superhuman-powered world war.
“And that’s assuming Putin’s successor will be interested in messing up his shiny new post avenging the guy who had to die for him getting the post.”
You know that Stalin was far more murderous than Lenin, right? The reason I’m saying htis is yes… Putin’s successor would DEFINITELY use Putin’s murder to gain more power, by attacking those responsible for killling Putin. Especially since whoever takes power would likely have been in that position to take power by Putin in the first place. What you’re suggesting would definitely start a world war.
“Not by supers though,”
Yes, by supers. Heck, even in the comic, they showed that a criminal boss had supers who worked for him as his bodyguards. You don’t think the leader of a nuclear-armed nation with 144 million people would NOT have a super bodyguard, or multiple super bodyguards? Or an entire squadron of super bodyguards, who spend their entire profession making sure to protect Putin and kill anyone who is a threat to him?
Heck…. DEUS had supers and other superpowered beings on his payroll who are his bodyguards. Like Vale. OR Cthillia. Or the guy who hid them all during Indinge. Or Vekter. Or Opal. You don’t think Putin would have access to the same protection as Deus?
“because if tie up too many supers on guard detail they aren’t available for other important shit,”
I’m pretty sure that, to Putin, or any world leader, protecting their lives and the smooth functioning of their government, especially in a nation where it all comes down to one person in the end, would consider ‘tying supers up on guard detail of protecting HIM’ would be the MOST important of important sht.
“and it’s not like there’s going to be many supers with bodyguard training or inclination.”
I would not be surprised if Russia and China had access to at least as many supers as the US has… if not more. Not to mention mercenaries and bodyguards-for-hire.
“Or a teleporter. Or able to portal straight into the room, which Deus has. Deus’ assassin team is known to have invisibility too.”
Again, why do you think that Putin would not have access to the same protective services as Deus? Or why do you think Deus would do something which might be, at least at the current timeline, more than he can deal with? He is not going head to head with China, or Russia, or the US for a reason. Even economically let along ASSASSINATIONS. Because he’s on step 3, and going up even economically against G-7 nations is step 294. :).
“Yes, which is why Putin being a war hawk incentivizes killing him.”
I do not think that Deus will do something which will disrupt his own plans. He can handle the idea of Putin invading Ukraine, since it does not harm HIM. If anything, it opens up various new economic areas for Deus to fill in that the hole of Ukraine and Russia leave open which Europe and the rest of the world rely on.
“Deus is literally conquering his way through Africa, using diplomatic and economic inventives when possible, but invading (with demonic legions) when not.”
He was invited to do that by the people of Mozambique, who are living in poverty by a corrupt government. Russia is not impoverished. They will not ‘welcome in Deus’ like Mozambique’s people (not Mozambique’s government) will. Also Mozambique is not Russia – Mozambique’s military is pathetic in comparison. They had 8 jets (now 7). How many do you think Russia has? They have no nukes. How many do you think Russia has? They had almost no supers. How many do you think Russia has? And do you think that the other G-7 will be comfortable with Deus doing that? Do you not think they’d think ‘how long until they are in Deus’s sights?’ Then you have an entire world war AGAINST Galytn. Which definitely ruins Deus’s plans.
Not to mention… what’s IN IT FOR DEUS to kill Putin to protect Ukraine? Deus does things that are win-win scenarios. Would Ukraine become part of Galytn? Unlikely – they’re unlikely to ever willingly be subjects again It’s all loss, no win, for Deus to do this…. even if Deus was to take out Putin and win a war against Russia on behalf of Ukraine. It wouldnt even be good for PR for Deus, since he’d just be seen as the new threat, which he currently isnt seen as since he isnt doing anything to the first world nations, which he specifically said he was avoiding doing in the comic. He’s only beginning to even try to compete economically with China alone in ONE area – textiles. He isnt going to skip ahead that far just to help Ukraine.
It makes more sense for Deus to NOT get involved in anything that Putin does, no matter what he does, unless it’s directly affecting Galytn or DIRECTLY messing with his plans in Africa. The Russia-Ukraine war is geographically distant from him, economically meaningless to him, and politically not a problem for him.
And, in fact, it keeps everyone ELSE more focused on Putin and NOT on him, since however nations feel about Deus… including a ….ahem… skirmish with Mozambique (again, largely because the people in that one region were begging him to come in to help them), at least it’s not something which would interrupt power in Europe and food production around the world. Deus’s actions are, instead, providing massive economic benefits for the US because of the trade deals and access to advanced technology.
So you think people who aren’t impoverished and oppressed might value their own self-determination more than economic improvement?
“So you think people who aren’t impoverished and oppressed might value their own self-determination more than economic improvement?”
1) I’m not sure why you think that Russian people feel they don’t have self-determination. I’ve never lived in Ukraine. Not sure if you have.
2) When a people are not impoverished and oppressed already, they’re generally not going to accept giving up their economic autonomy. It’s easier for Deus to be a very attractive option to the people of Mozambique, since they are living in abject poverty under one of the more corrupt governments in the world. While the Ukrainian government has MANY flaws and corrupt elements, it’s nowhere as bad as Mozambique, the people of Ukraine are mostly not living in abject poverty (there’s only about 1.3% below the poverty line in Ukraine from what I’ve been told by a friend who is FROM Ukraine, plus I double checked online and it seems to match his assertions), and seem to VERY much prefer to be independent of foreign rule since they under Soviet control from 1917 to 1991.
That being said, I’m sure that EVENTUALLY Ukraine would want to join Deus’s economic juggernaut. But that’s far down on Deus’s timeline, mostly because how interfering with them would hamper his long-term plans in dealing (trade and economics-wise) with Russia and/or several nations in Europe.
” And it’s not like superpowers mean you can see a superpowered assassin coming.”
One other thing about this part of your post in particular…
You can see a superpowered assassin coming in the same way you see a non-superpowered assassin coming. It’s called chatter, and it’s a large part of what military analysts do in order to know when attacks might occur in the future. Also espionage is another good way to know when an assassination is going to be attempted. :)
Eventually. :) Usually when stories start in medias res, they make it a point to show where you catch up to the beginning of it.
Think ‘Megamind’ or ‘Saving Private Ryan’ or ‘Forrest Gump.’
I am not sure but is that a deliberate spelling error?
“I wont be get to be a superhero anymore”
should be?
“I wont get to be a superhero anymore”
or is it a part of the “crow poem thing”
Call a raven a crow?
NEVERMORE
It’s not a spelling error if the words are spelt correctly, it’s a grammar error when the correctly spelt words are in the wrong order
unless like a real person have a mental dilemma she is flubbing her words.
This is one point of realism you almost never see in comics, movies, tv shows, and so on because no matter how realistic we try to be with a project the audience has that angry English teacher in the back of their heads yelling at them and down grading their papers for every such error in their homework. Tou are actually conditioned to notice it in these types of things, especially writing, even when in real life, especially in emotional moments, people flub their words far more frequently than you might think.
And, even in the best of times, rarely people speak in grammar properly (but people still understand their meaning)
true. Grammar error.
and it has been corrected i see. yay
Hey, Leave my Grammar out of this.
She had it coming (and going, she was quite the looker!)
And this is what makes DaveB one of the top creators: he will fix errors instead of insisting they don’t make errors and attack people pointing out simple and easily correctable errors
Huh, totally did not expect a ‘power source depletion’ arc to show up considering the level of technology implied for the orbs. Did make me remember somewhat vaguely a sci-fi story where someone found out the ship I think it was that they were in would recharge while traveling in hyperspace but because they had run it out they couldn’t recharge the engines. They had to sneakily attach to another ship so that once it went into hyperspace it could recharge at the same time.
tbat tech level is why I am eyeballing the orbs once again as Nth children’s toys with the “fuel” as a game mechanic to act as a restriction to keep the game challenging. Something that also needs to be upgraded with exp like the other features. Like oh you upgraded your omega cannon, but you didn’t upgrade the fuel gauge or fuel recovery rate so you can’t use your omega cannon, better get on that kiddo.
Also worth noting the orbs aren’t blinking or dulling or powering down like you’d expect for something to indicate low fuel, she is just having a hard time using them.
This may indicate that this isn’t a fuel issue, but a lock out or restricted use issue. Like whatever using them had sent a message to the original owner *or their parent* that the orbs were in use again and where; and they have activated a lock out until they can come by and verify the new user.
Even ZPMs eventually get depleted.
ZPMs are garbage. Introduced a “we should always be on top now” tech on a show whose premise is “we are the under dogs” and the ZPMs got so demoted that they came across as outright garbage tech. What was each one of those Wraith blasts capable of blowing up a planet that hit the shields with the new ZPMs hooked up?
I think a better comparison could be precursor tech from Tenchi Muyo or Star Trek where its not even clear what is a power source. Which is the feel here.
A ZPM, bad writing aside, is clearly a battery, a power source, type/tier 2 tech, above anything humans can currently make but still easily identifiable as tech and what it does (just not how to a precise degree). The Orbs come across as the higher forms of tech where its not clear how it works, why it works, or what is even what until it does something. So identifying the power source, if it has an internal one or external, or if it draws power from else where or how, is clearly a mystery and nothing about them spells it out.
Hence the three theories,
1: They do have an internal or are connected to a powersource that need srecharged, just no way of knowing how or by what.
2: The Orbs may draw power from another dimension and overusing them in a short time has caused a welling *decreased pressure zone* in the immediate area of the siphon, so a pause in use is required to allow that area of the other dimension to refill from the energy around the drained area.
3: Its not a fuel issue at all, and she has done something or something has noticed them in use, resulting in a lock out/restricted or reduced access.
” Introduced a “we should always be on top now” tech on a show whose premise is “we are the under dogs” and the ZPMs got so demoted that they came across as outright garbage tech.”
I’m confused. How are Zero Point Modules ‘garbage tech’ in Stargate SG-1/Atlantis/Universe?
” What was each one of those Wraith blasts capable of blowing up a planet that hit the shields with the new ZPMs hooked up?”
That was Project Arcturus, which was an experiment by the Ancients to replace ZPMs with an even more powerful power source. While the ZPMs take power from many alternate universes, Project Arcturus was supposed to take power from THIS universe, meaning a true Tier IV Civilization on the Kardashev scale at that point. The Alterans (Ancients) probably would have succeeded too, if not for being at war with the Wraith and on their last city left due to Wraith overwhelming numeric superiority (where even if they won every single battle, the losses that piled up in each of those wins eventually made them lose the war).
“or Star Trek where its not even clear what is a power source.”
The power source in Star Trek us antimatter/matter interactions, reguated by dilithium crystals for the Federation, and I believe the Romulans use a stable micro-black hole to regulate the matter/antimatter interaction to power their ships’ warp cores.
If enough dilithium is present, it begins to form “generator strata”. A piezoelectric effect occurrs when the crystals take radiant heat and converts it into mechanical energy. When dilithium is used to regulate the matter/antimatter reactionm injectors feed matter and antimatter into the dilithium chamber, where the two substances would mix and react, with the dilithium crystals used to control the reaction.
“A ZPM, bad writing aside, is clearly a battery, a power source, type/tier 2 tech, above anything humans can currently make but still easily identifiable as tech and what it does (just not how to a precise degree).”
A ZPM uses a portion of the power of multiple universes, although not our OWN universe, which makes it a lot higher than Tier 2 tech. Also above Tier 3. It’s actually really close to Tier IV, although not Tier IV (that would be something like Project Arcturus, had it been successful).
“still easily identifiable as tech and what it does (just not how to a precise degree)”
The only reason that humans ever discovered what the ZPM does is because the information was downloaded into O’Neill’s brain by the Ancient Knolwedge Download device. They had no idea what the ZPMs were before that, and in fact one was on Earth the WHOLE time in plain view in a museum or something and no one had any idea it was anything more than a religious artwork artifact.
“The Orbs come across as the higher forms of tech where its not clear how it works, why it works, or what is even what until it does something.”
Again, the only reason the humans ever found out what the ZPM does is because O’Neill basically had the instruction manual of the Ancient’s full repository of knowledge downloaded into his brain. Before that, humans had no idea. Neither did the Go’a’uld, who USED ancient tech quite often (like the rings and the stargate and the sarcophagus) significantly before humans learned about them. The only other races who actually knew anything about ZPMs were the Asgard/Vanir (and probably the Nox and Furlings).
So far, there is no user’s manual for the orbs available, although the center wedges on Sydney’s skill tree MIGHT be a type of user’s manual that she learns more about as she fills up more wedges.
Also, ZPMS as a power source can last for millions of years. Doesn’t seem like garbage tech to me. The only reason that the Atlantis ZPM only lasted about 10,000 years (still impressive) is because it was already partially depleted after a centuries-long war with the Wraith where they couldn’t manufacture replacements, coupled by 10,000 years of the city being submerged under the sea with the ZPMs being constantly taxed to keep the shields going to keep the city from being destroyed from the water pressure.
I will add I would have given the ZPMs more credit given how they are described to work if the power issue had been a welling effect in those other universes, or over taxing an interface. But they made it clear in the show the ZPMs themselves were being drained and would stop working permanently and didn’t state it any other way. So it felt less like they were actually drawing power from other universes or a microverse and were just another energy storage device that had be charged up and would drain down and the people examining them just pulled the conclusion of how they worked out of their asses.
(a common problem in sci-fi, make it sound fancy but then don’t make it actually work that way on screen; or its just bad science technobabble and they have to keep it working in a way the audience can relate to).
“But they made it clear in the show the ZPMs themselves were being drained and would stop working permanently and didn’t state it any other way”
There were entire episodes where Rodney and Zelenka or Carter would go into significant detail on how the ZPMs worked. Especially the three part Project Arcturus episode called “The Arcturus Incident” where Rodney describes to Weir and the rest of the Atlantis leadership VERY SPECIFICALLY how ZPMs work (as I just described above).
Carter explains it in another episode of either Atlantis or SG-1 where she describes it as taking from other universes, instead of from other artificially created universes. Carter is probably more correct since she’s more intelligent than Rodney and Zelenka (probably one of the only humans who can say that).
https://youtu.be/FWRSp2b5r6I?t=69
They didnt just use fancy technobabble like they do on Star Trek. They literally brought in physicists to come up with a theoretical model which could work if a ZPM actually existed. :)
There’s a concept/trope in science fiction called the Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness (jokingly named after the Moh’s Scale of Mineral Hardness in geology), which separates and gradiates how close to scientific possibility the ‘technobabble’ is.
Level 1 – Science in Genre ONly – Mostof the time it’s pure nonsensium. Science gains powers as the plot demands without any real meaning or scientific reasoning beyond the most rudimentary concepts, and even then usually those concepts are horribly wrong.
Examples: Futurama, Star Wars (sometimes), DC and Marvel universes (often), Dr. Who, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Level 2 – World of Phlebotinum – The universe has some sort of magical mystical material which can be found anywhere, but the phlebotinum itself is dealt with in a fairly consistent fashion despite its utter lack of reality, but WITHIN THE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE, it fits scientific inquiry.
Examples: Star Trek (especially warp speed and dilithium crystals and heisenbeg compensators on transporters), or StarCraft, or Warhammer 40k
There’s also a sub-class of this level called Level 2.5, which has storie that are generally sound, but the physics are of scientific principles which are no longer seen as correct (ie, disproven theories), or theories that were never really considered true in the first place but were used for thought experiments.
For example, The Aether Wind in Space 1889 (Luminiferous Ether was completely disproven in 1903 with the Ether Wind Experiment) or by the Sons of Ether in Mage: The Ascension, the Fallout universe, some of Arthur C. Clarke’s stories, or the story ‘Flatland.’ Level 2, like level 1, still often overlaps a lot with pure fantasy.
Level 3 – Physics Plus – A mixture of both real world physics and fictional canon physics for that universe exist, but whether real physics or fake physics, the author tries to justify the physics with natural laws (even if some of hte natural laws are invented by the author). Usually they try to remain consistent within that universe.
Examples: Schlock Mercenary, Battlestar Galactica, David Brin’s Uplift series. Stargate series, although it started out a LOT harder (4 and sometimes even 4.5) and got lower on the scale as the series progressed and science became more speculative or based more on alien devices besides just the Stargate, Rings, Staff Weapons, Zats, and Sarcophagi.
Level 4 – One Big Lie – The author invents one, or at most a few counterfactual physical laws and writes a story that explores the implication of those principles. For the most part, it’s real physics IF there was one thing different in that universe that was true.
Examples: The Mass Effect (from Element Zero) in Mass Effect series, Alan Dean Foster’s Humanx Commonwealth, the Ad Astra games, Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, Babylon 5 (sometimes, although it eventually lowered to level 3)
There’s a slightly harder sci-fi subset of this which is Level 4.5 – One Small Fib- which usually includes only ONE single counterfactual physics device, which is not actually a universe-changing element of the plot. Usually something like FTL travel, in order to make the story tellable at ALL without it taking thousands of years to get from one planet to the next, since space is actually REALLY EMPTY without the ability to move faster than light.
Examples: Freefall webcomic, which tries REALLY hard to always use real science or scientific theories that are still quite possible given enough technology… with the one exception being FTL travel. OR the Aliens movie series (at least before AvP)
Level 5 – Speculative Science- Stories in which there is no big lie at all. The science is all genuine speculative science that has NOT been disproven, and the goal of the author is to respect known fact as much as possible.
Examples: Eternal Sunset of the Spotless Mind, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Larry Niven’s Known Space (early works)
Subset of this is Level 5.5 – Futurology, which has stories that function as a prediction of the future, extrapolating from CURRENT technology instead of just inventing major new technologies.
Examples: GATTACA, Max Headroom, The Running Man
+10 nerd cred to you and anyone else who has read the majority of these examples.
“But they made it clear in the show the ZPMs themselves were being drained and would stop working permanently”
Most of the ZPMs in the story that you’re describing were, in the shows, already millions of years old when they were being drained, or in the case of the Atlantis ZPMS, under HUGE, continual power drains for 10,000 years every single second of that 10,000 years without stop.
if they are drawing power from another universe or universes then they shouldn’t ever be able to run out of power.
Now if they said they drained the local area in those universes due to over use and had to recalibrate the siphon point or else allow for a re-saturation period that would make sense.
If they said the continuous use was taxing the converter into their own universe, that would make sense.
The way the show played them off was like they were being drained like any other battery.
Now to be clear when I call something garbage tech it is not an absolute metric, it is relative to the usability to the plot of the series. You can tell the audience they found the ultimate sword, slayer of god, but if every time its used it has to kill the user, regardless of what it can do; then it is garbage.
If you tell the audience you found some ultimate powersource, but handwave saying, oh its been drained, its been broken, its been taxed beyond measure after sitting there for ten thousand million years; then plot wise you found that ancient civilization’s TRASH, as in actual garbage, not a slander term, as in it needs to be recycled, repaired, or just thrown away.
IE: the Warf Effect, you can say how it works, you can explain all the theories behind it, but if the plot requires it to not work.. and if the plot requires it to never work properly then it might as well have never been introduced or was just some oh the ancient aliens had these cool batteries but its been millions of years so unless we can figure out how to charge them, or make new ones…and yes I know that was a plot point; then the actual ones are pointless and actual garbage. Like finding a rundown car with no fuel in a zombie movie, be nice if it worked and fix a lot of things, but since it doesn’t and only existed to give false hope to the protagonists for a moment, then its garbage…and if you repeat this and have them find other cars that sort of worked but then died two miles down the road or the battery worked for five seconds for the radio but wouldn’t turn over, etc..; then we question if the writers are being given enough time to brainstorm the episodes before having to turn in a finished draft.
But the point stands. if they worked the way they said they worked and if we are to even consider this civilization tier 3 let alone tier 4 (which for the record I consider the Q tier 4), then millions of years of use or three of them against crushing water pressure…for ten thousand years…well…I am sure those numbers are pretty big but not in the “we are the masters of Galaxies, draw energy from other realities* level of tech.
Which sure, maybe they were trying to adhere to more known laws of physics, being closer to real world science….of course the other show was having glowing alien gods being powered by prayers…so yeah…the show went down hill on all of this in the last season or two…you can tell the creators were losing interest.
The real reason the ZPMs don’t work, because it would have given the underdog protagonists too much of an edge to defend themselves if they did.
In shorter terms,
if you had a Dyson sphere *which is just one sun* channeling energy to some device to power a force field around a city about the size of Manhattan under a few miles of ocean and it stopped working after only ten thousand years. I would not conclude the power source was drained, but rather something else was damaged or over taxed on the receiving end, given the source end could vaporize the entire planet and lose relatively nothing of its energy on any functional level.
So the ZPM drawing power from the background radiation or suns or black holes or white holes etc…of other universes, even if just a tiny bit filtered into their own space…well…how are they being drained…broken sure…drained…not a chance.
This has that same head scratch *do you even comprehend the differences in levels of energy here* as the Marvel comics event with the Infinites. These beings the size or larger than the universe apparently manipulating galaxies…and one of them had to drain their own life force till death to bring life back to a single planet they had killed…I am like…so this is like a person having to die to revive a single nucleic acid…or smaller…
Star Gate started off higher up on that Mohs sci-fi scale, but it descended near the end, and had to Nerf almost every advantage Earth had to keep the tension by the end including introducing and then throwing away elements that could have twisted things up and kept things interesting just to keep that underdog status quo.
“if they are drawing power from another universe or universes then they shouldn’t ever be able to run out of power.”
1) Even a universe is not infinite, either in scope or in age, and a large portion of a (our) universe is empty space and no energy whatsoever. It’s about 14 billion years old, and at some point in time it was a single point of such high levels of energy that, to our minds, it might as well have been infinite energy. But it’s not. It’s just so huge an amount that it makes Graham’s Number seem like a grain of sand on a beach.
2) I’m assuming that, if one wants to be ethical, you wouldnt start draining all the zero point energy from another universe, as it would break down the ability for quantum mechanics to work properly. And yes, zero point energy is an actual thing, not technobabble. Zero point energy is, in quantum mechanics, the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical system may have.
3) The more energy you drain from a quantum mechanical state, the more random reactions become. So either you can have it drain, or you can have it explode. The Alterans probably thought having it drain was preferable to having universal explosions.
“Now if they said they drained the local area in those universes due to over use and had to recalibrate the siphon point or else allow for a re-saturation period that would make sense”
If you use Rodney McKay’s explanation, then it was a micro-universe, which would definitely have a lot more limitations than a universe of the size of OUR universe. Which was one of the big problems with Project Arcturus. Very quickly, the instability would become so random that nothing could contain it and it would explode. In the case of the Arcturus incident, the explosion annihilated 7/8ths of an entire solar system. But even with its limitations, a battery that can power insanely power-consuming devices for millions of years, or one that can power an insanely power-consuming device that’s PERMANENTLY on at max for 10,000 years is nothing to sneeze at.
“So the ZPM drawing power from the background radiation or suns or black holes or white holes etc”
It isnt draining background radiation, or suns, or black holes. It’s draining zero point energy, which is something in quantum mechanics that I explain briefly above. It’s why it’s called a ZPM. a Zero Point module. Because it drains zero point energy.
“This has that same head scratch *do you even comprehend the differences in levels of energy here* as the Marvel comics event with the Infinites”
Marvel comics isnt using an actual scientific principle in quantum mechanics (and surprisnigly using it correctly when they explain it). Marvel comics just says whatever sound cool even if it’s not how quantum mechanics work. Like Antman’s Quantumania. :) Or Jenny Quantum (technically Wildstorm but was also in Marvel, and Wildstorm was from writers and artists from Marvel anyway).
“IE: the Warf Effect, ”
I don’t really understand what you said in most of this paragraph sorry. Also it’s the Worf Effect. And the Worf Effect is where you have the seemingly toughest looking person in the cast get beaten by an antagonist in order to show the audience that the antagonist is dangerous. Not sure how that relates to a ZPM having limits, albeit incredibly large ones. That’s just a function of it not being a generic Deus Ex Machinae, by making it have limitations and rules like EVERYTHING in the universe has.
” if we are to even consider this civilization tier 3 let alone tier 4 (which for the record I consider the Q tier 4),”
The Alterans (and the Ori) were definitely Tier 3+ civilizations. They each were able to harness the collective power of an entire galaxy. In the Alteran’s case they did it twice, once with the Pegasus Galaxy, and once with the collective power of the Milky Way Galaxy. The only other civilization in the Stargate universe that seemed to be roughly on par with them (prior to their Ascension) were the Asgard, who had almost harnessed the entire collective power of the Ida galaxy, until Reese’s replicators came through one of the Galactic stargates to a planet in the Ida galaxy. The Alterans were not Tier 4, but they could have been if they had been able to get Project Arcturus to work before they had to flee the Pegasus Galaxy and go back to the Milky Way galaxy because of losing the Wraith war (which they inadvertently started by creating the Wraith from experimenting on the Aratus Bug) .
“Star Gate started off higher up on that Mohs sci-fi scale, but it descended near the end,”
Well… yes. It started where there was only one piece of tech different than modern day tech (or near future tech), and that was the Stargate itself. The more tech they had to introduce, which was necessary in order to show that SG-1 had a PURPOSE, the more they were going to have to delve into more speculative concepts. But they always did try to keep it based on hard scientific principles, so they never really went below Mohs Scale 3. Even with stuff like the ZPMs. The closest you could argue that they went below three would be with the concept of Ascension, since that got into Star Trek levels of fantasy, much like the Q Continuum, but with a bit more scientific rationale than the Q have in their origins.
I don’t see how it makes ZPMs garbage though.
One of my replies below this chain covers tbe garbage comment.
Moving on from that vernacular. Here is the main issue.
First when I said it should never run out of power, in this situation this power source should not under these conditions be drained simply due to the sheer magnitude of energy in zero point energy. 10,000 years under the sea pushing back against the pressure is a drop in the bucket compared to what was described. The Marvel example was staring the writers when excusing the flaws in the ZPMs were just as faulty on their reasoning as comic book physics on the scale of energy
Being discussed.
But I already covered the real world reasons why this tech is faulty and has to be that way for the story.
Which wouldn’t bug me as much if the Ancients hadn’t been described as so advanced. If they had been a tier 2 that cornered the market on terraforming tech or wormhole development.
My policy is when you are imagining tech from a tier 3 or above civilization by members of a less than tier 1 civilization, if the tech can be distinguished from magic then it isn’t sufficiently advanced enough.
“One of my replies below this chain covers tbe garbage comment.”
The only thing I see that might talk about ‘the garbage comment’ is that if a Tier 1 civilization can distinguish that a Tier 3+ tech is magic or not, then it’s a garbag tech. Which doesnt really make sense to me for multiple reasons. Just because a lower teir civilization recognizes something IS technology and not magic, but cannot duplicate that technology themselves, does not make it garbage tech.
There’s this pretty good show on I think the CBC called Murdoch Mysteries, which takes place between 1896 and 1910, and the guy basically invents things that are years ahead of when those things were actually invented (he’s a detective with a very science-based mind). In one episode he essentially invented a fax machine by having people on one end of a telegraph machine or the old fashioned phone or something give grid coordinates on a large piece of graph paper of whether to fill in a box or leave it blank in order to send a visual image through the wires. He also created a security camera decades before they existed, etc. None of the people considered it ‘magic’ – just technology. And not garbage technology either.
“First when I said it should never run out of power, in this situation this power source should not under these conditions be drained simply due to the sheer magnitude of energy in zero point energy.”
The fact that a power source is immense does not mean it cannot be drained. It just means that the devicse that are used and powered BY those power sources can be massive power guzzlers now, which could not exist without those power sources being available. And even then, the amount of time the ZPMs can last with these insanely complicated and power-guzzling devices, like the city of Atlantis or the Ancient Warships or the Galactic Stargate, is incredibly impressive and not ‘garbage tech.’
“10,000 years under the sea pushing back against the pressure is a drop in the bucket compared to what was described. ”
The math of how much power it required was literally described in the show and it was an insanely large amount of power over that many years. In fact, when Weir went back in time, we find that the first trip to Atlantis resulted in everyone dying because she shield was failing when they arrived. The immense amount of power needed for the gate activation was equivalent to tens of thousands of additional years of the shield staying up. So an Alteran scientist figured a way to have the ZPMs use less power by working in ‘shifts’ instead of all three being continuously on so that the shield would last more than 10,000 years + allow them to keep using the gate, plus raise the city and use all the tech on the city after 10,000 years.
“Which wouldn’t bug me as much if the Ancients hadn’t been described as so advanced.”
But they WERE so advanced. And by the ‘modern times’ after they Ascended, they’re even more advanced – Q level advanced. The Ancients technology is advanced depending on what period of time you’re using their technology from. The Stargate Universe Ancients Technology is from millions of years ago when they were a Tier 2 civilization. They did not have FTL drives or had just managed to get very rudimentary versions of them, so the Ancient stargate-seeding ship took millions of years to get to where it was. The ancients of 10,000 years ago were far more advanced (roughly a Tier 3+ civilization) and their tech was therefore even more advanced. The Ancients of the modern era have evolved to a state of higher being and are essentially Q’s. They’d be a Tier 4 civilization except they refuse to get involved in the lower beings’ affairs, except to keep the Milky Way Galaxy hidden from the Ori in their home galaxy.
” If they had been a tier 2 that cornered the market on terraforming tech or wormhole development.”
They were already a Tier 3 civilization by the time they had joined up with the Asgard, Nox, and Furlings. And they hadnt cornered the market on terraforming – that would be the Furlings. And the Asgard had also figured out wormhole development (as well as a superior version of transporter tech to the Ancients’ rings)
1: Garbage tech: because for the story these *unlimited energy* sources had to be nerfed, always out of power, broken, implying they are actually very fragile (relative to the concept and supposed tech level) and despite their concept run out of power in a relatively short time *10,000 years should not matter to this level of technology especially not a Zero Point energy power source even with water pressure*. That is why they are garbage tech, because the premise of the story won’t let them be anything but.
*the concept isn’t garbage, the Warf effect makes them garbage*
I will say you clearly remember more about the specifics in Star Gate than I do. I just remember being annoyed by the science as they would state how things work and this impressive level of technology but then make it not work or kill off a ship of actual Ancients one episode later or a number of other things to make sure the “underdog” premise remains even when it shouldn’t. The ideas behind the stuff is great, the execution however not so much. (in other words the later seasons really ruined the Ancients or the writers themselves had their hands tied, be creative and show this ultra tech but…don’t let it work properly).
In other words on the surface I feel like yeah I should be agreeing with you that this tech as described in Star Gate is this high tier; but the execution on the show has such a Warf effect that it feels like, “Are we sure human scientists studying the advanced technology are right about what this actually does? Because it kind of seems like its not doing the thing you said it should be doing”.
Although to clarify on the Star Trek tech I wasn’t referring to the dilitheum crystals I was referring to the McGuffin of the week stuff they’d encounter like Precursor technology or something the Q would drop in their laps.
Since I really don’t want to talk about StarGate, the whole point here was “even ZPMs get depleted” implying the obvious battery (Even without O’Neil’s brain or whatever what they are would be made pretty clear with some reasoning and seeing one hooked up). is somehow a more advanced technology than the physics breaking orbs which have no clear power source.
-and the actual focus on this discussion-
Hence the three theories,
1: They do have an internal or are connected to a powersource that need recharged, just no way of knowing how or by what.
2: The Orbs may draw power from another dimension and overusing them in a short time has caused a welling *decreased pressure zone* in the immediate area of the siphon, so a pause in use is required to allow that area of the other dimension to refill from the energy around the drained area.
3: Its not a fuel issue at all, and she has done something or something has noticed them in use, resulting in a lock out/restricted or reduced access.
“Since I really don’t want to talk about StarGate, the whole point here was “even ZPMs get depleted” implying the obvious battery (Even without O’Neil’s brain or whatever what they are would be made pretty clear with some reasoning and seeing one hooked up). ”
But it wasnt. There was one on Earth for tens of thousands of years, including dozens of years in a museum on full display and NO ONE figured it out, even after they knew about ancients technology like the Stargate.
They didnt even have inferior forms of technology, like what powers the DHD device, which is why the US military had to build their own DHD device which uses a sizable chunk of power from the US power grid, which was then supplemented by the Hoover Dam’s hydroelectric power… and later on when they learned how to make them from another civilization (the Orbanians), naquada reactors.
Btw, there was an entire show on how Stargate Command learned how to make Naquada Reactors… and they couldnt figure it out EVEN WHEN SHOWN THEM. But they eventually did figure it out because science runs on basic principles when you break it down enough, and it takes time to understand those principles. They had to figure out a way to learn how to backwards engineer them. it was the entire plot of the episode called ‘Learning Curve’ (seaosn 3, episode 5).
There’s another episode with the Tollan where the Tollan agree to give Earth Ion Cannons (it’s actually a plot by Anubis who is forcing the Tollan as part of a plan to destroy Earth), but the Ion Cannons are so complicated that even with schematics, Earth simply is not advanced enough to make more of them, or repair them if one breaks down. So Earth requires 73 of them, plus additional ones for parts, and detailed schematics that are dumbed down enough for human geniuses like Carter and McKay to be capable of understanding the Tollan Tech at the time. But Ion Cannons are not ‘magic’ – they’re just tech which Earth does not yet understand how to make or understand how they work. But they KNOW it’s based on scientific principles, much like the tech in Murdoch Mysteries is based on scientific principles for tech that does not yet exist in the 1890s.
Hopefully, orbs will make a come back. It sad see the story go on without her causing trouble or story ends (yikes!)
I think this is the most…Girly we’ve ever seen Anvil.
Also, yay Sydney took off the headband. I always preferred the classic look.
Panel 3 Kenya: Xuriel, you broke our ride!
Xuriel: I didn’t mean to!!
Has everyone forgotten how much Anvil loves to shop?
And, again, who said anything about going clothes shopping?
They are in the middle of Nowhere (not Arizona though), with their ride on the fritz, Anvil gets off the phone after calling her boss (who mentions they are about to go hunting and could use their backup) and mentions going shopping, and every yahoo (not Serious) thinks she means for clothes
Any other Archonite and they would probably be correct (specially the Daphne’s), but Anvil? Cereally?
Personally have never had a problem with the colouring, it’s been the sometimes hit-and-(moreoften)miss art that throws me off sometimes (remember what happened to Math after he hadn’t been seen in ages?)
I’m going with “parental controls”. The orbs know she’s not in danger anymore, and her usage time is past the daily threshold, so they are powering down to get her to “go play” and stop “working”.
Attention, user restrictions and lock outs have been activated due to this item being reported, Missing, Stolen, or Misused by either the verified user, user agreement, security features, or parental controls.
The item will remain in restricted mode until such time that the verified user/authorized individual verifies the current user as an authorized user.
I don’t think it’s usage time, I think it’s performing a cataclysmic act large enough to trigger the built-in chaos governor and earn a mandatory usage review.
Yeah, the Squidwards were combatants, the desert floor organisms are not, and detecting a notable difference between lizards and sapient beings could be a small gap compared to humans and the orb makers, that or their respect for life is just that high to require a review after killing so much wildlife.
Actually re-reading this, I just remembered she also blasted some forest when she tried out the orb, so unless there is a bag limit on non-combatant collateral damage if its a lock out there may be another reason…or the scale really did matter and the forest one shot somehow missed too much wildlife or registered as a misfire rather than an intentional act.
Also, her actions in the Squidward battle were mainly in space with little permanent effect, whereas this time she permanently altered a significant chunk of geography. Even if the casualty count (of any size) isn’t a factor, terraforming a populated planet is a pretty big deal.
This was a Gunnerkriegg Pigeon on Kat’s head reference! If yes, I am in awe.
This is a little out of nowhere but are we ever gonna find out what Spiders man’s powers are?
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-331-my-god-its-full-of-spiders/
( as per clothing sizes for Kenya ) maybe she shops online?
…on Amazon.
That is SUCH a perfect answer.
“Sometimes shiny people are going to have weird stuff reflected on them.”
I can just imagine the shenanigans someone could get up to when Maxima’s on a video call…
Knowing the person she’s on the call to can see it all in her cheekbones…
A bit of naked limbo… a team of twerkers…
Yeah I try not to argue with an author but Sydneys a definate “monkey with a gun” scenario.Theres very little she brings to the table other than the orbs.Though yeah I can see them giving her a do nothing job so they can keep tabs on her in the hopes the orbs reboot at some point.You dont alienate the person prone to violent mood swings who could any day gain access to pocket nukes again.
We know they work again, this situation is less of a “will they work again” and more of a “how will this situation be resolved”.
The entire comic is still in a flash back, so to speak.
Are we sure it’s still a flashback? It’s been “a few months” and she’s been promoted to corporal. The opening scene could already have happened. I think all we’ve got at this point is narrative stuff like “it’d be weird not to tell the readers when the flashback ends” and “it’d be weird to permanently de-power your protagonist in your superhero comic”. Which, to be fair, are pretty strong points. Though I want to see at least one comic surprise everyone one day and just change genre out of nowhere, as a completely premeditated twist and not as a sort of crisis of faith in their work by the creator.
Have we seen her earn the name “Big Guns” yet?
She made private. DaveB joked it would take another 100 to 3900 pages before she made corporal. We haven’t even hit the low end of that estimate yet.
Now picturing confused spaceboyfriend with sydney buried in his fur rambling about charging power orbs
Maybe she needs to rub her balls against his space-fur to recharge them?
Oh! The magic hairband of no headaches is back
Anvil looks like a chipmunk in that last panel.
A cute chipmunk!
NEVERMORB
Once upon an ocean dreary, as I pondered, weak and weary,
Over a quaint and curious quirk in my orb’s behavior-
While I stopped to remove my headband, suddenly there came a flapping,
Flapping about my headroom bare.
With this sudden bird appearing, occurred to me to try appealing.
“Mister Corvid”, I did ask, “Who or what can I take to task,
“For this, this distressing decline in speed and height of flight, leaving us supine
“On this, this rocky African shore?”
The raven said this: “Nevermorb!”
What of this, my great Pew-pew-er, its glowing star entrapped within ‘er,
Which lights the mighty forest fire, and builds great aliens’ funereal pyre,
Shall I grip it in my hand, and use its beam to melt the sand,
It’s petajoules my foe’s bodies will absorb?
Quoth the Raven, “Nevermorb”.
And this, then, my orb of blue, which at a time, it let me flew
Through skies of good and evil weather, and bade me fall just like a feather
Shall I now stay forever grounded, bound for life to this cursed terrestrial orb?
Quoth the Raven, “Nevermorb”.
Surely, this, my orb of Force, my Old Reliable, My Workhorse!
Keeping me safe within a bubble, hurt not by bullets or falling rubble,
Never falling or failing, my certain and ever-present “Forb”?
Still It sayeth, “Nevermorb”!
Here, my orb of many names, my Hook of Light, my Giver of Pains,
its tentacles, they may molest, or bind you tight, from toe to chest,
Or leave you beat and broken, your orifices bruised and sore?
It sayeth nought, but “Nevermorb”.
This one, then, will pierce your secrets, leaving you with naught but regrets,
Seeing truly through the lies you wrap about to conceal and comprise you!
My lightbee will find the truth, and take me to it through Dimension Door…
The only truth is… “Nevermorb”.
And the one orb that remains, never revealing, ever orbiting, STILL orbiting
Above my frazzled head tucked between my knees on my bedroom floor.
It gleams of secrets never to be known, of foes never to be defeated,
It’s glow that throws my shadow ever writhing on the floor,
My soul from out that shadow ever lying on the floor.
I will be a superhero – Nevermorb.
Okay I have to give a +1 internet for the sheer creativity of this post.
I agree that took some time and thinking I think everyone at some point messed with songs (Weird Al made a living at it) but this is next level, well done!
– I love Weird Al. Huge fan.
– Halloween is my favorite month. For OBVIOUS reasons.
– My spouse and I befriend crows, so ravens aren’t a huge leap. They’re so adorable!
I had to read this twice, in-universe topics used perfectly and impressive faithfulness to the source material and meter. This is the nerdiest thing I’ve read in ages, beautifully done.
maybe the mystery orb is a power generator, and using it charges the orbs, and can be used as a power source (a quite literal universal power source)
Apropos of nothing, I present for Halo’s judgement (and your consideration) the Reddit swear combinations matrix.
I did a quick bit of google research and the (commercial) flight time from Senegal to New York is just over 8 hours. Our semi-stranded heroines also have the option of flying non-commercial as well as the US Military has an “enduring” base in Dakar, Senegal (at least it did back in 2019). Availability of a plane with a range suitable for a transcontinental flight might be iffy, but they could always shuttle up to Spain and take a flight from there if needed.
https://theintercept.com/2020/02/27/africa-us-military-bases-africom/
And deprive Anvil of her Shopping Trip? o_O
Just before this page disappears, just want to say how it’s nice to see Sydney get ‘Sydney’d’ like that in the last panel :)
I would just like to mention…. that given her body positioning, and the angle of line-up… shouldn’t she be looking out her OTHER eye?
(I’ll shut-up now)
Why do I keep forgetting that Sydney has some sort of reality manipulation power. After all that’s the only way to explain her altering the world around her the way she does without the use of the orbs.