Grrl Power #1160 – Priority checkout
Max is supposed to be more attractive than I can realistically draw her. Really, all the super women (and men) are, but for Max especially, she’s at that “constant problem for her both privately and professionally” level, which also would help a lot with readers understanding her short temper with inappropriate male attention, which bleeds over into, as we saw a hint of on the last page, appropriate male attention.
Dating is a zero sum game given that there technically are a finite number of humans, compounded by prevailing opinions about monogamy. Sure, more humans are being born all the time, and there’s a constant flow entering the dating pool, but that doesn’t change the finite quality of human numbers. In a bar with, I dunno, ~40 people in it, the issue is more starkly apparent. It’s still no excuse to be a jerk about it.
Do women use the number system? I know they’re fully aware of it, but as it is unavoidably rude, I assume women don’t use it. At least not out loud. They’ll certainly talk shit behind someone’s back, usually in far more detail than the broad brush of a single digit allows, but I don’t think they use number rankings like men do. Well, they do in the Grrl-verse. Or at least this chick does.
I sometimes wonder if women experience an unspoken pecking order like this. I mean, sure, guys probably do as well, I suppose, but I’ve never hung out with Pierce Brosnan or David Beckham or Idris Elba when they were all in their primes, but I’m sure when you’re at a party and Hugh Jackman or Henry Cavill or Jamie Foxx walks in, you’re like, “Well, there goes roughly 85% of all the female attention.” Still, I assume it’s worse for women, because a guy generally has to be not just good looking, but also famous and successful and rich to pull that much attention, but a woman can “just” be super hot and she’ll cause guys to walk into poles and crash their cars.
Like you’re at a club with your female cohort and some chick walks in looking like Monica Bellucci in her absolute prime and suddenly all the guys are staring at her like they’re a bunch of lions looking at the last gazelle on the Serengeti, I assume you’re like, “Potato skins? Anyone want some potato skins? I’m going to order some instead of watching that chick slip around on all their drool.” Not that there’s no entertainment in watching a bunch of dudes’ IQ’s slip twenty point all at once, but if you’re there looking for someone to enjoy your evening with, it can also be a little disheartening. I assume.
Of course this is a huge oversimplification as everyone has their own preferences (writes a guy who hit puberty in the 80’s and was weaned on superhero comics and Heavy Metal Magazine and Boris Vallejo posters and bodybuilding magazines.) We all have our thing. Certainly not every guy is going to think he’d have any chance with her, but still I feel like there’d be a shift.
I had to simplify the coloring a bit with this page and probably the next few. There’s a lot of characters on these pages and they keep moving around and doing things, the jerks.
The May vote incentive is finally up! Digit has some new and exciting tech to show off, as well as some other things, albeit inadvertently.
Variant outfits and lack thereof over at Patreon, as well as the semi-usual bonus incentive related comic.
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Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
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.
I like the woman in purple: she’s perceptive, assertive, and sassy. :P
Except she is being a massive asshole too Max. Max came here for a drink, not to be bothered by every asshole in the bar. Here’s an idea, leave her alone.
she might think Max is a bar cruiser. She is attractive, showing skin, and went into this bar alone. It is still an assumption she is making, and honestly makes me wander if she and her friends are bar cruisers or hookers trying to get the competition that just showed up to hurry up and move along…or given the setting..Succubi.
Yeah, no. As established in earlier strips, Max did not just “go there for a drink”.
1. If she merely needed a drink, she could have done that at home.
2. If she wanted only a drink at a bar for some reason, she could have toned down the glamor necklace to something more frumpy. Instead, she went with the full-body (and clothing/makeup) equivalent of what the gals call “my f*** me heels”.
3. She acknowledged to Anvil and Dabbler that she was seriously considering getting laid.
4. While at the bar, there are ways to signal “I want to be left alone”, and there are ways to signal “I’m open for auditions but it won’t be easy”. Max is clearly doing the latter, and everyone else in the bar is accurately noting it.
Not a glamor necklace – appeal-enhancing glamors are a succubus thing. It only changes colors, and it’s locked to her current skin color (although it could still do hair color). The appeal is all her, she just has an unfair supergene advantage.
She’s a very rude person observing none of the social rules save what petty things her particular clique has. It’s a lot easier to just get up and go to a different bar then to actually try and harass or assault someone. This is the grrlpower verse though where everyone is a bit more hyper-realistic and so the rules are more iffy on whether how far she is going is actually going to be treated that way. Typically the grrlverse likes to take things seriously for seriously awesome stuff or for funny stuff.
Right? I would have put her through a wall
You’d put her through the wall for accurately assessing what Max is doing there? Interesting.
How about trying to force someone to leave a public place or accept the sexual propositions of men in the bar? You really don’t know how to read if you’re missing that.
She’s using words. Rather accurate, if not subjectively tactless, words, to point out that Maxima is basically ruining every other woman’s ability to hook up with anyone tonight until she either chooses a guy (which is a fair enough reason to assume someone is coming into a bar for more than a quick drink) or leaves.
It’s not Maxima’s fault that she’s drop dead gorgeous. She can’t help her genetics, although her behavior has had a very ‘LOOK AT ME’ vibe to it from the moment she walked into the bar, followed immediately with a ‘DONT LOOK AT ME’ vibe once she had everyone’s attention. Probably because Maxima literally has very little experience with social settings of this sort. So again, not really her fault that she had an unusual life which shaped her behavior. And if she really was here to just sit and drink and for some reason not expect guys to be lining up to try to date her (which is objectively not true since she was sure something like this would happen), then that’s not something the purple dress lady would also assume, because it’s unusual social behavior in a bar setting.
It’s not the woman’s fault that she’s pointing out the actual social dynamic happening here, even if she’s doing so in a very verbally up front manner, and also pointing out that Maxima is simultaneously giving off a ‘look at me’ and ‘malevolent I hate everyone’ vibe – the latter of which Maxima is recognizing as being true.
It’s not the men’s fault that they’re attracted to Maxima and are trying pick up lines with her in a bar, which is a pretty normal social interaction for a bar. Men go to bars, very regularly to hook up with women, and pretty women are more likely to be approached first. Just a fact of life there. Before the internet, bars, the workplace, and nightclubs (and churches, I guess, according to what I read on an internet list) were the most common ways to meet someone else for starting a relationship.
Well, it is the men’s fault they’re trying to hook up with Max.
Perhaps not wrong but it is very much their fault/choice.
“Well, it is the men’s fault they’re trying to hook up with Max.”
I don’t see how its their ‘fault’ for being attracted to one of the most sexiest women on the planet and trying to hook up with her in a social setting traditionally used for hooking up. :)
I don’t think any of this is actually anyone’s fault. Just an unfortunate confluence of events.
On second thought I think I see what you’re saying by ‘fault.’ You mean it’s the cause of the problem because they’re acting like idiots getting in line to be turned down by Maxima. I agree. :)
She is putting her hands on Max and attempting to use social pressure to get the woman to either take a guy or leave. This is not a discussion where you have any moral ground. She is factually incorrect about what she believes she is allowed to do and so are you.
Laying your hand on someone is not appropriate without consent. Telling them to leave an establishment you do not own is not appropriate. Telling them to pick a guy or leave is not appropriate either. At the beginning she was making conversation. By the end she is harassing Max.
“She is putting her hands on Max”
That is admittedly a step too far. But I don’t think it’s meant to be a violent attack, and should not be responded to with violence. Especially from someone like Maxima who could easily kill a person with her pinky. Using social pressure, however, should definitely not be responded to with physical violence.
“She is factually incorrect about what she believes she is allowed to do”
As far as talking to Maxima, she’s allowed to do that. She’s not factually incorrect about that. She’s also allowed to tell Maxima what she’s telling her, even if she’s being tactless about it. Maxima is under no obligation to listen to her though or do what she says, and can talk back to her, saying pretty much what you just said as well.
“and so are you.”
I’m being completely accurate in what I’m saying. What the purple dress woman is accurate from her standpoint, and from the context of the locale they’re in. The main problem she has is she’s going about it in a tactless way (and as you pointed out, putting hands on someone else is wrong as well).
That being said, here’s a way she COULD have gone about it. Still very upfront, but less tactless:
“Hi, my name is . Nice to meet you. And before I say anything, I know you have every right to be here and be a really scary drinker without every guy in the bar trying to ask you out, but most of the women here are hoping to hook up since this is a singles bar. And frankly, there’s no way we can compete with you physically, as you can see from how many guys are entirely focused on you and only you. As a result we’re going to all probably wind up leaving the bar because it’s not remotely fun to watch one woman be the center of attention to every guy here, while we’re all invisible, especially after you made such an entrance then shut yourself down completely. Maybe would like to come to our table, we can be each other’s wingwoman or something? Strength in numbers – the guys might stop bothering you if you’re with a group of other women who can ridicule them when they come over – heck I’ll tell them straight out that you’re not interested if you want so you can enjoy your drinks – and the other women (including myself) might have a chance on hooking up, since this is what we’re wanting.”
I thought I wrote this already yesterday but apparently it did not post.
Another thing purple dress woman could have done was tell the guys waiting in line to knock it off and realize Maxima was NOT INTERESTED, while there were a lot of other women in the bar that might be. So they are wasting their time and her (maximas) time. Maxima might have appreciated that.
Accuracy does not excuse rudeness. Also, she grabbed Max by the shoulders in the last panel. That doesn’t merit lethal force, but violating someone’s space invites them to violate yours in return.
“Accuracy does not excuse rudeness”
I never said it did excuse rudeness. But rudeness should definitely not be responded to with physical violence, especially when you are a lethal weapon like Maxima is.
“Also, she grabbed Max by the shoulders in the last panel. That doesn’t merit lethal force, but violating someone’s space invites them to violate yours in return.”
I actually agree with you here, although Maxima should be held, and should hold herself, to a higher standard of behavior than your average person. Just like she held herself to a higher standard with the police officer.
That seems a bit like horrifically psychopathic and violent overkill. :)
Green eye gal catches my interest, personally.
Well her attitude is probably the best attitude of ANYONE I’ve seen at this bar. Plus she seems to laugh off cringy statement by guys. When the other guy says ‘Lets watch’ look at her with the cute little smile, probably thinking ‘Boys. heh.’ And when the other guy last comic talked about having his first fear boner, what was her response? “SKAL!”
The girl’s a laid back breath of sunshine in my books. Plus also great hair and a really great dress.
You make a good point. The issue with everyone being attracted to Max is actually Dave. Some people are only interested in people with a certain eye color, which Max doesn’t have. Or only short stacks (Hi, Midna!) or women that don’t have a balcony, but a widow’s walk. Or a tremendous back yard worthy of exploration. Max doesn’t have all these things. No one can have everyone’s interest since different people like different things.
GURPS suggests that kind of downside to uber attractive characters.
A wild and appropriate GURPS reference?! Love it.
in my experience there is a lot more ‘plausible deniability’ when women talk to each other. but I could see some sort of exchange like this going on. encouraging Max to ‘move along’ to a place more suited to her needs.
why is she even there if this is so little fun for her? I mean if we want to have hijinks have her take a list to (big box store) or gasp.. have her get lost in an IKEA just not the SCP edition of IKEA. change the name to protect the guilty of course.
Children in a bar? Isn’t this kind of late for them to be there?
where in my oddly functional post of typos did I mention children in a bar?
Stand-alone comment accidentally posted as a reply.
Teens, yeah. But they are hardly adult looking.
She’s there to get hammered drunk, not ‘hammered’ by a drunk
And she couldn’t do that at home? She’s in public, which means whatever she wants, it involves other people.
Yeah, and getting laid is the only social option :rolleyeswhilepuking:
Why is she even there? As the common saying *doesn’t* go, it’s not about the journey, it’s about the destination. She must have tremendous difficulty finding suitable partners, so it’s probably been a while.
There is suitably strong alcohol in a place she has not been before with people who are not cooworkers or subordinates. It’s a little like asking a camper why they would go into the woods knowing there is going to be mosquitos.
and probably being super has an extremely high tolerance to alcohol anyway. sometimes you just need a little unwind
But as anyone who camps can tell you, if you go into the woods you expect and prepare for the wildlife. It is their territory you’re just a visitor.
That’s the point. I was saying that the question itself is ridiculous.
I didn’t get the feeling she’s looking for partners, this is more a ‘can i pass’ test. do we even have any evidence that the glamor would work ‘all over’ or ‘down there’? besides, I may be wrong but she seems the type to want to read lovers in on who she really is before trying to do the deed. Man of tissue paper woman of warm steel.
Dabbler made it, of course it works “down there.”
When Daphne tried it on to demonstrate it, it affected at least every visible part of her skin.
Does anyone else feel that Max being told “you need to leave” isn’t going to end well?
“You’re ruining it for the rest of us!”
“I’m trying to push you to the exit, why won’t you move?”
“Oh, i’m sorry, i’ve got my golden flying brick powers still swithced on, i’m somewhat of the immovable object at the moment, otherwise i’m the unstoppable force”
It would be a surreal bonding experience if everyone in the bar tried to push Max out the door.
…on the shorter side, weirdly familiar with Max, urging her to bang someone right now…
…I feel like there’s roughly zero chance that’s not Parfait.
She doesnt talk or act remotely like Parfait, and Tom would not be sending her to the USA without formal invitation.
Assigning numbers? Not really no.
Seizing up the competition? Guys, you have NO idea.
Being catty about it? Is water wet? Also, way way more than shown here.
But she would be much more subtle about it …
Yeah, the content of the conversation would be plausible to be resume as above. But it would be an exchange full of double meaning phrases and indirects.
I choose to see that as , since I as a non-socially adept man would probably not notice the meaning of the conversation after maxima launches her into orbit if done realisticly.
my comment got garbled by xss injection protection.
as *translation brackets
Welp. This girl is about to find out she’d prefer Max be Defensive, not Offensive.
To be fair, most people don’t have an actual adjustable defensive/offensive switch the way Max does. :P
Max is a no-nonsense military officer and leader, I’m betting she’s going to respect and appreciate Purple’s frank cut-to-the chase, give it the consideration it deserves, and not go ballistic over it.
I wouldnt be surprised.
I’ve watched this kind of interaction play out when an ex and I went out. She was more than average attractive and had this effortless sensuality which she couldn’t really control. So I would go to the bathroom and come back to three guys all taking their shot at the same time. It was comical until some guy would get offended when I would “cut the line”. Her usual solution was to jump in my lap and kiss me and that chased off most idiots.
Other women would have the weirdest reactions to her. One of the more interesting was appreciation. She curated the shittiness of every guy in the place. The ones who hit on her politely and took no for an answer usually did better with other women in the place. The ones who didn’t take the hint were done and had to head to another club/bar b/c no one in the place would give them even a first chance.
Women were also really empathetic about the whole “FFS, would you just leave me alone” thing. The reaction above was super rare and I think I only saw happen in relation to really dysfunctional relationships where some guy on a date would hit on her and his girlfriend/date would get hostile, like some how my ex had mind controlled they guy into being a dirt bag.
I’ve been through that same situation as related in your first paragraph. I’m 6’4″ and back in the ’80s I dated a woman who was 6’2″ for a while. We made quite a pair together, especially when she was in heels. She also had long blonde hair that reached down to her thighs. I’d go to the bathroom and the dunderheads would start swarming, even though she was head and shoulders (literally) above most of them. I’d come back and pull her onto the dance floor for a slow, sensual, grinding dance and they’d tuck their tails between their legs and slink off into the shadows.
“How did she get to be 6’2″, and what shrunk her again?”
Just say she already has a date tonight.
Also, the predatory “leave now” makes me think of a few of my cousins and aunts and the way they react to people around them.
As an astoundingly attractive person, this kind of thing happens to me a lot.
*deadpan stare*
I don’t think individual fingers are considered a line…
Again as one commenter said on the last page, In “singles” bars you only get a certain type of guy. the type that goes to bars to pick up women. I doubt any of the other women there would actually confront the uber hot that was grabbing all the male attention, especially to say “just pick one already so we can have the rejects”?
Maybe Max should reveal her “true” self to that woman…!
… And blow her cover and have to find a new look? o_O
What if Sydney was there and that lady’s reaction to her would be…?!?!?
‘hey, you’re cute, wanna hang for a bit?’
Please don’t eat that here?
Stop destroying the bar?
You are being so weird you are scaring all the men out the door?
Play that elsewhere you are hogging all the men?
No, I’m sure that’s impossible. How are you doing that? Stop doing that?
I was sure that today’s strip was going to be a “Meanwhile…”.
I’m sure one is coming up.
I’m hoping not, incognito Max still has a ton of mileage left and who knows when we’ll get Harper back.
“Max is supposed to be more attractive than I can realistically draw her.”
I’d laugh at that, but we used to have a girl in the sales department like that. She was almost painful to look at. “Stupefyin’ Jones” level of beauty, it didn’t even matter if she wasn’t your “type”.
Pity that, even with that advantage, she was lousy at sales. And that took some doing.
yeah, I’ve seen a lady like that just out walking, I swear EVERYTHING else around her just looked somehow… less real in comparison
I’ve come across two of those over the years. I’ve seen 9s and some 10s, but somehow these two were a full standard deviation above that, there was just this presence about them. I could feel my IQ drop, but it took a good 10 minute to adjust to the reality distortion field.
Still managed to have polite conversation without attempting to hit on them though.
Incidentally, I’ve actually met the occasional supermodel, they hired some for “card girls” when I was competing in Battlebots years ago. Tyra Banks, for instance, looked good, really good, but she does not have that ‘reality distortion’ effect.
It’s something different from ticking all the boxes appearance wise, apparently.
Makes sense to me. It goes for all comics really. Such and such character are supposed to be so extremely attractive.
Let’s take Wonder Woman for example. She’s supposed to be one of the most beautiful women in DC. Then a terrible artist comes in and people aren’t going to see it, since it’s a visual medium. Then there’s just people’s preferences which will have people go…”No way Wonder Woman is hotter than Black Canary”
The mind can create a shifting image of beauty. Something a dream can do but realistically you can’t depict, or trying to end up with something in the uncanny valley, or otherwise because its a subjective idea the artist creates something they find attractive but can go against past images of a character, or what a number of fans want.
as Brand X pointed out this happens with Wonder Woman, a lot, depending on the artists, skinny, bulky, muscular, swimmer body, dancer body, runner body, and even women’s weight lifter, we can see different artists using different references for “strong female body type”. which are all attractive but people will have their preferences.
Same with She-Hulk, Maxima *DC*, Gamora *pre movies being used as reference designs*, etc…
heck even Squirrel Girl has gone through the body types from ballerina to “a little chubby” (hard to describe, but the woman drawing her and writing her said they wanted something more squirrel like than she had been before).
Heck I’ve been in a similar boat trying to describe a character. You have this mental image, but when you try to describe them its like trying to describe red to a blind person. I have looked back at older descriptions I have made of reoccurring characters and be like, “that does not paint the picture I have in my head now*, or even then sometimes. Why its a good idea when you have to describe something in a story to back away for a short time so your mental image fades and see when you come back if what you wrote from a new reader perspective actually describes what you were thinking…why you have to appreciate leaving it to the imagine, but sometimes you really want a specific thing to come to mind but just can’t quite capture that…and if you can’t draw and/or template stuff just doesn’t capture that *Aura of beauty and power*
-although that can also be due to a personal attachment to your design, like take them out of their usual setting, or through the lens of someone not into that look and doesn’t know who or what they are and how they would perceive them.
Research has actually established universal rules of beauty. The biggest things are symmetry, (The more symmetrical your face is, the better it looks.) and neotony for women.
They’re visual cues of reproductive fitness, actually. We’re programmed to find good potential mates attractive.
Of course we are. The ones who were not failed to reproduce back in Ice age.
They aren’t *exactly* universal, though, just common enough to be generally accepted by the public and for anyone with tastes that diverge to be considered an exception or outlier. There are absolutely people who find asymmetry *more* attractive and find youthful features to be *less* attractive, they are just fairly uncommon relative to those who favor symmetry and neoteny.
Yes, but those universal rules aren’t enough to make a woman so hot every guy wants her and a bunch of the women question their sexuality, which I think was the level Dave was indicating Max was supposed to be. Not quite the Dabbler all intelligent species regardless of their gender preference level, but still kind of ridiculous for a human.
Am I saying the universal rules are worthless? No, they’re absolutely required to get to the level of pulchritude we’re talking about. They are just by themselves not sufficient. This feels a bit odd, as why would adding some subjective beauty into the mix help with her overall appeal? I think it may be that just meeting the universal criteria produces an uncanny appearance. This probably follows the same principle that causes women who have *almost* flawless beauty tend to be more attractive than ones who supposedly do have flawless beauty. Look up beauty mark for more information.
On a similar note, too much neotony and many of us will be severely turned off. I remember one woman I met looked very much like she’d be an incredible stunner when she grew up, Except she *was* already grown up. She indicated it was a very big problem for her, because a lot of the guys who were interested in her would turn out to be pedophiles. She didn’t mind guys thinking she was attractive, but she did mind “having” to compete with girls in elementary school and junior high school.
As a student of various topics including Game Theory, I must strongly state that Dating is *explicitly not* a Zero-Sum-Game (one where for one person to gain, others must necessarily lose). It’s a much more complicated system than that, and one that has been studied by people in bars for generations.
This is because (as alluded to in the comic) people have complex and varied preferences, and will disagree strongly about the ranking order of potential partners. This means that multiple individuals can progress simultaneously and cooperatively. For example: if Colin Mocherie were to walk into the bar, Brown-Hair hooking up with him benefits multiple people – Brown-hair gets a strong preference fulfilled, while her friends have less competition for the partners that match their preferences while giving up one who doesn’t.
Came here to say exactly that. A zero sum game is one where the net value across all individuals is constant, but, say, Bob & Carol and Ted & Alice might both be madly in love, while Bob & Alice and Ted & Carol might be miserable.
Brown Hair has a name dangit and it’s Skal Gal. :)
Goth adjacent pony tail gal is great. also colin mochre is a great choice. Fellah is hilarious
Skal Gal!!!! :)
Did the bar have a sign outside saying “please come in to drink alcohol and pursue casual sex with each other” that Max missed? Not that it wouldn’t be interesting if such an establishment existed but it’s getting weird how everyone assumes everyone else is on board with that explicit mission.
Any place that markets substances that lower inhibitions by default reverts it’s clientele to a baser version of themselves. So, I dunno about a glowing neon usage-agreement sign, but it’s pretty much expected.
You never turn up early to a meet up with other people?
All bars have a sign like that, it says “open”.
I got the feeling that was exactly what Max was going out for. At least for the drink and meet someone. However, I’m sure she hasn’t been out in forever, seeing as how she has gold skin, and is way out of practice.
Is anyone else finding the site can’t be accessed with Chrome on desktop at the moment? I’m getting a 500 error. It works fine with Edge on PC and Safari on Mac, and I can read it using the mobile version of Chrome.
Interesting name you got there, you wouldn’t happen to have golden hourglass eyes, would you?
I would if I could!
I’m sure you can get decorative contact lenses to match your order…
well, do yourself favor, and drop chrome for good (honestly, it has really went below bottommost floor nowadays …fallen hard from its peak pre 2016 :)
Personally still using default IE InPrivate, and not having problems (regular IE on the other flipper… )
Chrome is just awful, plus a memory hog. Use Opera GX. Very good on memory use. :)
(Pockets endorsement money under the table)
Brave is a great chromium-based alternative (so at the plugins are compatible), and I just learned about Arc and have been meaning to try it out.
I like Brave too, plus you can get paid for using it I believe (I think there’s some cryptocurrency aspect to it0. And it’s pretty secure and uses the same plugins as Chrome like you said. But I do prefer Opera GX (pockets more money) because it’s VERY low memory usage and seems to be specifically tailored towards people who use their computer for gaming and/or video streaming.
I actually have a ton of browsers on my computer, although I only use a few.
I have Chrome, but only because some sites REQUIRE it. It’s my least useful browser though.
I have Microsoft Edge (which is sort of good and I mainly use it because I do Microsoft Rewards and sometimes I use it to tie into my xbox)
I have Firefox, although for the life of me I don’t know why. It’s almost as bad as Chrome now. Used to be much better.
I have Opera GX (my absolute favorite).
I have Brave (second favorite actually, and a good Chrome alternative because of the plugin reason).
I have FlashPeak Slimbrowser (another low memory usage browser)
I have Tor Browser because I want people to think I’m a rebel hacker who access the dark web for purchasing assassins although I’ve literally never used it and I’m pretty sure I’ll be put on a list or even admitting I have it installed.
I have UR Browser – it’s okay-ish.
I have Torch (it has the feel of Google Chrome before Google Chrome started to suck and become a memory hog).
I have Maxthon (MX5) – it’s pretty decent and very secure.
I have Safari, although I don’t know why since I have a PC and the only good use for Safari is on a Mac or iphone or ipad
I have Pale Moon (yet another low memory browser).
I have CCleaner Browser which is mainly because it came with CCleaner.
And I have Internet Explorer because I can’t figure out how to remove it without messing up my computer since it’s archaic now.
I’d install Netscape and Mosaic if they worked on modern websites also just for OCD reasons but I havent. :)
PS – oh and I have Browzar which works even if your computer is crashing with 100% memory usage but it’s a really sucky browser.
… I think I just had a nerdgasm. Going to have to try out Opera GX now.
Curious if you’re running the official Safari (over a decade old now) or an unofficial recent one?
I’m running the official Safari. I don’t even know about an unofficial recent one. I don’t even know why I have safari on my windows computer in the first place except for probably OCD reasons where I’m treating browsers like pokemon and gotta catch em all. :)
> plus you can get paid for using it I believe (I think there’s some cryptocurrency aspect to it)
PSA: All cryptocurrency is a scam.
ehhhhh…
NFTs are a scam. Some cryptocurrency are scams. But I don’t think all cryptocurrency are scams – they’re basically a non-governmental form of fiat currency for the most part, but without government regulation of that currency.
In case anyone doesnt know what fiat currency is, it means a government-issued currency that is not backed up by any sort of physical commodity (like gold or silver). Basically the currency has value because the government and other governments SAY it has value. Cryptocurrency is pretty much the same thing – the cryptocurrency (be it bitcoin or etherium or cardano or even dogecoin) has value because other people SAY it has value. It’s basically fiat without government regulation or government approval (except in El Salvador which I guess now recognizes bitcoin as having value and backs it, but it would still have value even if El Salvador did not recognize it).
NFTs were a whole other story though, and were always an idiotic idea and an obvious scam. And there are also a lot of cryptocurrencies out there that don’t have any real value and the scam is a few people trying to claim they do in order to rip of other people off.
In the abstract, cryptocurrency may not inherently be a scam… but I think all current cryptocurrencies that I’m aware of are, just as a product of their design. Their creators may not even intend for them to be a scam, but they’re all essentially designed to self-destruct and be unable to scale to a level where they could actually be viable currencies for the whole world to use.
Bitcoin was very specifically designed to simulate a currency backed by a commodity, rather than a fiat currency. There is a finite amount of bitcoin that can be mined, and it gets progressively harder to mine more of it. It started off very easy, to entice people to get in on the ground floor, with the understanding that it was going to get harder over time, and that early investors would have a significant advantage over anyone who got in later. It now costs more electricity to mine bitcoin than the value of the bitcoin.
I will write more when I am not typing on my phone but I agree with a lot of what you said, with some caviats. For example, while bitcoin is a finite amount, each bitcoin can also be SPLIT into 100 billion smaller parts (0.00000001 BTC) OR MORE.
As for the cost of bitcoin because of electricity, thats a problem for new technology to tackle, just like how it costs more to make a penny than a penny’s copper and work involved in coining is worth or how the same was true for nickels, dimes, and quarters until they started using cheaper metals. It might even finally be an economically viable reason for people to get more involved in finding and/or expanding new forms of greener, more sustainable energy, rather than relying on altruism, environmental virtue, or tax incentives from the government.
Okay on my computer now.
“Bitcoin was very specifically designed to simulate a currency backed by a commodity, rather than a fiat currency.”
Saying fiat currency was probably not a very sufficient way of describing Bitcoin admittedly. Sooo I apologize for being inaccurate.
I should have instead described it as ‘having value because we put value on what is backing it.’ Felt like a mouthful though and sort of nebulous as a definition… so I said fiat. Which is admittedly not currently accurate. All I meant by that is that it has value because people think it has value, which is the same basic principle behind fiat. That’s where the similarities end, though. It is also different from fiat in that it has some sort of limit on how much can be created, even though you can divide each bitcoin into a very small amount, and that small amount has the potential to get even smaller, which could effectively be treated LIKE fiat in the future. In fact, a lot MORE divisible than fiat currency. And, like with something like gold, Bitcoin gets value from scarcity. Although unlike gold, the scarcity is artificially created, and can be altered in the future by allowing it to be divisible even more than it currently is. It’s currently a lot more divisible than most fiat currencies (8 decimal points instead of 2 decimal points for everyday use).
Bitcoin was intended to provide an alternative payment system that would operate free of governmental central control but otherwise be used just like traditional currencies. While not a ton is known about Satoshi Nakamoto, what IS known is his reason for creating bitcoin. It was to take back financial control from financial elites, which would give ordinary people the chance to take part in a decentralized financial system.
Precious metals can be subdivided into very small pieces as well.
Bitcoin is deliberately deflationary. This rewards those who get in early, and hoard currency.
It’s also deliberately inefficient, and that’s a fundamentally important property. The whole blockchain depends on “proof of work”. It is deliberately wasteful and expensive. Cheaper, faster processing undermines it, and so does switching to cheaper forms of energy. Are you aware of the Jevons Paradox? Increasing efficiency usually increases consumption, rather than reduces it. The cost reduction increases demand by more than the amount saved by the increase in efficiency.
The security, and thus trustworthiness, of bitcoin depends on it being expensive to process, so much that it would collapse under its own weight were it to be used by a significant fraction of the world’s population. It simply cannot scale that large — or, if a way is found to make it function at that scale, it’s no longer trustworthy. It is deeply, fundamentally defective.
I am less familiar with the algorithms of alternative cryptocurrencies, but I suspect they share the same flaws.
Pander, I suggest you watch “Line Goes Up” by Folding Ideas.
It goes through all the problems with cryptocurrancies in an easy-to-understand format that you, as a non-technical person in the field of advanced mathematics and software, should be able to understand.
That was a particularly interesting video! “The technofetishistic egotism of assuming that programmers are uniquely suited to solve society’s problems.”
Pretty much all the ‘bugs’ with cryptocurrencies are actually ‘features’. They’re intended to manipulate people for the purpose of transferring wealth. It’s just another way for the rich and powerful to stay rich and powerful, and keep the poor and weak poor and weak, all while convincing them of the exact opposite.
They all end up looking like rather blunt moves in the grand game of Nomic.
@Torabi: “Precious metals can be subdivided into very small pieces as well.”
Precious metals cannot be subdivided into 100 billionth of a piece. I think you tend to miss the point of what I post. I didnt say ‘precious metals cannot be subdivided. I said bitcoin is based on scarcity, in the same way that precious metals are based on scarcity to give it value, but UNLIKE precious metals, bitcoins can be subdivided a LOT. Precious metals cannot. Show me 1 one hundred billionth of a gold coin. I suspect that even if you showed me a single grain of gold dust, that would not be 1 in 100 billionth of that coin. Because Bitcoins are digital, though, you CAN do something like that.
I read the rest of your post but I don’t quite understand what you’re saying for most of it, and you’re seeming to make leaps of logic without explaining how you got to those conclusions so if you could explain a bit more I’d appreciate it.
@Illy: I’ll check out the video, but I’ve also checked out a lot of videos explaining how cryptocurrency works as well. I know some cryptocurrencies have problems, but my main point for my post is that not all cryptocurrencies are scams, and my INITIAL initial point of my post (before we all went off on this tangent) was that ‘the Brave browser pays you for using it with a form of cryptocurrency’ (which can always be transferred into dollars if you want immediately) as an added bonus to using it.
@Pander: Seriously, go watch that video before you make any more statements on cryptocurrencies.
You’re gonna feel really stuipd if you don’t.
@Illy:
So I watched all 2 hours and 18 minutes of that.
Line Goes Up is about NFTs (even the full title of the video is ‘Line Goes Up – The Problem with NFTs), not cryptocurrency in general. And I already agreed that NFTs are a scam. His statements about NFTs seemed to be the only thing he said that was attacking the thing itself, not certain people who use the thing. His arguments in the Bitcoin and Etherium sections were not particularly convincing except to say that they were the building blocks for NFTs. But that feels like saying that currency is the building block for the sub-prime lending crisis. The main thing he said that I agree with is that there’s no privacy with cryptocurrency, since it’s very traceable. That doesnt seem like a ‘scam’ though. Seems more like a flaw for people who want privacy in their transactions. Also not applicable to the whole Brave browser use of crypto as payment rewards for using the browser, especially since you can just convert it to normal currency.
The main stuff where he makes actual arguments about scams ARE with NFTs. Again – which I did already say are scams so I already agree with that.
I originally wrote a lot more (an absurdly lot more – mainly on sections 1, 2, and 8, since most of the rest are attacking NFTs more than cryptocurrency itself) detailing each part of the video but I’m trying to not get into tangents too much, since I know it’s frequently a problem with my posts. I have the rest saved if you want to read it though.
> His arguments in the Bitcoin and Etherium sections were not particularly convincing except to say that they were the building blocks for NFTs.
And here we establish that you think “bigger fool” scams are ok.
Cool beans.
I don’t think you even can get rid of IE, but you can go into netBios and make it incapable of waking up.
I really do wish I could get rid of IE (I feel like it’s eating memory when I’m never using it), but I tried once on a test computer and it basically made Windows Explorer cease to work so I don’t want to risk it on the computer that I actually use for everything. But given IE is basically discontinued, they really should allow it to be uninstallable. It’s not like I’d remove Edge too.
How do you go into netBios to make it incapable of waking up? Got a link?
You absolutely can get rid of IE.
You just have to install Linux.
Now that I know about Arc I’ll probably install it as well. Why not.
So, what are the chances “the guy she picks” turns out to be that girl?
Nope.
I call Hiro to the rescue.
No, she didn’t call you a six, you just did
No. Green eye just admitted she’s the lowest numbered girl in bar by assuming that when gold eye included six in her list it referred to her.
Skal Gal (not green eye, not brown hair) is easily a 7.5!!! She has that awesome laid back stoner chick Aubrey Plaza look! :)
“Do women use the number system?”
I would think this women thinks Maxima will get her point best if she uses the number system.
Yeah, the number system is a useful shorthand for describing people’s attractiveness relative to the common societal standard, but because personal tastes vary it becomes less useful when trying to claim actual objective beauty standards. It only gets treated as sexist or whatever because it’s pretty consistently used wrong. Some people will genuinely prefer a 4 over a 7 or whatever because of personal taste, as personal standards trump societal standards any day of the week (so from that person’s standard the “4” would be like a “9” or whatever).
So long as one doesn’t take the societal standards too seriously or too personally it is helpful for making predictions about how people in *general* will react to a person in a given setting with a given amount of effort put into personal appearance, and it is also useful to explain certain results, like the observed phenomenon that certain behaviors are either creepy or cute depending on how attractive the person engaging in them is, or in group behaviors like the one observed in this bar above.
This girl might be expressing some amount of bias when rating herself and her friends (or the art style just doesn’t do a good job of depicting women below an 8), but in general she’s using the system correctly insofar as she is describing a social phenomenon in as clear a manner as possible. She should also *really* tone down the rudeness and the amount of blame she is assigning to Max here, but as far as the number system goes she’s more or less using it correctly when most people don’t.
People are just too affraid and defensive of being thought of as slightly gay at all. Pepole who do, or expect you to, No Homo everything just reek of insecurity. You don’t need to be even slightly attracted to someone to be able to recognise that someone else is attractive. Aesthetic attraction is a thing.
My older sister is an attractive woman, that’s just a simple fact. Trying to pretend she isn’t would require me to ignore how she’s been treated ever since puberty amongst other things. The fact I can openly admit that and have people assume I MUST be sexually attracted to her is just stupid. I think flowers are pretty too, doesn’t mean I’m going to fuck them.
Yups, and there is a difference between ‘someone who is beautiful’ and ‘someone who is attractive’: just because someone is beautiful doesn’t mean they are going to be attractive to everyone
Admitting someone is beautiful (or handsome) doesn’t mean you have to also find them attractive, just like one can be attracted to someone who is not ‘traditionally’ beautiful (or handsome)
There’s also a difference between acknowledging someone *is attractive* and saying you personally are attracted to someone. I’m a dude who’s a 0 on the kinsey scale, and yet I am fully able to tell the difference between attractive men and unattractive men (at least relative to societal standards, obviously personal standards will vary). There are also plenty of women who I would describe as attractive (sometimes using the common shorthand of “hot”) who I am most definitely not personally attracted to, either because my personal tastes diverge a bit from the societal standards, they are related to me, or because I find their personalities repulsive and that ruins any potential physical connection that might have existed otherwise. Heck even context changes whether I’m able to be attracted to someone, like how they are dressed, how they move, what’s going on when I see them, and yet I am always able to assess whether or not they are attractive in general, as those are completely different things.
I have hot cousins, they are very attractive women based on the common societal standards, I personally have never felt even remotely attracted to them despite being able to acknowledge this fact and am actively turned off by the idea of sleeping with any of them. People really need to get better at recognizing the difference between a general description and a statement of personal feelings.
That’s why used ‘beautiful’ and ‘attractive’, most people get them confused and interchange them: they are not the same thing
Never been to an (american, or any,) single bar, but that reads like some genderbent proto-incel talk, not how I’d expect women to talk about their outlook on casual hookups.
I’d expect that to come from someone a bit older, but there are women like that.
I know a few women who are very ‘in your face about what they’re thinking’ like that as well.
Well said, Glenn. Dave really needs a woman to help him with writing women’s dialogue.
Just because one character talks (or acts) a certain way is not indicator that all similar characters will do the same
You are letting your own expectations cloud your judgement
No, it’s a pattern with him. Much can be excused because there’s a lot of humor in the comic, but it goes beyond that.
I’m pretty sure that DaveB is capable of writing for various other people from different backgrounds/sexes/races/species/professions/etc without being those other people or having someone else help him. It’s part of being a writer. Otherwise all he’d be able to write about is people who are white (I’m assuming Dave Barrack is white?) male webcomic artists. Would make for a boring comic.
High five for the CanCon! :-)
These look like the same guys from the previous page, are they lining up to get shot down again? All of them?
Hey, you miss all the shots you don’t take.
Plus she’s not even looking at some of them, and it’s moving so fast there’s a good chance she wouldn’t even notice a couple repeat approaches. What’s she gonna do, say no twice?
I think that one of them should keep going to the back of the line each time changing his appearance a little. One time he’s wearing a fake moustache. Then a fake beard. Then sunglasses with a fake nose. Then a sombrero and charro dress outfit. Then a top hat and monocle. Then a grass skirt. Then a cowboy hat and a texan accent. Then a lab coat and doctor’s stethoscope. Etc etc etc.
I am 1000% on board with this, it just replaced my previous favorite 1st-date story.
It seems odd that Max would even bother with a bar at all. Alcohol barely affects her if at all; she loathes being treated like meat…so why walk into a “meat market” at all, aside from the perceived humor value of it? What would she possibly expect out of such a place? That she would meet someone who gave her the respect she desires? That she would meet someone suave and debonair enough for her to let her guard down? A guard that has no doubt served her well, mind you.
She’s also a high-ranked member of an elite force that has to contend with all manner of overt and covert superpowered and supernatural foes who have access to any number of tracking methods and subtle and overt control techniques. Maxima’s paranoia has to be dialed up to 11 on a constant basis just as a matter of personal survival and national (if not world) security. I don’t see her as ever being able to enjoy anything like a “night out”—at least as portrayed here.
She. Wants. To. Get. Laid.
which makes me still have to ask why this way? I mean we’ve seen her crush a door knob by accident because she was tired, if a man actually manages to bring her to orgasm, orally or otherwise well…Vienna sausage in a rock crusher comes to mind. People say its hot when a woman crushes a watermelon between her thighs until you realize your head isn’t much better off if she’s a clincher. Now imaging this would be like giving oral to a metal press that can press metal presses.
Unfortunately every super she knows that might stand a chance is her subordinate, and one wanders if she knows or would want to cruise the supernatural hang outs, maybe some high end elf or demon lord might fare better, or an alien from a higher gravity world with augmentations or powerful bio-frame enhanced or synthetics etc…
but imagine she wants something other than an adamantium vibrator and on Earth without giving away her famous identity.
but just imagining this can get to the bedroom and she suddenly realizes even small motions from her could dislocate a joint, a rib, his spine during sexual activities if she doesn’t stay 100% focused or go dead fish…which would defeat the point, and just be like, “I did not think this far ahead.”
Not all super she knows that might stand a chance report to her. Some are her opposition. That might matter less to some, but to her it probably matters more.
Dabbler can loan her the Barberian. :)
Right now all she is getting are barbeerians.
I almost expect Lord Beerus to be standing in line at the bar, but just for a drink.
Dangit you!
Low hanging fuit is still fruit.
Hopefully Bharda will not see this thread because I don’t think I’ll be able to survive that many beer puns.
Volume is the yeast of your concerns, as I rarely stoop to pour quality wordplay, and my prior efforts stand as proof. It can be whiskey to get into the proper spirit, of course, and distill one’s thoughts into something easily digested, but it’s worth a shot. But for your saké I’ll cross the pale and, fermenter or worts, seek beer & far for a cure to for what ales you, though this barley counts as mental health.
*jaw drops* That’s the spirit!
You’ll want to button your gob, before anyone thinks you’re absinthe minded.
I meaded this. Tank you.
Sure thing, honey.
Hoppy to help.
Evil. I’m surrounded by pure evil. THIS is the aura of malevolence! The malevolence of awful puns!
Ninja pirate hit squads, go forth!
*goes off to a corner to rock back and forth*
Why send them on a rumaround?
Wordplay isn’t going tequila.
*twitch*
(although the tequila one was pretty brilliant I will admit)
Pander must be some kind of a tpundere
She wants to pretend to be a normal person. So she’s doing what she thinks a normal person would do. It doesn’t actually have to make sense. She wanted a drink, she wanted a normal person experience, she maybe didn’t think it all the way through, because she doesn’t actually know what a normal person experience is like.
This is, however, a normal person experience (if that normal person is ‘ a conspicuously buxom, six foot one, fitness model-looking woman’ who can down the highest proof alcohol like it’s water with a splash of Mio flavor enhancer).
She did think it through. She thought it was going to be a bad idea. :) But decided to try anyway because she NEEDS to get out of her shell finally. She should have had some sort of wingwoman with her though for her first time as a ‘normal woman.’
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-1156-mundanity-insanity/
(panels 4, 5, 6, and 7)
“Normal” doesn’t mean “acceptable.”
I agree with that. But it does mean it’s expected to happen, or at least very likely to happen. Maxima did seem to EXPECT this to happen back on #1156, then did nothing to minimize the chances of it happening.
I’m just describing it as Maxima described it on comic #1156. I never said it’s acceptable (at least it’s not acceptable to start forming a LINE for one woman to give her pick-up lines like they were on an episode of Shark Tank making a pitch. Just that it’s what a normal woman might experience (admittedly not on such an extreme scale as this, but a lot of guys would come over one after the other) if a normal woman looked as insanely sexy as Maxima looks and are in a singles bar alone, drinking. Especially since single bars’ main draw is that they are for hooking up after getting a little inebriated to lower ones inhibitions a bit (or for ‘liquid courage’ as Harem described it).
Plus Maxima should probably straight out say ‘I am not interested in hooking up with anyone, no matter what the pickup line is. I’m literally in here JUST for a drink.’ Just to make it as plainly obvious as possible if she’s trying to avoid people. Because so far she’s just been letting guys take turns in line to try their lines out on her so she can shoot them down (unless she said that off panel). The closest she got to saying anything was when one completely sloshed guy got right in her face and she said ‘go away’ and pushed his face away with her hand. Which feels like it was to JUST that one guy, because he was ridiculously drunk and saying he wanted to BE her pants.
But who would be her wingwoman?
Kenya made it clear that she not only thinks that Maxima should get out and dancing, but that she is way overdue for horizontal dancing.
Dabbler would think it silly to wait with that till she gets home.
Regarding the being clear up front. I can assure you from personal experience that that would only encourage these man to try even harder.
(and forget about being, or pretending to be, lesbian. You will need a seal team to keep them away from you in that case and that is to say nothing of the ones who would be very upset and angry with you for daring to not being into them, or men in general).
Sydney should have a clause in her contract that prohibits her from visiting places like this without a chaperone and about five years worth of training to improve her impulse control.
Heatwave? Jiggawatt? They are not going to be able to support Maxima and they will not tell her how to back off gracefully.
Penny might be of some help, but she is impulsive and comes across to me as being more than slightly amused by the notion of putting Maxima in an awkward social situation.
Heh, I’ve been there, lady in purple.
Back in university, I was attractive enough to get some attention, and it was fine… Until my best friend walked into the room. Then suddenly I was invisible, and the guy who’d been chatting with me for the last 20 minutes would be making a beeline for her. And what made it worse was that she had no understanding of how hot she was, and what he presence was doing.
Nowadays, we’ve both got husbands, but back then there were a fair number of “Dammit, she’s oblivious, and the rest of us are invisible next to her. Now nobody is getting laid tonight!” moments.
The women in this bar are almost as bad as the men.
Your autocorrect wrote “almost” where it should say “absolutely”.
Maybe she should have gone to club Uuntz. At least the proprietess would be able to curate the idiots and the music would drown out the one liners.
Presume you mean Decollete, but Uuntz isn’t her club IIRC and I don’t think Max is ready to socialize with her – let alone in her own lair, and certainly not on the first run as Harper. The whole point of the outing is to get some time away from the super/supernatural world for a bit.
That’s an angle I hadn’t looked at because… It’s a non issue! If this gal WANTS to hook up then do it and leave Max alone. She’s made it clear she’s NOT there to hook up and if that’s what the other gals are there for, it’s not anyone’s fault that Max wanted to JUST DRINK. I learned a long time ago that pickups in bars end badly. A buddy of mine had to go see a doctor 3 times because of that, it only took once for me. And that was just before HIV so I went ahead and got checked for that asap! “Playing the field” is a personal thing and if this bimbo goes to a bar to be picked up, then pick a guy, and find out if he’s worth it, don’t verbally attack the hotter chick in the bar, try to get someone’s attention the old fashioned way, ASK. stupid reindeer games…
I learned an amazing thing when I was actively dating, relax and don’t pester, and be indifferent. It’s amazing how often some gal would come talk to you! Looking and dressing good helps too. Max is there for the mundane feeling of being in public, without any interest in dating or hooking up. This gal THINKS she’s there to hook up because for many, that’s what you go out to do, personally, I’d rather bump into someone and just talk to them to get to know each other.
the stories I’ve heard about Bill Clinton where he walks into a room and ALL attention is on him is rather amazing. to quote a secondhand account “all the women wanted to be with him and all the men wanted to be him”. Max turns that up to 11
I am totally the potato skins seller, when it comes to being dating material. But I would NEVER go to a bar to start getting to know a guy. Or gal. If I go there, it will be with someone I already kinda know. Maybe we met on a dating site, maybe in an online game, maybe they are a friend of a friend or an ex of an ex. That club can be one thing we do together for dating, maybe we are already together and just want to go out. But WHO THE HELL GOES THERE TO FOR PICK UP?
This page should be submitted to r/menwritingwomen.
But not by me, because that would mean joining Reddit.
Max is seconds away from realizing her time with superhumanly attractive men has spoiled her for normal guys. So she might as well pick a woman–they’re less annoying to her!
Her opinion of super men is not generally that much higher.
(even if we ignore that the ones she could date are her subordinates. The ones who are not massively annoying or worse. The supers she encountered in her line of work by and large have been putting a lot of power in being obnoxious)
I meant on a purely physical level. Working at ARC is like being constantly drip-fed beefcake porn. Even Max would get affected by that… actually, with no outlet, she might be worse off than the others.
I can’t imagen a woman saying this too another woman, and if she did she would be a massive asshole. Max isn’t here to flirt and she should be able to have a drink without being bothered by every idiot in the bar who can’t rap their head around the idea that women there are attractive are not just going to fuck them.
Yes, she is a Massive Asshole, just like if a man did it to another man, nice to see you understand
One might suppose we might expect an attempted catfight, attempted in that the person attacking Maxima would notice her punches had no effect, perhaps after she broke some fingers.
Well, if I were in that bar and heard that girl with the hair covering her face (let’s call her Kylie) drop the name Colin Mochrie I would forget all about Max. I’d be running up to Kylie and offering to buy drinks. Or, the more riskier move. Making the call of the arctic turn. BACKSTREET BOYS!!
not an owl?
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Arctic_Tern/overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBzwv057GPs
“Man… that Colin.”
Her attitude is definitely the most attractive of anyone there. :)
I’m actually surprised that Dabbler isn’t there incognito in the line.
Why do you think she isn’t?
Mostly because the gal talking to Max like that, would be talking to Dabs as well, if not first. Dabbler can use a “lust aura” to attract everyone in the room, Max is just sitting there. In fact Max should bring Dabs with her next time! Dabs can get a “top up” and Max can enjoy her night.
Given that the lady in purple has her hands on Max’s shoulders in the last panel, I’m wondering if she’ll feel anything amiss/unusual? Since I believe that the glamour on Max isn’t tactile, should the lady feel (even through Max’s jacket):
A) the rigidity of Max’s muscles, given how strong she is (as well as her possibly being tense from being a bit defensive)? I figure the closest equivalent would be like feeling the muscles of a professional bodybuilder.
and B) the smoothness of the jacket on Max’s skin? Given I believe that Max’s skin has been described as having a smooth, metallic feel to it.
Again, she’d be feeling that through Max’s jacket, so that would probably dull the sensation a bit on both, but I wonder how well she’d be able to discern that?
“Given I believe that Max’s skin has been described as having a smooth, metallic feel to it.”
The only commentary I have here is that, according to Sydney, she does not have a metallic feel to her skin.
Plus when Dabbler invisible groped Maxima’s butt during the Sydney interview, or when she grabbed her boobs to make faces in her ‘funhouse funbags’ (Dave’s title for the comic), you can see indentations so it probably does NOT feel like metal.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-592-funhouse-funbags/
Her skin is smooth though, since it doesnt have any pores like normal skin (hence why normal, non-magical/non-holographic/tech makeup and camo grease doesnt work well for her skin)
I find the premise of this entire “Maxima’s Night Out” sequence a bit dubious. She has the chance to go out in public incognito for the first time in a decade (if i understand her timeline right) and … she chooses to spend it getting slobbered over by dude-bros at a hiptser bar? Like … she chose this over a concert of a favorite band she never got to see, taking a family member she’s missed to dinner, or even just a walk in the park without blinding passers-by? This is seriously the experience she’s been craving?
She’s there to drink, not socialize
How is that so difficult for so many readers to understand?
Nah, she’s there to drink and get laid. If she didn’t want to get laid, she wouldn’t have come to an obvious hook-up bar. I’m sure she did her research.
I’m not. I don’t think “obvious hookup bar” is part of her cognitive landscape. She’s been effectively cut off from “interacting with ordinary people in public” for too long for there to be a separate category between “hookup bar” and anywhere else.
Remember her powers effectively cut her off from normal interaction with other human beings while she was still a teenager. She probably has the understanding of what a “bar” is to regular human beings of a sixteen-year-old who’s never been legally inside one before.
Nothing has prepared her to know she needs to draw this kind of distinction, and actually getting laid is such a long step outside her comfort zone that she likely hadn’t even considered it to be among the possibilities.
She went to “a bar” because she thinks that’s what normal people do and doesn’t know where else to go. She’s like somebody dipping a toe into the water to see whether it will hurt her, not like somebody diving in for a long swim.
While I do think she’s in an obvious pickup bar, I don’t think Max did her research on that. She might be oblivious to social settings like this, since she’s never had a normal social life as an ‘impossibly hot babe.’ Not to mention most of her life, she was also gold with elf ears and purple hair. This is the most normal she’s looked since she was a teenager, and she’s definitely not ‘normal’ looking like this. She’s waaaaaaay above normal looking on the attractiveness scale, definitely in the top 1 percent of 1 percent of 1 percent from how DaveB describes it. Like ‘as sexy as you can look without being a succubus’ sexy. :)
As Anvil described it to Dabbler (from what can be discerned from the mumbling whispers), Maxima is someone who is NOT good in many social ‘dating’ situations because of a lack of experience, and REALLY doesnt have experience getting ‘out of her shell.’
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-835-recruitment/
Anvil realizes this and has made it her goal to try to get Maxima to learn how to socialize and go on a gd date. She and Dabbler were REALLY happy that Maxima was trying to go out on the town tonight FINALLY. Maxima probably could have used a wingwoman though since she’s not good at social settings as compared to superhero settings or war settings or political briefing settings.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-828-wingwoman/
She could use Vale as her wingwoman! *snickers*
She would have to staggeringly oblivious to walk into an overt hook-up bar like this one without expecting exactly sort of experience she’s getting.
But even more baffling, if she legitimately is just out to score a one-night stand … who the heck under the age of 35 goes to bars for that anymore? That’s want Tinder and other dating apps are for now. Hook-up bars are only for the desperate or the indiscriminate, neither is which is how one would describe Maxima.
I’m giving Maxima the benefit of the doubt so that the scene would make more sense.
1) She might just be socially stunted rather than a hypocrite because her entire adult life has been decidedly NOT normal and she seems to make excuses to NOT go out, like when Anvil tried to set her up on a double date. DaveB’s statements seem to lean this way.
2) Remember this takes place about over 10 years ago. :) Tinder would be a recent thing at the time of the comic, or possibly not even in existence yet (Tinder came out in 2012 I think). Obama was president from 2008 to 2016 and Sydney was so impressed by him and he doesnt seem to have gray hair yet so I’m assuming it was during his first term, not second.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-314-contrition-condition/
3) Maxima did seem to be desperate for a night out as a ‘normal woman’ to the point where she decided to drive even though it apparently infuriates her with how slow driving is compared to her flying or even just running, not to mention her wanting to rage while parking, so she might be ‘desperate’ for a normal night out, and did not really think things through on where to go for that normal night out. Probably should have picked somewhere like Buffalo Wild Wings or a generic sports bar.
If she JUST wanted to drink, she is insanely wealthy and probably can afford any sort of liquor that she wants to drink at home.
She went to a bar to ‘act like a normal woman for one night.’ Her words. Most people go to bars for more than just drinking. They go to bars to socialize AND drink. I know that when my friends drag me to a bar it’s more because they want me to socialize as well, because they know i’m not really a drinker.
When a person goes to a nightclub, it’s partially to socialize. I can have loud music at home.
When a person goes to a bar, it’s partially to socialize. I can have alcohol at home.
When a person goes to a book club, it’s partially to socialize. I can read a book at home.
Especially when Maxima knows that she’s a 6’1″ extremely fit, gorgeous woman, gold skin and purple hair or not. She went out of her way to draw attention also from the second she came into the bar, despite using a device to specifically make her stand out a LITTLE less (not much because she’s still a 6’1″ fitness model straight out of Heavy Metal magazine, where the very first thing she did was order 8 shots of the absolute strongest alcohol they had, then loudly announced that thing about ‘some beer she can chew.’ It’s not like she’s trying at all to be subtle, so I can understand the woman in the purple dress wanting her to just not hog up ALL the attention when most of the women there have gone to the bar to either get picked up by guys or at the very least, socialize (like Skal Gal).
I will play devil’s advocate though.
It could just be that Maxima is incredibly socially unaware because she has never really HAD a normal girl’s night out (before the choker Anvil couldnt get her to go out with her even, and she’s Maxima’s best friend) or understand the point of going out to bars that are like this. She might simply not realize that ‘normal women’ often go out to bars in order to hook up with guys because for her, she always has guys lining up for her. Before the geode, she didn’t even have a ‘super’ physique, and described herself as a ‘skinny beanpole.’
Skinny beanpoles at 16 often become the next Miss Universe (or some other beauty contest) Max was going to be a looker no matter what, she just got a boost when the geode did it’s thing. It’s also how a woman shows herself too, my wife was a solid “8” in jeans and a t-shirt, but if she got dressed up, make up, and did her hair right, she’s a solid 11!
Of course I might be a tiny bit biased…
I agree, Max is no doubt socially stunted, her dating in high school had to be hell, she’d be more used as a bragging rights than anything, most guys would either be intimated or put off by her goldness and power. So for her, any dating she may have done in the past has been very bad for her. Which explains her feminist attitude. I think she does need a wing-woman, if for nothing else to help run off the leaches and give her tips otherwise.
“Skinny beanpoles at 16 often become the next Miss Universe”
Maxima was clearly trying to downplay the idea that she was in any way ‘a future Miss America’ when she was 16 when Dabbler was asking.
“Max was going to be a looker no matter what, she just got a boost when the geode did it’s thing.”
For all we know, her powers are ENTIRELY from the geode, not just a boost. She is, in many ways, different than other supers. Varia’s touch doesnt work on her because she has ‘screwy skin,’ she has pointy elf ears which don’t seem to actually serve any purpose as far as being a super is concerned, and from what I recall, supers in the grrlpower universe start getting their powers during puberty, while Maxima had no powers at ALL until a day or so after the geode water thing happened.
As DaveB described it: “Max’s trajectory to superdom was a little different than usual”
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-414-the-o-g-s-origin-of-the-gold-stuff/
And accordingto DaveB, Max was ‘late bloomer’ since she had not exhibited any powers by the age of 13, by which time other supers in the Grrlpowerverse have started showing powers.
Deus also implies that it had something to do with the geode ‘choosing her.’ And Deus is pretty spot on with his ‘guesses.’
Also any assumptions by ARCHON as to whether Maxima’s powers came from the geode or were just boosted by the geode were, again according to DaveB , “guesswork” and “it would be virtually impossible to tell if it’s boosting her existing powers, or if she would have been a moderately powerful super on her own, and it provides her power pool, or if its the source of her power or what.”
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-415-are-you-there-god-its-me-maxima/
“Which explains her feminist attitude.”
Yes, she likely has no idea of people would like her for herself or because of her VERY exotic appearance, and I think Maxima really should have taken Anvil up on her offer of a double date with the 6’5″ basketball player’s ‘friend’ before the stuff with Deus on TV happened.
Ditto about the wingwoman thing. If purple dress lady had been smarter, she might have suggested having Maxima come over to a table with her and the others so she could help do just that, which also might have worked on her getting noticed even with Maxima in the room once it was made very clear to the guy that Maxima was not interested. It almost happened to Sydney in Decolette’s club, despite Decolette being a sexual magnet (almost literally).