Grrl Power #189 – A few details were bound to slip through the cracks
Remember how last page I called myself a a big dummy who likes spending an inordinate amount of time on a single panel… I think this is everyone I’ve introduced over at Archon so far. Achilles is behind Max, Jiggawatt is absent though that’s intentional. It feels like there should be a lot more though. Of course the base isn’t left empty, there’s tons of support staff and lower level people manning the fort. I guess Maxima is getting them a Fajita Friday or something.
Links ahoy!
The Valentines Day Sex Drive thingy is up. Check it out, throw me a vote over at TWC then hit the DeviantArt page for the regular and the “sans camo” version in wallpaper size.
DeviantArt user WWJDTD posted a cleaned up diagram of Sydney’s skilltree. He posted it in the comments for that page but I thought I’d top level it.
And speaking of linking things from DeviantArt, I only realized recently that Fred Perry of Gold Digger (and Action Time Buddies) drew a thank you Maxima for me linking to his webcomics, the aforementioned Action time Buddies. If you haven’t already, check it out. The best way to describe it is Adventure Time meets My Little Pony.
Kyle Maxwell does a slacker superhero webcomic called Honey Badger and Friends and is a long time fan of Grrl Power. Maxima guest stars in his Valentines Day strip, and it doesn’t go well.
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.
The only ARCHON people I don’t see who weren’t mentioned by name are the General, Sandy, and Front-desk guy from comics 78 and 81 (who probably doesn’t count, but whom I vote should be named Bob, just because).
Oh, and X! Almost forgot him. Though for all we know, he IS here and we just can’t see him.
Well most of the guys there look like pretty straight shooters so I’m betting that ARC DARK wasn’t invited or they’re on security detail.
Actually X IS there, at the corner to which Dabbler is pointing her bottom.
If you’re talking about the person mostly obscured by Maxima’s head, I’m pretty sure from DaveB’s comment that’s Achilles. It also makes sense that would be him since it’s right next to Mr. Amorphous, his best buddy. If you mean X is just back there in the corner being invisible, then I think I already covered that. :)
Where it looks like the wall is wrinkled in the corner?
He he. I love it when folks talk at cross-purposes yet still make valid points.
NotFred is not referring to either of the visible corners, but is describing a point to the left of our field of view. Behind Maxima, but not shown in this panel.
Zu Long is self-evidently referring to just the visible panel, thus missing the previous point. But is perfectly correctly stating that if X was in our field of view, but hiding in plain sight, we could spot him, if only we were holding Halo’s truesight orb*.
* Talking about which, she really needs to test if somebody else can hold one of her orbs (staying within her usual range limits, of course) and make use of them. Truesight being a classic example. For instance if she is trying to convince somebody that they are being fooled by an illusion or invisibility**.
Dabbler would be an ideal candidate for the test, as she could grasp four of the known orbs and, assuming any of them work (and do not object to being fondled by anyone other than their mistress), then could test whether the limit of two orbs is due to physiology or an innate restriction of the orbs technomagic.
Personally my assumption is the latter. But it would still allow Halo to use one of her orbs, whilst loaning out another, for someone else to use. If the basic test yields positive results, that is.
** Do not be fooled into thinking that her truesight dispels an illusion, by the way. Dabbler made it clear that she had dropped her illusion only once it became clear she had been spotted. Presumably X did the same with his method of hiding. If he did not, then Dabbler was mistaken and her illusion had been dispelled, and she merely thought she had banished it herself.
X remained invisible while Syd was holding the ball and pointing to her/him. That is clear given Harem’s question and Dabbler’s attitude.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/641
That is another possibility relating to the Skill Tree. Maybe the tail with double line they all have is an “lend allowed” property.
+1
That…sounds like a really fun experiment….with potentially really wacky outcomes…especially as the potential secondary user might not have as easy a time with fine-tuning the control.
Or…*evil grin* Imagine if a secondary controller was allowable, but only if Sydney was specifically focusing on allowing it? Flip something shiny across her field of vision at a critical moment, and let the chaos ensue!!!
Or the reverse, if she has no control over it. In which case she needs to guard carefully against an enemy grabbing hold of one!
Ooooo, the potential plot points of that occurring mid-epic-battle….
And now I’m picturing Dabbler (She’d be the most likely to try such an experiment) grabbing a Orb and getting slung around like a rock on a string and yelling “Sydney! STOP THIS CRAZY THING!!!!”
Considering Dabbles is looking towards Maxi, her butt is facing the corner behind Heatwave
Sure you did, I was just adding evidence :)
Also, Doctor “Stop touching stuff” who has healing powers. I’m gonna stop now, I promise.
Okay, 1 more, and this time it’s actually probably a superhero- Where is the long-haired blond guy from comic 112?
Oh right, forgot about him, at least the guy behind him shows up (for only the 3rd? time)
No one has commented on how cute a blushing Sydney in panel 4 is? Shame on you all!
I alluded to it, in my first comment. *wags tail* Although, to be honest, it was the more fact that she was blushing which I liked. In terms of looks, I felt she was even cuter in a couple of the frames from the previous issue. Either way, her sheer range of expressions continues to amaze me. Dave’s art is subtly versatile.
I was blushing too much to mention it!
Yes, now that the secret is out, everyone and their 100′ robots and GMO terrorzoids will be out after them. They may have more problems from fans and paparazzi than enemies. Until someone decides to sue. Won’t work since they are US govt. You can’t sue them.
That curse about things becoming interesting should be exciting. For us, not them.
Yeah, you can. People sue the United States all the time.
They try to sue. Doesn’t get anywhere usually.
There is a big difference between bringing and winning a law-suit against the US Government
then you get stuff like “The Incredibles”…
I would say in this situation, as much as we mock Maxima and otherwise say she’s horrible in a PR sense she’s a great leader. Putting herself up on the chopping block is what a good leader does when they understand that everyone is going to be facing things they can’t imagine.
We know Halo’s comic shop will be a great way to bring better PR to people, and it’s now saved. But Halo may not like the idea of all the public eye on her. Same with Harem. Dabbler should be ok. Math I can see turning it into one big dating game. Anvil will hate it. Heatwave will take time to figure things out, and so on. Cameras change things for each person and you can’t tell what they’ll do under the lights. This is how we get people on game shows missing 2+2.
2 + 2 = purple, isn’t it?
No you idiot 2+2 is fish!
Actually 2 + 2 is fish
Jasa and RobK thank you for all the fish.
So Long and Thanks for All the Fish…
Ok, I got that nod in Douglas Adams’ direction out of my system now. Maybe I can return to “normal,” whatever that might mean.
After all, Doug only authored the only five-book trilogy in human history.
What about Piers Anthony? The Xanth Trilogy is how long now?
T A Baron’s Merlin trilogy is 5 or so books long
And how many books in the Foundation “Trilogy”? Though to be fair, Isaac Asimov did start referring to it as the Foundation series after he exceeded the requisite volumes.
Nonono! 2+2=Illinois!
Guys, guys, GUYS!
2+2=Tutu.
Thought you said TaTu and was just wondering: what ever happened to them? haven’t heard anything about them since one of them got married (to a guy!) and had a kid
I think they were at the Sochi opening ceremony or something.
They haven’t been run out of the country yet?
Nah, hot bi-babes are always welcome everywhere.
You haven’t been reading about Russia’s anti-gay stance then
In a nutshell TaTU was playing the angle fo sales.
I did hear that they they had biathletes at the game.
I had an idea for the next Olympics to boost ratings. They have already added various stunt skiing/snowboarding events to the lineup. I want the ski jump to add another round where the contestants wear the winguits used by stunt skydivers. I think we could set some serious distance records.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
That half pipe ski/boarding event would be great with that. Better air time with the stunts.
2+2= purple fish from illnois in a tutu
You forogt: ‘singing russian love songs about girls in knee-high socks’
“KA-BLAM” “sighs” NEXT!
“All the Dancing Hitlers go stage right! And the Singing Hitlers go stage Left?”
And Russian Dancing Men in the center!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyiEaSzpdMk
One of the lovely cultural things about living in rural Bulgaria, is that all the villager children are encouraged to sing, dance and otherwise perform at all of the village events. Amongst which are traditional dances, some of which are fairly similar to Russian Cossack dancing.
Others can be followed, purely from their choreography, having some story or theme, such as courtship dancing. And this carries on into adult life, so they have a lot of talented dances and musicians who can entertain on the spur of the moment or in planned events.
Sadly, even since I emigrated a few years ago, I have seen a decline in the performance of traditional material, in favour of pop songs and other memes. Modern culture has it’s appeals, but seeing less of the spectacular dancing is not amongst them.
Loosing the atonal Bulgarian folk music, though, is to be appreciated. I cannot follow most of the lyrics, but emotively they seem to convey something like: “My cat is dead, my dog is dead, all my relatives are dying, I have an unpleasant disease…” For about five stanzas. Or more if they do not get shuffled off the stage quickly!
So, country music?
The only two shows I listen to regularly on the radio are country. My tastes are broader than that, mind, it just happens that for a while other programmes have not appealed. Stations with adverts are out for a start. And the last two shows that I loved got simultaneously banned by the BBC following a notorious incident. That said I came across an interesting show this week and intend to give it a try for a while. She shows real potential, and it is a shame that I have not come across her before.
Hmmm, pretty sure have heard her name before, no idea where though
According to the eminent math-scholar “Quick-Draw McGraw”:
“2 Plus 2 is 22 – – – & Do-o-o-o-on’t Yew-For-Get-It!”
(Yeah, I know – I’m showing my age again. I’ll be quiet now.)
What is the picture behind the Harems (both pictures)?
The nearest is New Orleans Skyline in 1909.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Orleans_Skyline_Standard_Guide_1909.jpg
So, is that just another random bit of dinner kitzh? Or a hint to the location of ARCHON?
I don’t know. But I have figured out that NotFred‘s super-power is to be able to memorise every public domain photograph and it’s significance.
Actually a very good power to have
Nah… dammit!
Gets a DNA sample from NotFred for “research” purposes
OMG! Do not give me SUCH. A. CUE.
Please…
For someone who got a public appology out of Maxi, Ari doesn’t look to happy in panel 3 (was she hoping to get a private ‘apology’ later?)
It is because she can no longer apply for arch enemy status.
Is that Duke Nukem at the top right of the first panel…?
No, all 3 are Space Marines
I asked that too, ‘Isn’t that Duke?’
Who wants to guess what kind of people halo’s parents will be? I have 4 main ideas of ironic/interesting/influential parents for her:
1. hippie mom x conservative dad (married or not (dad could have adopted her to give her the name))
2. supportive, normal, suburban couple (picture yard work and baking)(willing to accept anything)
3. uber-weird, parents (imagine crazy greeting rituals that leave outsiders in confusion)
4. crazy uptight parent(s) that she is psychologically reacting against
I think that it is fairly obvious that she does have a “traditional” family (mom and dad vs. dadxdad/momxmom/dadxdadxmom etc.) regardless of whether they’re broken up now or not. I’m guessing there will be something odd about her parents, simply because of her personality, and how they have been specifically not mentioned in the storyline until now. (except for like, two instances)
How many times do you mention your parents in a single day? Remember: this is still Day 1
yeah, it has been one day, but the one day was very complicated, and I think at the very least it might have come up when the others were discussing Sydney’s record (remember the police report saying “oh the humanity”?)
that part doesn’t really matter though, my real point was asking people about their opinions on Sydney’s parents.
She does not know it, but her mum is actually a shape-shifting alien. Although she tells Sydney that her dad named her after him, Dabbler has never even told General Faulk that he has a daughter.
Dabbles isn’t a shape-shifter though, she uses illusions to mask her appearance (remember the invisible grope on Maxi’s golden butt?)
He he, as I hit the submit comment button I predicted I would be picked up on that one. But she is a part doppelgänger, which is one of the most famous shapechanging races. There is no reason why she cannot be both an illusionist (from her Succubus side) and a shapeshifter.
Succubus is not a doppelgänger.
Should have re-read your comment before posting.
I do that all the time myself. Think nothing of it.
You are surely right. She reshaped as two-breast in her way from Wereworld.
Heh. Sadly that one is just down to artistic license, rather than for plot reasons. DaveB just did not feel that he could get cloth to hang convincingly. Although, knowing your memory, I probably do not need to say that. ;-)
Thanks :) but do not hold back, I could not actually read all the comments, especially from the start.
Or her parents tried to convince her that was the case XD My parents spent a good part of my childhood trying to convince me that the family was really from Jupiter.
Isn’t that what older siblings do? o_O
Sounds like you had/have fun parents :D
XD Maybe, except, I was the oldest sibling. And yes, fun parents indeed. My dad was/is an inventor who writes scifi in his spare time; my mom used to be a science teacher, and does pen-and-ink drawings in her spare time. Both are also trekkies and made sure I was exposed to Doctor Who by the age of five XD
I like your parents.
XD I’ll tell them that.
Ooh, no wonder you hiss at sunlight. You wouldn’t get much of that through those thick clouds. Do you have any childhood memories of the Great Red Spot? I bet you find all these humans to be really puny compared to you and your family!
Actually, I am quite short XD Perhaps early exposure to Jupiter’s gravity stunted my growth?
Doubtless short but perfectly formed. Perhaps contributing to the empathy you feel for Sydney.
I only wish I were as skinny as Sidney XD
Heh, nice irony, given how she is portrayed as being self-conscious and envious of the looks of the natural supers.
Yes, well, she’s comparing herself to theoretical perfection, so….
… she should realise that perfection is the skin that you are in.
That tends to be easier to say than do, for the vast majority of people. Far easier is to convince yourself that something else is more important than looks, which works almost as well ^_^()
Very true. It can take years to achieve. And many will never have the good fortune of being able to realise that.
Well, the sun is rising here and it burrrnnss! I must away to seek shelter in my library then nap until it goes away again.
I’m pretty positive Halo’s dad is going to be a bigger, male version of his daughter. It’ may be possible she got her ADHD from her mother’s side along with her petite build, but I still see her father as the one she take’s after, from the taste for spiciness levels that would make Lum Invader spew flames, to the knack for setting others off balance in social intercourse.
I’m no writer or the like yet, but even if they’ll be one-shot characters, the heroes’ parents should be comparably interesting characters to the children they produced, instead of stock ‘typical parents’ characters. Bland, vanilla people tend to raise offspring that share their vanilla blandness.
We already know her parents are nonconformist enough to name her after her dad, making her ‘junior.’ Also, for a white girl from the “millennial” generation still in her early twenties, she shows a surprising amount of taking the adult world by the horns (already a small business owner, all the travel,etc.) that strikes me as a sign she was probably raised by a bunch that understood the value of such better than a more generic, bandwagon-following nuclear family.
While I don’t see either of them acting anywhere as outlandish as their little swearing machine, Sydney’s parent’s probably are as atypical as she is.
I’m very different from my parents. Happened to get all the or most of the recessive gene expressions. All my other brothers are taller etc. Hair turned white before I was 30, blue eyes, red face, did terribly with most people especially females. Still have that problem. My other brothers have no problem relating. Genes are just a bit more complex than you think. I am the purple three-eyed sheep of the family.
Is it just me, or is Bubblegum Harem trolling Sydney in panel 5? If so, then panel 8 is justified payback (unfortunately, poor Peggy’s prosthetic was an innocent casualty in this :()
No, I think she’s actually curious about it. Remember, she doesn’t know Sydney has been keeping it a secret to the entire world until now
Hah! That makes me realize the hand of Harem’s in that last panel is her protecting herself after the first meeting with Sydney.
“Not the face!”
Of course! I had been trying to figure out why her hand was like that, because it did not seem like she was being knocked over too. But I think you have hit the nail on the head. So to speak.
It’s just the way she is leaning over and have her eyes, can almost hear Stewie when he is teasing/mocking Brian about one of his books (when Stewie talks without taking a pause or a breath)
This dinner borught to you on the letter E. Eeeeeeeeeee.
Blarg! She knocked off Peggys leg! Dang girl!
So yeah that’s a big “no I never told them,” from Sidney.
Or she just remembered Joel at the shop.
I think it a little of both.
Let’s see: “Mom! Did you watch the news?” “Oh suffering camel spit rhino toasted oak nuts. Wait, was the Tivo running? … sweet. Be right there.” Glowing ball out, Sydney looks intently at nothing. Screetch comes from phone. “Oh yeah, mom. Forgot to mention. Powers. Super. Military.” pause, pause. Sydney alert again and looking at phone. “NO I AM NOT GETTING MARRIED TO a…” looks around. “fine. I will keep an open mind….” –winks at Peggy.
And yes I am assuming that her dad is passed away. My 13 year is _normal_ and nearly gives me heart attacks on a daily basis. He could never have survived a Sydney teen without super powers –regenerative maybe or some kind of time/mind control …
I just assumed Sydney took after her dad.
I wouldn’t want anyone to know who I was or my family, friends and colleagues. It would be a disaster.
you would think Peggy’s prosthetic would be more secure than that.
I find Harem seems to be the butt monkey of archon.
True enough, especially as her prosthetics will need to be secure enough for the rigours of being a sniper. Looking for reasons, I think it plausible that, as she was sitting down, after a long day, she might have loosened the fastenings. Either just to relieve the pressure, or to allow her to massage the stump, discreetly.
As regards Harem, the only incidents I can recall her falling foul of have been the result of her own actions. Teleporting her face into close proximity of Sydney’s fists, for example. Not that Sydney was even a member of Archon at the time.
The other occasion being trying to publicly embarrass her commanding officer. She is lucky Maxima has an … unusual means of direct punishment. Another commander facing such severe insubordination and dis-regard for operational discretion may have been showing her the door. Figuratively speaking.
Honest question, reading this, and rereading her freak out when she tried to respec, what does Sydney sound like? I’m getting mental images of some of those old school black metal vocalists who sounded like demonically possessed cats or parrots.
Think Bobcat Goldthwait, after huffing on helium
For some reason, I read all characters’ speech (in all comics/books I read) using my own voice. I never give them any other voice; it might be just because giving characters different voices would be hard for me to imagine, since I’ve been reading many materials for years, and I am familiar with way too many characters to constantly think of voices to give them.
Sarah Silverman, or Pam or Cheryl/Carol from Archer. That’s the best comparison I can make at the moment. Sorry.
‘Generic’ American, nothing too regionally distinctive or abrasive (yes, you the loud ones in foreign restaurants*).
* I love most American accents by the way. In fact accents in general. But having a strong Afrikaans accent as a youth in England, made me realise how badly some accents can grate on others ears, in the wrong setting. Although it took me quite a while to cotton on to that it was causing some antipathy, as it was the first time I had been exposed to such a situation.
I now have what American girls describe as a ‘nice’ English accent. Although my original accent does creep back in if speaking to a South African. But far less pronounced and taking much longer to appear, as the years go by.
I would love it if she had an accent like mine. Where people hear the accent they want. I speak, do you want german? I sound german. You want brazillian? I sound brazillian. What you want, I got it. I moved around a lot so I have a weird mish mash accent. The only person I know with it. I wish for Sydney to have it as well because of well, ego.
Mum is Rhodesian (not Zimbabwean, she left long before Mugabe screwed up a once-thriving nation) and the accent slips in every now and then
Oh yeah, Silverman for sure! Tweak that voice up a few semi tones, and bingo! I’m still picturing her sounding like old Ihsahn when she gets mad. That perfect mix of screechy growling while howling “Respec!”
On the accents, I think it’s kind of hilarious, cause when I hear someone say generic American, more than once I’ve played clips of of a few Swedes I know who have impeccable English, and they always get confused as Americans until they say something along the lines of Helsvik or Styrbjörn.
Just a musing I had.
Wait, did she ever make the deposit the money from the store?
I asked that question a while back. Don’t think that has crossed Sydney’s mind yet either.
I can see that cut and paste is going to be handy on this one:
See Psionicost‘s reply below, which covers most of the options. Personally I view it as a trivial detail, which we can assume was resolved ‘behind the scenes’. Otherwise we push DaveB down the path of having to tie up every loose end and not progress the story.
Of course, if it inspires him to create a funny scene, then that is another matter.
Are… are those tables arranged in an “M”? Maxima you crazy.
Just egotistical. Just be thankful if the next full moon, you do not see a giant ‘M’ carved across it!
Nah, that’s an S, for Sydney.
Someone already mentioned it: it’s an ‘E’ (didn’t realise what they meant until just now :()
Often, granted. But, to a certain degree, it is just a cover for her shy side.
*Points at panel 4 above*
No, but maybe a “CHA”…
(…SPOOOOOOOOOON!…)
:)
The Tick: Ah ha-ha, chess. The ancient contest of wits. Two opponents: mano a mano. Braino a braino. And look: magnets for ease of travel. You could play chess on the moon.
I figure Joel is, by now, buried under a mountain of customers that saw her advertise and said “let’s go buy from the comic store owned by the REAL superhero!”
I mentioned this a while back, and am far to lazy to look back at all the comments, but what ever happened to the money sidney was supposed to deposit at the bank? If her business is hurting to bad a missed deposit day could…complicate things for her.
See Psionicost‘s reply below, which covers most of the options. Personally I view it as a trivial detail, which we can assume was resolved ‘behind the scenes’. Otherwise we push DaveB down the path of having to tie up every loose end and not progress the story.
Of course, if it inspires him to create a funny scene, then that is another matter.
I just noticed that Sydney knocked Peggy’s leg off!
One of three possibilities for the deposit.
1.) It’s in evidence at the police HQ. Even though the robbery was stated to be a publicity stunt, there WAS use of LIVE AMMUNITION. Normally, that takes at least 48 hours to resolve. (It could take weeks.)
2.) The deposit was in the form of a check/ invoice and not cash. As such, Joel could take care of it himself while Sydney’s at ARCHON.
3.) The bank has taken care of the deposit, but is currently doing an internal audit to make sure nothing was misplaced during the confusion of the robbery/publicity stunt. Again that could take several business days.
In short, it’s not an IMMEDIATE concern.
I’m pritty sure the public doesn’t know (yet) that the robbery is a setup.
So the cops would be investigating it like a full crime, until someone higher up mysteriously shuts it down
Companies conducting security tests will, as a matter of routine, inform the police. In this case we can assume that Arianna, or a uniformed intermediary, will have ensured they were also in agreement about maintaining secrecy on the matter before even starting the operation. Anything else would be career suicide for Arianna. Given how close to the wind she is sailing to the wind, in allowing a security test to pass off as an actual bank robbery, as far as the general public are concerned.
Is it just me or are they seated in color order?
Can’t see how it is in colour order, as Maxi said, they are sitting in their normal ‘cliques’
Is Leon wearing a QR code? Or is that some logo that I don’t recognize/can’t parse at this resolution?
Ooh, an implied seconding of my request for a zoomable wallpaper version. :-D
Wallpaper versions are always good.
I wonder if DaveB should just release big HD versions of this stuff to the donators. Should be a nice reward for those that support without extra effort on his part, and a nice incentive to those that doubt
+1
Obviously I have no objections to patrons getting perks. And the greater the utility (in this case practically the entire cast in a single shot certainly counts), the better the incentive for folks to do their bit.
It seems so.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/766
Yes it is a QR. No clue if it’s the same he had some time ago, but concidering the rest of him is the same, probably
You mean a few hours ago?
I have to wonder why Harem is sitting next to herself. Given her penchant for experiences, I’d assume she’d want to be a part of as many different conversations as possible.
Of course, that could lead to Harem being a part/dominant force in every conversation, so she may have been asked to sit together.
(The grammar problems in this comment are… Perplexing. ‘She’ is singular, but ‘sit together’ requires multiple. There is no good grammar for Harem.)
Have a read of the author’s comments (in his own section, under the comic, rather than in the body of the comments we are using). He covers that issue in detail.
Sorry, for some reason I tend to only read those on Mondays and hadn’t noticed it. Still odd.
If you only read on Mondays, then you are missing the Thursday updates
I’m starting to think that Maxima is a sociopath.
No more so than any warrior or soldier who’s seen their share of horrors and made their share of hard choices, I would imagine. A willingness to use deadly force when it is required is not sociopathy. Neither is a liking for blowing things up, or at least half the people I know would be sociopaths *grin* A sociopath is someone who can’t conceive of other people as people, just as things. Here Maxima has already proven that she cares quite a bit about people, whether she likes to show it or not – redirecting supervillains at herself instead of civilians or those under her command, paying for dinner for the group when she didn’t have to, not planning the huge explosion until she knew she could do it in such a way as to keep everyone absolutely safe, etc.
Your reply was not visible when I started writing mine. And your line is very much the view that I like to take with Maxima. Plus all your points are well made.
But, sad to say, none of them negate A Gray Phantom’s suspicions categorically. As an intelligent sociopath could emulate the behaviours you describe, without feeling the emotions you and I both hope are present. We would need either a well trained psychologist, or a super-empath to ferret out the truth.
I suspect she’s a good actress because she’s being charismatic in this speech, and including a false apology to Arianna. Everything she’s said and done prior indicates that she doesn’t sympathize at all to Arianna, or is she truly apologetic for her actions. She doesn’t care that she upset the public, because she had her own agenda.
Why would she lie about an apology? Again, she has an agenda. She made note from Anvil and Dabbler that the team might not accept her as leader after “going off script” (really she went rogue), so now she’s setting a scene.
Why? Being leader puts her in power, and she doesn’t want to lose that. She already made it clear she doesn’t actually care, and for an apology to be legitimate the one apologizing needs to actually empathize with the person they transgressed towards.
Not saying she can’t be used for good, just that it’s unsettling to think that someone with all that power can’t empathize with the pain of others.
Tl;dr Maybe she’s pretending to not be a sociopath, but with some guidance from her peers it could work out – many soldiers are sociopathic, but few can drop nukes at the snap of their fingers.
By that argument, we could diagnose anyone as a sociopath. Keep in mind that she and Arianna have a relationship involving mutual manipulation, we’ve seen less than 24 hours of it in action at this point, and a large part of what we’ve seen involved Arianna using her as a pawn for a publicity stunt.
If there’s an argument for sociopathy in this situation, it’s for Arianna, not Maxima.
Likewise, you’re mischaracterizing her exchange with Anvil and Dabbler; the concern wasn’t that the team might not accept her as leader (that was well settled before the press conference). It was that her superiors might view her as too threatening in the court of public opinion, and cave to pressure to have her replaced. If she were power-hungry as you keep claiming, she would not have ENDANGERED HER COMMAND by going through such a public display of her capabilities. By your own argument, the fact that she could lose her command over that stunt and was well aware of that potential before pulling the trigger on it proves that she is not power hungry. In fact, it demonstrates that she’s willing to accept a lessening of her official authority if it sends a message to dangerous people that they should target her rather than the members of her team that don’t have ‘invulnerability’ in their power set.
Further, we’ve seen her behave in humane and even empathic manners, particularly with Sydney. That alone counts against the notion of her being a sociopath. On a similar note, a sociopath would have difficulty performing the complex feats of empathy that we see from her, in correctly identifying Arianna’s chief frustration (with the spreadsheets), the Brass’s potential reaction, the public outcry she’s accepting, and the various supervillain behaviors she’s discussed.
Also, you keep calling the explosion she displayed in the desert a nuke. It was not. Not only did it not bear the hallmarks of a nuclear explosion in terms of fallout or EMF, she also directly describes it as a Daisycutter impression, which is a conventional explosive of considerably lesser power and range as compared to a nuclear device.
You don’t do your argument any favors when you lie about the facts of the text to get people to agree with you.
Kalietha, seeing the likeness between your post and York’s I am foreseeing an… interesting outcome if this keep going… maybe you could teach York briefness :P
By the way I guess you are aware that your name kinda meaning (Καλή Θέα), nice.
sorry… Yorp
No probs.
Next time I notice a post going over-long, I think I will scrap it and start from scratch. Self-editing and giving up honed paragraphs is obviously not a skill I am good at.
I know :) I deal with my own verbosity (and it seems Dave too )
Teaching forced me to learn ways to achieve briefness. If you let me, here they are:
– Focus.
An idea bring others, variants, consequences, examples, etc, etc, etc. Do not be carry on, just give the main idea, maybe one of one of the other (two things in total). Wait for the reaction, if needed then extend it a little.
Remember: the listener thinks, they can fill the blanks, if not they will ask.
– Be simple
Keep the explanation or the example short and simple. Use as few elements as you can, a couple, three as much. Do not tell a story, just outline the situation. (*)
IE: “Drug and kidnap all Harems. Tie and blindfold them. Lock them inside a room at an unknow place.” :)
– Do not garnish
The language is amazing and elaborated sentences are beautiful and fulfilling… but consumes resources. Be direct, be short, use few words, say it as talking to someone thru the window of a leaving train :)
“In this situation we can see that there are a few possible variants, I think that the main three are the follow” Uh, uh, just “The three main variants are”.
– Do not show off
To explain, to expose, to lecture, it’s fun, it’s good … it’s addictive. Be aware, when you feels yourself focused in the talking more than the in the listener, is time to shut up.
That is what I intend to do. Even so I spend twice as long pruning than writing ;)
(*) Unless telling a story is what you are interested in :) but that would be another case.
Thanks.
It seems somewhat ironic that a post to teach about brevity fills up an entire page on my screen lol
The name means something? What? *is honestly interested* I enjoy making up names, and do so on a regular basis, but I am well aware that true originality is well night impossible with as many cultures and languages and years gone by as there are. ‘Kalietha’ just happened to be the one I was toying around with most at the time I started with digital artwork.
According to Google Translate: “Beautiful view”.
Apt indeed, given your avatar.
XD The avatar has nothing to do with how I look, except perhaps in coloring. It just happens to be my current favorite pic that I’ve done, and as it was a considerable quality step up from my last self portrait, I thought I’d use it until I did do another self portrait to replace the old one.
Be careful, she looks like she knows something we don’t know.
;)
But of course! Everyone knows something no-one else does. *evil grin*
I know the truth about precognition. Oh, you emphasised the nobody bit. mmm. Ok, I know how to allow all the religions of the world to get along with each other. How to economically get payloads into orbit in a very environmentally-friendly way. On the negative side I also know how to kill hundreds of thousands of people, with nothing more than words. In a way that nobody else could, that is.
Well “Kalietha” exactly maybe not, as far as I know, but almost :)
“Kali” (Καλή) in Greek is a variant of “Kalos” (Καλός) and means “good, nice”.
“Etha” (έΘα) is not a word, but “Thea” (Θέα, first and second letters shifted) means “goddess, sight”
“Kali Thea” is used as “Beautiful View” but could be also “Nice Goddess”.
Maybe your mind is deeper than you thought ;)
Ops, your posts was not there when I read :)
Yes, perhaps I really know everything and just can’t access it – perhaps we all do….buahahaha
Ironic, that first part, given the destructive (Hindu I think?) goddess Kali….Who again I had not heard of at the time I came up with the name XD
Destructive? That is a western view. She is far more than that.
But maybe she fit as well :) Read this, I think you will like her.
Hmm. Depends on the interpretation. There are several conflicting ideas in there.
Just in case be aware that we are talking of the Brahmanic goddess Kālī and not of the Hinduist demon male Káli.
Brahmanism (ancient) and Hinduism (later) are related but far apart.
I was alluding to this goddess in a post the other day. I just have a problem with names, and could not be bothered to look it up. Many people in the far east have no problem with religions conflicting with each other, and often worship two or more simultaneously that do just that. Exemplified in this example as it is not just in the same religion, but within the same individual.
A significant proportion, possibly even the majority, of the world’s big business corporate heads and world leaders are. Although I have not seen any studies to support it, I would assume the same applies to senior positions in the military too.
Although we tend to think of sociopaths as being murderous criminals, that need not be the case. As with autism and many other mental conditions, there is a scale. The further up it, the more pronounced the effects are. The most noticeable feature of sociopaths is their lack of empathy. A serious problem in childhood. But one that can be overcome by giving them specific training in social skills. A well-trained sociopath can emulate empathy, even if not actually feeling it.
Because lack of empathy has severe social ramifications, it means that intelligent sociopaths will work harder at developing and understanding social skills than average members of the population. In adult life this creates an interesting group of people.
A group who have no (or reduced) genuine empathy. Which is essential to having a conscience. But who can act as if they have either, or both, if being observed. If you cannot empathise with others, you can exploit them or harm them, without the same kind of inhibitions as others feel. Such executives do not cry if they have to fire people. But the good acting skills allow them to conceal their lack of feelings well. Likewise stabbing someone in the back is second nature to them (either figuratively or literally), so they are likely to rise to the top, when competing against people with a conscience.
Which makes them ideal in the world of big business, politics and the military. Excellent people manipulation skills, a lack of conscience and intelligence all being highly valued by our society. Ok the lack of conscience bit is not advertised as being valued. But it makes profits, so the stockholders are happy and keep paying those executives bigger and bigger bonuses. And similar arguments apply to politicians and officers.
The short answer would have been, “Yes, she may very well be”. Her acting skills may have fooled my bullshit detector. And she certainly does show some of the characteristic traits (underestimating the potential impact of her big-bada-boom on the general populace being one point that you have made well in the past).
There is some evidence that as many as 4% of top executives could be sociopaths. That’s rather a far cry from “many or most”.
I’d say the proof that Maxima is not a sociopath can be found in her interactions with the members of Archon. A sociopath who has learned to blend in will still be at a loss to deal with unusual cases and extreme personalities, and Archon is just chock full of that. Can you really imagine a sociopath, someone with no empathy, figuring out how to deal with Sydney? Or Dabbler?
Can you imagine a sociopath having a prank played on them like the one Harem played on Maxima, and responding by giving the offender a -wedgie-?
Can you imagine a sociopath dealing with Sydney for any length of time?
Right, I think a sociopath would try to punch Dabbler in the face… Wait…
Just kidding :)
Your statistics may be accurate. But having seen all too many executives in action, it certainly feels like most to me. And I am proud to stand by my bias against big business and politicians.
Clearly I did overstate my case, but bear in mind that even 4% of the most powerful people in the world is a significant proportion.
I’m not getting a sociopathic vibe from Maxima. Though admittedly that may be the point. She might have a higher sense of aggression and maybe a bit dulled emotionally from all the horrors she’s seen, that I’ll grant you. But I’m not getting a feeling she’s sociopathic.
I’m think the opposite really, that the shows of violence, bravado, and arrogance is just part of the show. That genuinely she wants to use her powers for good and help others. The key here is Arianna. They’ve been working together for a little while and Maxima has been using her super powers overtly for longer. Long enough she seems to have enemies right out of the gate. Arianna ticks her off like nothing else. She gets her revenge through tormenting her, if she was a sociopath it would be a simple matter to kill her and blame an enemy. Arianna’s still standing, ergo Maxima can’t be a sociopath.
Sociopathic? No. She clearly has rage & anger management issues, and likely has some (deserved) level of megalomania, but I would not say she has limited emotional capacity.
More likely, Max grows increasingly frustrated because she has all these Superman-level capabilities, yet feels stymied at every turn when she tries to get her job done without employing them. This, accompanied by the clearly short-sighted actions of those people around her (people who clearly have the capacity to know better), and her notably short fuse when it comes to people not listening to her, and her rages are all too predictable (and that predictability could well be her very real achilles heel, so to speak).
See, that I can buy. Working with the public and seeing them at their dumbest, I’ve often felt exactly that and it’s very easy to see where she might start feeling this way. Doesn’t make me a sociopath, nor would it make her a sociopath. That’s it, I think she suffers from working with the public too much.
I’m with Yorp. Unless she has some hidden potential Machiavellian agendas, if Maxima is a sociopath, she’s one of the good ones. Going by the theory that someone’s true character becomes visible when they’re the mouse instead of the cat, Maxima seems like she gets her responsibilities as ArcSWAT Field Commander are the same as that of a field commander in the military. Dabbler seems to check out as well, given how civil and rational she acted when Sydney’s antics wiped that smug smirk of her face twice. That leaves Harem, who seems to eventually bounce back like nothing happened every time she gets the bull’s horn. She probably just likes tempting fate, and probably knows how to do so on her own time, which technically she has been doing up to this point.
The major difference between a psychopath and a sociopath is: a sociopath knows how to ‘fit’ into society and ‘hide’, but they are not really ‘part’ of society (the lack of empathy makes it difficult)
But, just because
wethey have no empathy doesn’t mean they can’t form attachments with/to, or genuinely care about, othersAnd yes, those are the ones you have to make sure to never piss off: they will have no hesitation to make you hurt, and hurt in ways you can’t begin to imagine (and if you think they will blindly focus solely on you would be the second biggest mistake: as Yorp said/implied, they tend to be highly intelligent and good at self-preservation)
With 50% of those incarcerated are psychopaths or sociopaths. There is some dispute over nomenclature here. Very few of them are intelligent enough to control their urges. Those who do become presidents, generals, popes etc. and kill via proxy. They want power. They aren’t joiners unless they expect to take over whether it is a corporation or a nation. Their work is often substandard, it is their other strengths that win out by manipulation of people. We don’t want them in charge of anything.
Not everyone evil is a sociopath. I imagine it’s EASIER to go that way if you can’t properly empathize, but it’s perfectly to get twisted inside in other ways. And there are plenty of people who are capable of empathy and just don’t care, or who care about their own comfort more.
Yes, was going to say not all sociopaths are evil, the same way not all dictators are evil (those on the outside may view things differently, or those simply wanting something they feel they are being denied)
Okay, not quite what you were saying, but still: just because you are a sociopath does not mean you are evil
THEN you get those who psychologically barricade themselves under all kinds of rationalizations, becoming capable of all kinds of vile actions, because that’s not how they see it or themselves. Not even the decency to disfigure half of their face and decide things with a coin toss, this type.
That’s another thing: most sociopaths don’t bother with justification or ‘rationalization’, they just do it, if they get caught, and can’t ‘bluff out’ or deny, then ‘meh, so be it’
For the record Maxima seems normal to me. Now a smart psychopath could feign emotions when needed. They just look a someone dying in the same we we look a chair. No emotional attachments. So that frees them to go far in a culture especially the more free they are to hurt others without need to cover it up. Lying is the easiest thing for them to do and they will pass the polygraph. A bit of pseudo science still used by business but not law enforcement. Too easy to fool.
Not all killers are psychopaths and not all psychopaths are killers. How they are raised can help some. However our present business ethos seems to have been conceived and written by psychopaths and implemented by those who emulate psychopathic behavior. Ayn Rand considered such people to be “supermen.” She exulted at it and lionized it and too many others adopted it with varying results.
On Ayn Rand, I agree with some of what she said. Everyone whose read a few of my posts knows I don’t buy the whole doing good because you owe it to society, or without reward because you’re just that swell a person. I don’t trust it either when someone does do all that stuff out of some imagined debt. What a person does with their powers is up to them. Hopefully they’ll do good with their powers or at least keep it limited to actions that do little harm to those around them.
It’s good when someone does good for the society, but I certainly agree with Ayn that such things should be because the person that does it decides to do it. And hopefully with clear motives because if they aren’t showing those motives, then they’re certainly doing it for something and that something may not be pretty.
Something that kind of comes out with me is that I see myself as having no value, but I see everyone else as having some inherent value. So that’s more than enough reason for me to do “selfless” things.
You are a Grrl Power reader, you have value to us!
*group hug*
Actually, your first paragraph describes a sociopath, not a psychopath
“I have to make a call.”
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH
Anyone know if DaveB’s ok with fanart? I’m after some fullbody practice, and was thinking of taking a shot at Sydney….
I am pretty sure that he is totally fine with it. He often had linked to fanart and cameo about his characters (in this very page for example). He even had a page of them in his Deviant.
Yay! Thanks for the info XD Now I need to find a good ref of her shoes…
Apparently searching for said ref is dangerous business. I keep getting sucked into a proper reread of the comic….
Pretty sure she is wearing basic flat-soled addidas sneakers (white with blue/black /// stripes)
White and yellow.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/171
Thanks XD That’s actually exactly the page I wound up finding.
Be aware that they vary slightly over time: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/224
This is the last time I remember seeing them: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/852
And here was showed the sole: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/250
Don’t have a super-power to remember every picture? Yea, right.
I am far to be an artist, could I ask what do you need exactly?
Also, I guess you got the color guide of the characters, didn´t you? It was the incentive vote previous the Valentine Day’s one.
I found the sneaker ref XD And no I didn’t, I’ll have to see if there’s a way to find previous incentives, especially as I just started the coloring XD
I do not see how to do that except asking Dave.
This is the original post that refers to it: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1186
Ah well, guess I’ll live without then ^_^() Thanks for the help. I think I got it fairly close anyway…*moves on to shading*
Yes, I’d love to see some fanart!
About the color guide, sorry, I’m bad about posting the old ones when the new ones go up. That one is still a work in progress but you can find it here: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/colorguide.jpg
*snags for future reference* I just finished actually XD What’s the best way to get it to you? I have neither twitter nor facebook….
Wow you’re practically a luddite. :) You can send it to be at grrlpowercomic (at) gmail.
XD Nah, I just prefer different social sites. I am thinking about eventually getting on tumblr, but from what I hear twitter is mostly for those with smartphones, and I can’t afford one, so…*shrug*
*Goes to send*
Man it sure gets quiet here, after a new issue comes out.
*Gives #189 a hug* Don’t worry, I am still here for you.
I am here to Yorp
Did her leg fall off?
Her prosthetic leg, yes. There is much talk about it in the (2 pages of) comments.
Wait. Where is the skinny guy with long blond hair from page 112?
Yeah, I was kind of wondering about that too. XD
I have to admit, she gave it more thought than I gave her credit for.
where is the the other shirtless guy from the from that one comic, i see the bald black guy in this comic tho, that was in the same strip
Did anyone else see the prosthetic leg come off?
Yes, three people mentioned it, on each page of the comments, so far. Not including yourself.
You appear to have wings, rather than whiskers and fur. Does this mean that you fight kittens?