Grrl Power #190 – Newhart phonecall
I’ve been told that girls actually do this with last names sometimes. Sydney’s reversing it obviously but you see it in sit-coms all the time where a woman meets an attractive guy and she introduces herself by blurting out her first name followed by his last name. I’m sure most girls have either never or rarely do this, but still, as a guy, learning this was anything more than a sit-com gag this kind of blew me away. As far as I’m aware, guys never meet women and imagine them with their last name until after they’ve been dating them for 3+ years. Still, I thought it would be amusing to see Sydney subvert it a little since she’s asserted that whoever she marries will be taking her last name.
It may be a while within the comic before we actually get to meed Sydney’s folks, so hopefully this page will give you some idea of what they’re like. Guess which one Sydney takes after more. Unrelated, I don’t think I drew Leon tall enough in relation to Sydney. He has bad posture though so I’ll blame it on that.
Spelling tip of the day: while writing this I learned that blond is for men and blonde is for women. Also for some reason Evernote’s dictionary flags blonde as misspelled. It also thinks that “Evernote’s” is misspelled. I don’t understand why spellcheck dictionaries are so flummoxed by apostrophe esses. I assume Evernote shares dictionaries with Chrome or there’s a Windows one they all use. Whatever the case is, it seems curiously deficient with a lot of fairly common words.
I had planned on using the QR Code gag back on this page, (when Leon’s shirt was green, whoops) but it wound up being too small to scan, so I just sat on it for… almost exactly a year. Wow. Apparently I’m patient.
I’ll be doing a live interview this Saturday, Feb 22 at 10 -11am CST on Google Hangouts. I think it will just be me and Kurt Sasso from TGT Media on the video call, but people will be able to live chat with us during the interview and we’ll definitely take questions. I’ll update this space as I get more details. link! UPDATE! I originally posted this as 11am -12 but it’s 10-11 am CST. Stupid timezones.
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The height might be a little off, but not by much. My husband is 15 inches taller than me and my eyes are about nipple level. Head is about shoulder high. So I think the slouching thing works. It is all good.
I guess Syd will just fly her up his lips ;)
I thought you were using a romantic figure of speech at first read. It took a while for the penny to drop. Nice play.
To be honest I did wonder if someone will realise :)
Who’s got two thumbs and a QR code… this guy!
Haha, great.
So I wasn’t the only one you scanned that to find out if there was something hidden, nice
Need a link… :(
Carry on reading. Just 3 more short comments below, * and you can click on the link that is already there. Or posted in many other spots throughout these two pages of comments.
* And no, that is not an invite to ninja a whole bunch of big comments in between this and the link :-P
ninjas don’t need no stinking invites
Yay! Inner dialog, love it.
Been a while since last time , plus I think this is the first personal thought we get from Syd.
I hope we could have some from the other characters, the only one time I recall now was Maxima, over a sensitive topic.
I am totally shipping them :)
Someone scan his shirt, WHAT DOES IT MEAN
Mayhem already did and posted a link on the first page of comments. Which points to here.
My mom would find out rather quickly if I had super powers, go oh no, then point me somewhere constructive with them. How would she find out? Because I would be playing with them all the time. Telekinesis? I must lift EVERYTHING! Telepathy? I must go to Vegas and break all the banks! Throwing fire? BARBECUE!
On another note, I am 6’4″ myself and I love teasing short female types with it.
He he. Although, on a pedantic note, you would only get to break the first bank. Assuming that you played it cleverly enough that you did not get kicked out before that happened. Your pattern of play would distinctively match those used by anyone who finds a way to observe the opponents cards. So they would know something other than bad luck on their part was going on.
Then (assuming you were not dragged off into a dark alley round the back and disposed of) you would be added to the world-wide photo recognition program and would be barred from entering any casino. They might not know how you did it, but you would not be welcome again.
Or, they offer you a job to stop other people from cheating.
Still, they’d probably let you get away with it once. They need people to occasionally win big, to encourage everyone else to lose big.
Telepathy meh, I personaly would go for elctrokinese/cyberpsi. Then yuo go play the slots and really clean up . With alot less risk if you do it right.
I would be a much subtler person if I had powers. Why advertise your advantages? Although if I gained my powers during my teen years I would probably have a constant evil grin on my face. Subtle revenge can be the best revenge.
Oh yeah, until your mom goes all “Put all that clothes up to the closet this instant! It is not like you can’t, right?” “Oh, do not give me that, you could read my mind, couldn´t you?” “Ok boy, there is the garbagge, all that fallen leaves, lit up the woodstove, and Mrs Helpdrain wants to wipe off a hornets nest, move on, move on”.
Damn, messed up the edit, would be “while your mom…”
Exactly why telling anyone is not recommended. Plus knowing your powers is a step to knowing your weaknesses. Ask “The Great and Powerful Turtle” why he had a shell.
Most Vegas Casinos now wouldn’t beat the crap out of me, even if they figured out what was going on. More likely they would ask politely for me to leave, or offer me a job in security. A person that can read minds or use other powers that can break them legally? That’s a great person to catch people wanting to cause mayhem in a public place. Imagine how quickly a tragedy like Sandy Hook could be prevented with just someone able to scan a mind and see evil intentions. No, you don’t pulverize that man or kill him, you hire him to protect your interests.
And it’s not like I would be purposely telling people about my advantages or advertising them on purpose. I honestly would not be able to resist using them for everything. They say power corrupts right? Well I would be corrupted by them immediately and show almost a child’s glee in using them to entertain myself all the time. In almost every single way.
There is only one trouble with being hired out as a known telepath. Your life expectancy would drop to days. There are too many people out there with secrets. Especially in a place like Las Vegas. And the ones you do not work for will want you dead. Fast.
Although, to look on the bright side, if you use your power well, you will spot them coming and get a chance to run. Plus, to keep you in comfort in your life on the run, you will have all that loot from breaking the bank at the first casino. :)
If a person can read minds, they can also edit minds. Yes, the life expectancy of a known telepath drops to days. Until the first person comes at you and then becomes sexually aroused by fire hydrants or their own shoes in public places. Then the next batch of people lose 40 years of memories even if they only lived 36. At that point, people just leave you alone and hope not to get your attention. And then you take your money you gained legally by breaking the bank and go live in peace in Sealand.
Erm…being able to sense something doesn’t always mean they can affect it, especially not to that level.
I agree. We can see color(most of us) but we can’t change it. Altering memories would take a Projective telepath and there’s no guarantee that others would not sense it. Plus you would need to link the new memory with many others just to make it permanent.
The mind can be altered by someone skilled enough without superpowers right now. Brainwashing and Cold Reading come to mind immediately. One involves actively changing the mind completely through repetition and torture and the other involves tricking the person to change their way of thinking with questions. Neither requires super powers. The mind is a lot more fluid and mutable than you think.
Neither of those ways to change someone’s mind suggest that just projecting a memory in someone’s brains would be enough to alter anything.
Memorys are hard coded in the brain’s neurons, it takes time and a crapton of suggestive (and very convincing) things to trick the brain itself into changing this, you can’t just flip a switch and change something
If you can put thoughts into people’s minds, you can manipulate, if not control them. Generally, we assume that the thoughts in our heads are our own, and so they influence us.
Obviously, that’s just subtle manipulation, but imagine if you could communicate emotions as well as thoughts. Mind control would be easy, just make any would be assassins share your heartfelt desire to continue living.
/disengage morals
And read his mind, find out who employed him and alter his feelings towards them to pathological hatred.
/re-engage morals
Heh, granted options do open up when you can edit. But Professor X would be tutting at the ethics. You slide down a slippery slope when you start doing that.
You know what they say about slippery slopes – it’s easy to reach the bottom very quickly – and incredibly fun!
I wonder why no one’s mentioned working for the casinos’…
I’d have thought a precog would pose a greater threat than a telepath…
That depends whether fate is immutable or not. If it is the former, then yes. However if it is variable all a precog can tell you is that you have a 1 in 38 chance of winning before spinning the wheel. In a mutable destiny world precognition is only useful in identifying likely outcomes.
If the pit boss and his cronies are waiting for you to walk out before teaching you a lesson your spider sense will be tingling. On the other paw, if cards are your game, once the deck has been shuffled either version of the power will work well. Up to a point, anyhow.
Sais who? I can read words on paper, but I need other tools to change it.
Same thing with mind reading. Being able to read something and being able to change something are in no way mutually inclusive. Sure you’d need to be able to read it to change it, but not the other way around
All right, everyone says you can’t just manipulate a mind even if you control it. I disagree, but disagreement is not the end of the world. Say you keep it on the down low, you could clean a poker tournament easily by just knowing what their hands are since they would be thinking about their hands and planning. That information alone gives you an edge. “Oh, he has a full house, I have a straight flush, and she has a royal flush. I can’t win this.” Then using some charisma, you can lead them around by the nose.
That’s a way to use it if all you can do is read minds.
All of you are forgetting.
If you can read what they know their hands to be,
you can also read when they begin to get suspicious at your luck.
You might also pick up when anyone in the crowd starts wondering if there’s more than luck involved.
You can back off. lose a hand. Sacrifice some of your earnings to stay in the game.
Then, when the sore loser decides to meet you on your way to your car, you can decide to go back inside for one more latte.
Not I.
Rookie mistake I am afraid. You might read when your croupier is getting suspicious. But you failed to read the pit-boss watching from the corner of the room. Unless you are a Harem with multiple brains to read multiple people simultaneously. And you cannot read the guy who will get suspicious first, because he is watching you on that camera from a remote location.
Wise play, but already too late because there are bouncers on their way to your table
Sorry, the bouncers insist that you cannot come back inside. But, on the plus side you get to see a minds-eye view of exactly which bones the guy outside intends to break, and how he will get the chainsaw out if you piss him off too much.
Apologies for bringing realism to these scenarios and bursting bubbles of imagination. Too many years games mastering and seeing a situation from every point of view in the room and beyond.
Blech. Can’t nest them any deeper.
I’m imagining mindreading to be, at least in part, like catching mention of your name in a crowd. Of the people focused on you, the ones who are merely in awe, and being able to spot, not identify when it’s brought to your attention exclusively, but spot, the one that has shifted from confusion to suspicion.
I suspect that guy on the remote camera is probably not watching you close enough to get suspicious ever, unless someone presses a button to get his attention, which means a more local individual had to get suspicious first to bring him in.
If you have to focus on one person at a time to dig his surface thoughts and emotions out, yeah, you’re in trouble because you’d have to keep an active “eye” on everyone who can see you. If you can just tune it out and listen for the warning signs of suspicion in the general noise of thoughts, then you can play until the guy to your left and behind you thinks to himself “it’s gotta be a trick,” wave that off as irrelevant, but keep your mental eyes open for when someone who works there gets that first inkling.
The real problem wouldn’t be the people. It’d be the machines. If anyone is recording these hands, and transmitting them to a diagnostic computer in semi-realtime, you’ll be sunk by statistics before any human even begins to get suspicious. Of course, if the alert is a yellow light, the dealer may be told to keep a closer watch, or another employee may be brought closer to keep an eye out for tricks, which means you get to learn you made someone suspicious, but not enough so yet to act on it. Does the guy at the edge of the crowd have the emotions of a proctor or a hunter? Is he watching to see what you’re up to, a querying thought, or is he waiting for an opportunity to act, mind ready to pounce. If the former, back off, and look for an exit. If the latter, you may need to look for an exit.
You make good and interesting points. Slight quibbles about the guy behind the camera. It is his job to spot you cheating. And they are very good at it. Plus, as you suspected, they do have all kinds of tools to help them. You are talking about a big business that has a lot of people trying to cheat it all the time.
The one thing that draws his attention quicker than the pit boss’s signal is you winning. That is the trouble with remaining inconspicuous. I note that you did not do is to stipulate that you would keep your winnings modest. Naturally enough. Everybody wants to break the bank. Nobody wants to walk out with a small pile of chips. And that is how the rookies get caught. If you want to be a career casino cheat you have to keep things under the radar.
Of course the main reason why I pick up on all these suggestions, other than the fact that the problems jump out, is that you are a telepath, you can make millions or billions completely legally and legitimately. Possibly even ethically if you try hard enough.
But, if you want to con the system, please pick an industry that does not hire five people to watch your every move!
I figure against them having a guy on camera for every table. More likely, a guy on camera watching several tables, and a buzzer by the dealer to let him know to pay attention to that set of monitors specifically.
And, yeah. I didn’t suggest for modest winnings, (which would be sustainable,) because I’m operating on the newbie idea. “Got my powers, going to play.” Under those circumstances, assuming the crook has refined his abilities well enough to use them effectively, he might well “hear” they pit boss think “that @#%”, followed by the discordant note of the pit boss suspecting him of cheating…somehow, Directed AT Him, but that wouldn’t make him instantly wise enough to go in with modest short-term, high long-term goals from the start, if he wasn’t already wise. No, the smart crook would figure out what the best long-term gamblers get away with in a night, maybe even a good night, and throttle their take to that level right from the start. However, I’m assuming someone suddenly blessed with reliable telepathy might well decide that their powers trumped homework, at least until they got a whiff of suspicion. Then, it’s both possible they’d get spooked, (“government sponsored vivisectionists”), and quit cold, or back away, and come back, a little shyer.
Also, the stated goal above was to “break the bank”. I dare not change that starting condition, even if I think the variables that would effect its success are different from the ones you state.
https://thinkbeforeyouthink.net/?comic=20130830-the-lost-boy
All speculation is fun. After all that is what the super genre is there for. Personally I would use mine to see what women think. Although it seemed to turn Mel Gibson a bit gay when he did that, so maybe it is not wise. And I still remember the shock that Buffy had when she did the reverse. Perhaps I would be in for some unpleasant surprises too.
Telepathy in card games vs casino are a wash. In blackjack there is no point in reading anyones mind.
And if you are playing poker it will be against other patrons not the casino it self.
Now in a tournoment, the host casino will not care if you win or lose because it is not their money.
Also all cameras will be watching the dealer to insure the fairness of the deal to insure the reputation of host casino.
Extremely good point. I had not thought on it, but I guess most or all such have the dealer’s hand exposed? Although it would help to spot a crooked casino or croupier. And, if they are crooked, you can use your insider knowledge to turn that against them and quit with your winnings (slim though they may be without an edge) just before they put the fix in.
And thus could not ‘break the bank’. More strong logic.
Loosely speaking, yes. But in practice, no. If one person wins tournaments consistently (ie more than luck and skill would normally allow) then it discourages other players from entering, thereby reducing the casino revenues. Plus it casts suspicion that they are failing to police a cheat properly, with the same result.
The majority of the sentence is correct. Though thinking “all” instead of “most” or “some” will certainly land you in jail, if you turn your hand to cheating in real life, as that is simply wrong. Their job involves policing the whole of the event, not just their dealers.
but how could they tell you are cheating unless they have a telepath working for them.
if you have ever watched a tounement on tv you would know that no one picks their cards up they just peek at them. and the only reason every non player sees them is because of cameras in the table its self with the screens positioned where the players can not see them
They would have extreme difficulty proving it, which is why I stipulated ‘in real life’. But as for telling you are cheating, they can do the same as in any game. You win more than you should. Professionals will know the patterns of success showed in their specialist field. If you consistently exceed that, their suspicions are aroused.
In a world with no other supers you would be much safer, needless to say. But if telepaths are known of, but none are available to the casino, one could figure a way to expose them. Such as telling the croupier that the house was just about to fix the game, and specify exactly how it would be done. If the player’s betting pattern and playing style suddenly changed to reflect that, then you have your proof.
The key point is that you keep the people who could be mind-read out of the plot to expose the telepath. They only get told what you want the telepath to pick up. And base your technique around showing that the cheat’s behaviour changes according to knowledge that they could not have without telepathy or the like.
Ethically, and if you wanted to present it in court, you would both need a repeated pattern of such behaviour and prevent the house from actually cheating, so a more refined technique would have to be developed. But it could be done.
A telepath would most likely live easier if they note one detail: It is easier to spot a lie while reading someone because they are focused on the lie at all times :P
I admit, all of this is true. You got me. This would be far more difficult than it seems initially. Have to do poker, deal with all the cameras. And trust me, you actually have more than five people watching you at a time, I worked in the industry as a cage cashier. With plenty of exposure to the security protocols, and you think as a customer you have cameras on you at all times? The employees have more.
I think known telepaths would actually get the corporations out of the casinos now that I’m thinking about it. Hell, telepaths would honestly probably be at physical risk since the whole big brother thing mentioned earlier. I still think I would be very bad at hiding my skills.
Breaking the bank doesn’t need to be done in one day.
Cash in frequently and swap tables and games a lot.
Don’t let anyone see your chip count increase.
Returning to a table you won at previously with less chips, to win more and move again is fine.
Some casinos accept card counters who then loose in other games or spend most on drink before leaving. This helps the winning and parting atmosphere.
I would prefer poker out with a casino.
If you have influence with your mental powers then horse racing, boxing etc.
who was that mentalist that used a group of people to predict the lottery numbers?
He announced the numbers on tv in the same programme minutes before the draw.
I do not watch TV, but have heard it being derided as laughable. Given that he was actually announcing it after the draw. Which is a bit less impressive.
To see the mechanics of this trick in an entertaining form, I suggest you watch The Sting, with Robert Redford. The fact that it is set in the 30s gives you a clue as to how old the con is. And it is very simple. Just ensure that the folks being tricked see a delayed version of the feed. The art to doing it well is to set it up in such a way that they feel and believe they are getting it in real time.
Thus allowing you to make your predictions and shortly thereafter they see the ‘predictions’ coming true.
Should you have any doubt about this, the next time that he decides to become a multi-millionaire (which he can consistently do because he can see the future on demand), request to be in the audience where the actual draw is taking place. Not a remote studio or somewhere else. Which could even be the rest of the nation if he had collusion of either the TV company or the lottery. Given the boost in viewing figures and/or ticket sales, and the fact that it would be ‘entertainment’ rather than a ‘fraud’ we can assume collusion, for speculation purposes.
You will find that his prediction does not come before the draw.
A genuine precog, well that is another matter.
That is what you read? To me they are talking about your statement
“If a person can read minds, they can also edit minds.”
and just saying it is not necessarily true.
I concur, by the way.
Unless the amount of people who came after you before they ‘learned’ to leave you alone had too big an impact, coming back all mentally out of whack and all, on the little worlds of the groups who made their occupations possible. A publicly well-known telepath, who brandishes his/her abilities openly, equally well-known for being untouchable by all enemies, would a prospective kiss of death even for his/her own employers. No one wants a Sin City with Big Brother, even possibly, watching you.
Telepathy isn’t the best power for badasses who want to be seen. Put the fear of God into Vegas, you’ll either become the town bully who drove away all the business, or have to get used to spending the rest of your career sleeping with one eye open due to all the people who want you gone being that desperate.
However, a telepath working in Vegas won’t make anyone’s shit list if no one get’s a chance to find out he/she (or at least his/her powers) even exists in the first place. A telepath’s life expectancy is only going to be reduced as much as the telepath fails to stay off everyone’s radar…
There is an Area on the north side of Las Vegas that has lots of secrets and I think they would love to have a telepath, even as a civilian contractor. Doing some side work for some casinos would probably be allowed, especially when certain compromising affairs are discussed, but do not come to light.
Indeed, presumably the secret Area in or around 37°14′06″N 115°48′40″W?
Wait, why is a TP scrubbing out/altering memories is acceptable, but shutting off the ability to breath is not? o_O
Here lies Leon Scoville. Married postmortem.
That did happen to a couple. Last year, in France, if I recall correctly. Very sad case. I can’t remember for sure if the courts granted the petition, or if it was still under consideration when I read the article, but I think it was the former.
In traditional Japan (less so in modern) it wasn’t uncommon for dead singles/ children to get married even if they died before meeting (the families on both sides arranged it so they wouldn’t be alone in the afterlife).
I believe it was also to help out the females.
Unmarried woman were legally unable to do alot of things without parents, but if they were married (even to a dead person) they gained rights to do a number of things alone
Hahahah :) good one.
Earlier this week, I got fed up with one common word that was not in the dictionary, so added “teleport” to it. Then got irritated when I also had to manually add all the standard conjugations of it too. I can see why it would not do that automatically, as there can be new words that break the rules. But logic has never stopped me being frustrated at dumb technology!
Yes dumb technology is really annoying. A place I go to has fingerprint scans but they never work right. It literally takes 10-20 tries to get it to read my finger. If money wasn’t involved I’d never go back. It’s one of those “It sounded like a good idea” things.
+1
I especially detest the machines that insist on behaving like they are smarter than me.
Technology is only as smart as the “people” who use it.
Correction.
Technology is only as smart as the people who design and implement it.
Users may be smarter.
Computers that can think are rare if they genuinely exist.
Comparing IQ or how smart a computer is, is complicated if at all possible, to compare in human terms.
At it’s heart all a computer is a big,dumb but FAST adding machine.
No, you nailed the height difference pretty much spot on. 6′ 3″ to 5′ 6″ will pretty much leave the girl’s head at about lip height. 5′ 2″ leaves the girl’s head at about the bottom of the neck, so 5′ 0″ should leave the Sydney’s head slightly below shoulder level. Which it is. If anything, you seem to have drawn Sydney slightly shorter than she should be, but I sorta assumed that he’s one of those geeks that likes to wear cowboy boots, or something. I know a few people like that, so it’s not beyond the scope of possibility.
And yeah, online dictionaries and spell-checkers are somewhat limited. Even the ones in Word are pretty limited, and you can actually fill them up before you run out of fairly common, everyday words. Just for an example, I filled up the one on my version of Word about 4 years back, just writing reports for history. No names or foreign words required–just stuff that’s outside of everyday use. The reason for this is because most people have about 500 words that they will conduct the bulk of their business with, and probably about another 500-700 specialized words (at most) that describe what they do with their job and/or hobby. Add all the tenses, declinations, conjugations, possessives, etc, and you generally come out with about 7000 to 10000 words for the spell checker to keep track of. So most spell-checkers will cap out at 20,000 words or so–which is about double the needs of the everyday person.
Thing is, at last count, not including all the tenses and stuff, English had something like 215,000 words, including about 45,000 words that are technically obsolete, but still tend to crop up with surprising frequency (like signs that describe a store as “olde”, and so on). Most people will never know what those words mean, or even see them–I doubt more than a handful will ever have the occasion to use the word “anthropomorphihilifipicationism” (to declare something or the act of declaring something to be useless), except for those who study the history of technology and the obsolescence of historical machinery and techniques. But, because English is the primary language of study for so many disciplines, that means that English has to have ALL of those technical terms included. Add to that the fact that English assimilates terms and concepts from other languages and cultures so easily and completely (the words “macho”, taken from Spanish; “alley”, taken from French; and “bushido”, which is taken from Japanese; are all prime examples of this process), and you’ve got one of the largest and fastest-changing languages on the planet.
I found your post to be most antianthropomorphihilifipicationistic.
Now, what a surprise. Yet another word not in my dictionary!
An actual suprise: Google has 0 results when I type in that ‘word’
I asume you combined several words into 1 yourself than?
Not I, we will have to wait on whlindsa‘s reply for that one.
I have Heard of the word and it’s definition before. Perhaps it is a spelling issue?
Longest existing word in English ?
Maybe you must to check “antanthropomorphihilifipicationistic”, cause “anthropomorphihilifipicationism” starts with a vowel so the prefix “anti-” could lose the “i”.
*sigh* My incomplete education catches me out again. Love learning. Hated school. Anybody who says “School-days were the happiest days of my life” I suspect is just senile.
Or a jock that graduated to being a manual laborer with little chance of promotion after graduation.
“English is the language that follows other languages into dark alleys and beats them up and steals their vocabularies.”
The whole blond/ blonde thing is probably British english, American english doesn’t use the ‘e’ for either (unless they’re trying to be ‘upscale’). I can’t think of any words that have a masculine/ feminine form in American english that aren’t pronouns (he/ she, his / hers, him/ her, etc.).
aunt / uncle
And do not ask my why I do not think first about mother / father
Ok, you surely intended letting aside nouns too, if the case you are right.
By the way blond / blonde comes from French.
Fench has a major influence in the english language, so that’s probably why
Trust me that British English has a negligible number of gender variable words compared to French or Bulgarian (to name just two). In those you have to assign a gender to everything, even stuff that does not have genitalia.
It is one of the things that put me off learning proper grammar in Bulgarian, which complicates things even more than French. The entire structure of a sentence changes depending on the gender. And my brain freezes when I try to figure out “is a lamp-post male or female? It looks kind of phallic. And objects outside the house are usually male, but things inside it tend to be female. ‘Cause they are sexist pigs.” By which time I kind of loose track of why I wanted to talk about the street light in the first place.
FYI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_type_of_grammatical_genders
When I took German (many many moons ago young one) some of the genders really threw me. Not only did “the” have to indicate gender sometimes the genders seemed wrong like the word for a girl child was neutral and therefore you used “das”.
Yea, Bulgarian has ‘it’ gender too for some things. And the rules are complicated when you get mixed gender. Something like if there is one male in a crowd you call it male, but if there is a cat, you call it female, unless it is wearing green, in which case you apply the neutral gender. Or was it that if the cat was eating a fish it requires you to conjugate the past participial in the feminine oojmaflip?
actor
master
lord
rooster
bull
sir
Eew, no thanks Dave, I won’t use a Google+ schedule thingy. But thanks for your update. I will stick a note in my calendar and hope to be able to listen.
/Commence rant
Google still irritate me in taking over YouTube and forcing association between that and my Google account.* As with here, I enjoy the freedom of expression granted by anonymity. Not that I do much to conceal myself. But it is the principle that counts. Yet Google seem to think that if I choose to ‘like’ a movie that it must tell all my friends and relatives about it.
No, Google, I really do not want that to happen without my consent. It may not be suitable for some of the more sensitive folks. And if I want to, I will tell people about it myself. Plus I do not want to have to continually monitor privacy settings and read incomprehensible privacy policies in order to police it. Not to mention the fact that I avoid all the social media like a plague.
* And I still refuse to change my name on YouTube, which means that the buggers will not let me post any comments there. Despite having a complaint-free account with them for years. Which sucks because I enjoyed commenting in the Just For Laughs community, and movies in general.
/end rant.
I don’t really think anyone liked what they did. Funny story I normally use Goggle Chrome to surf but have to use Firefox to comment on Youtube (Probably because of all the blocking extentions) because it won’t connect to Goggle +.
“Who’s Got two thumbs and a QR code?” :D yay for smart phones and Leon’s shirt ;3 loving the comic so much cant wait to see more @w@
“Yes mom, law enforcement too.” <– This.
Loved that too. Awesome that it was off the bottom of the list of things that Archon might train her in, and just added as a reply to her mum’s question.
I was going to make a joke about drinking Sydney’s parents but then I realized that that was m.e.a.d. Can’t say I recall ever hear of referring to meeting someone’s parents as a reward but I guess it works here. lol.
Oh, in case I haven’t said it before, I’m really enjoying this comic. Thank you for making it.
Wait. Where is the skinny blond guy from page 112?
Dave keeps him on hold: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/933/comment-page-1#comment-38034
QR code = WIN! so much win :)
That’s the second-best QR code I’ve ever seen hidden in a webcomic.
What is the first, please?
Catbeard the Pirate. I won’t say where or what, because that would spoil it.
I think you mean “skulking” in the shadows, not “sulking”. Big difference…
I would put my money on it being used advisedly. Because… funny.
Ooh, I have found three very interesting additions to the website, that I do not recall anybody mentioning yet. But I may just be getting early onset alzheimer’s judging by my performance earlier. Thanks for adding those DaveB, whenever you did the update. I shall keep quiet on the details to let others have fun looking around.
Testing spoiler function before real comment
Can you see me?
Bingo.
Are you talking about Hiro, Stalwart, and Jiggawat being added to the cast page?
[spoiler]Yes. Although it keeps worrying me that I have slipped into a world where this conversation has already been held a couple of months back. But just to make it clear, if that happened, that Yorp isn’t me I am the new, improved Yorp.[spoiler]
The new and improved Yorp forgot something.
They have been there for over a month now. I check it about every 10 days or so.
Doh forgot the ‘/’ after the opening bracket in my last spoiler tag. But no harm done and I guess it has the perk of allowing folks who want to put their comments in spoiler mode to (almost) see how it is done.
Aaaaand you ninja’d me.
New and improved, but not perfected. It is vital to give my future soulmate the opportunity to uplift me.
Tho they will have to cut you down first.
Does that mean we should look forward to the unveiling of Yorp 3.0?
Just introduce me to my perfect woman, and sure. :)
Have a look round your vicinity to see any unattached ones, with similarities to Sydney, and you might succeed. Not that wacky zaniness is necessary. It is just an indication that I am comfortable with a broad range of behaviour. But roleplayer/gamer, intelligent, good sense of humour, nice smile and pretty* are all part of the ideal woman package for me. An appealing smile being what gets my heart racing, more than any other aspect.
* Strip out the manga looks and you get my real-world preferences. Although manga-Sydney manages to draw in puppy and kitten cuteness on top of what reality can offer. The other heroines, and any real-world counterparts, would be less appealing to me than her kind of looks. Although I can, and have, happily dated a Vogue model. You need to accept people as they come. And it is foolish to cling too closely to any artificial ideal.
*Stands there with a handful of fiber-optic cable and circuit boards*
But, I WANNA WORK ON YORP!! *Snoopy cries*
I definitely read that as handcuffs and fiber-optic instead of handfuls of fiber-optic and though you were going a completely different direction…I’ll just sweep myself down the gutter now.
*Rolls On Floor Laughing*
Just a heads up, Sydney says “sulking in the shadows”
I would assume she means “skulking”
I don’t know, Batman can be pretty moody sometimes.
I just thought of a slightly morbid explanation for Sydney’s orbs, and must share it.
Five of Sydney’s orbs contain a soul, and two are empty. By activating an empty orb and touching a weakened person (in dnd terms, negative hit points,) with it, it steals the soul and traps it inside, then gaining a power based on what the newly-trapping soul thought was cool.
Love it. Needs a bit of polishing mind, for continuity purposes. Because the mystery orbs are now lit up like the rest. Which would imply that they have already had their soul food. But, there is the fact that they are ‘extra sparkly’, so we could use that to justify that they are newly primed to have lunch.
For story-telling purposes lets drop the D&D mechanics though. Far more dramatic to allow accidental and potentially tragic soul snatching. I propose that they will soul-drain the next super who uses a power with Halo in close proximity.
Hankies at the ready!
Stolen from Forgotten Realms.
Sydney is the next occupant of the orbs. Her place in orb 6 is reserved…
Eh? The Forgotten Realms is my setting of preference and I read most of the numerous 2nd edition source-books. So if there is a link, it probably is not co-incidental. I just cannot think of what you are alluding to?
Unless you are just talking about soul-stealing properties of weapons and other magical objects and creatures. Which is hardly restricted to just the Forgotten Realms, D&D or even fantasy in general. It’s roots are in ancient folklore.
I was referring to the elvenblades, such as the one possessed by, and possessing in return, Arilyn Moonblade.
Ahh, gotcha, thank you for your response in clarifying that point. Trouble is that is soul-stealing swords are so generic (going back to 1st Edition AD&D that I can remember for certain, but likely even more than that) that I do not think ‘Forgotten Realms’ when I hear them. I was wondering if there was something a bit closer to the description, such as soul-stealing ioun stones, which I might have forgotten.
But as for the ‘stolen’ one cannot steal something that is a cultural concept, which ‘soul stealing’ most definitely is. No author alive today can say ‘I invented soul stealing therefore I have the exclusive right to use it in stories’. Not legally or even morally. Because they did not. They have all been inspired by some earlier source. Be it historical, folklore, fantasy or in role-playing.
And even legally registered trademarks that are based on previously established cultural concepts, such as ‘Space Marines‘
need to have close resemblance to the product produced by the trademark company, for there to be any legal basis for enforcement. If you write a story set clearly in the universe that company created for their stories and products, you will infringe their trademark by using the term ‘Space Marines.
But it is outrageous, if you check out that link, for them to have tried to prohibit generic usage of the term which has been in science fiction since the ’30s. To do so would stifle creativity.
As to the broadest sense of ‘stolen’ as in to say ‘this is not a new idea’, well Golnor did tip his/her hat to acknowledge the original inspiration by saying “in dnd terms”. Not that such is really necessary, given that this comic is about a Role Playing Games nerd who is a super hero. We can pretty much take it as read that most of the ideas we have, in the comments, will be inspired by either the super hero genre or role playing games more than any other cultural meme.
I must say sorry, by the way, for such a lengthy reply to such a simple issue. There is good reason for it though. Something that I champion is defending the principle that there is ‘no such thing as a new idea’. Writers should not need to keep second-guessing ‘has somebody thought of this before’? No need to bother, the answer is “Yes, almost certainly. But do not let that stop you from entertaining us with a fun new implementation!”
Well, I’m using it in a much more lighthearted manner. “Stolen” in the sense that you might “steal” your in-laws recipe for a particular dish.
Just giving credit for where I came to the idea, and using overblown language to do it.
Cool. All is good then.
Trust a Pokemon fan to think orbs have a pokeball capture function.
Lol.
my character actually had a weapon like that. the “Chain of a thousand souls” It was a spiked chain and whenever it killed someone there was a 1% chance that it would absorb the soul of it’s victim and store it in one of the chain’s links every day you’d get a 3/day spell-like ability based on one that “Link” had in life.
The souls were fully aware of the outside world so there would be times where the “links” would argue amongst themselves like a lich I defeated arguing with the Ninja that sacrificed herself to release my character from the chain: ” I AM THE DREAD SHOGUN!! I WILL DESTROY YOU AND DEVOUR YOUR SOUL!!!”
Ninja: You WERE the Dread Shogun. NOW you’re the Third Link from the Left!”
For example, one day you might get the Paralyzing touch from the Lich 3 times that day, the next you’d be able to use the Ninja’s Empty Stride ability 3 times. all depending on how many “souls” you had captured and what powers they had.
(It was a reforged Artifact Adamantine Soul-trapping staff that the Ninja sacrificed herself to break)
Isn’t it “skulking in the shadows”? Sulking in the shadows is still a funny thought though. lol
Whoot! I finnaly caught up with the comments! Also awesome job with the comic! I’m a big geek with ADHD so I TOTALLY understand her, a side from the super powers of course :P
Welcome to the community. Someone will be along shortly to offer you a welcome gift. Although you may wish to check your dental plan is paid up before accepting it.
hersey’s kiss available if you want it. welcome to the insane asylum we currently have the manic depressives pulling management duty, ocd working the walls and garden, split personality are cleaning crew, have a nice visit. (kiss is the size of a pillow)
Lol the qr code gonna be a bonus gag? I like it
Just spotted something that may affect your revenue DaveB.
I do not know if you have a way to track how many people subscribe to your RSS feed? But you could have quite a large readership who have set up Grrl Power in a similar way I did on Good Noows (or other RSS readers that allow this). Which is to display the comic in a continuous ongoing strip. Ie not needing to visit the website at all, in order to follow the comic. Obviously that is something you need to take into account, in that none of that audience will be aware that you have gone professional and are seeking patrons.
The good news though is that the picture you did of Halo in embedded in your author’s comments did appear in amongst the feed. The bad news being that the text did not. So I would strongly advise doing any future important announcements with the text as part of the picture, so that you reach the maximum audience.
So is Sydney’s flight transponder, gps thingie something she is going to have to use to check for other flight paths in the direction she wishes to go, create her own flight paths and register them? I know they did the quick “its automatic” explanation but to register a flight path you would have to tell it where you plan to go and then update that as you changed direction? Or when you’re are basically a military flying asset is it other’s job to get flights out of your way? Or would the truth be somewhere in the middle?
Does everybody else that can fly have one of those arm things cause I didn’t see them on Maxima on the pages I checked or do the official chokers do most of that? (in which case they are amazingly miniaturized over the temporary model they gave Sydney!)
Sorry, if this has been discussed already or I didn’t recheck enough comics for the info but it seemed important to future comics so I thought I would throw it out there just in case.
Between the game and the start of the flashback, we see Sydney still has the bracer later.
I understand Maxima uses her cell phone for most of the things Sydney is using her bracer for.
If you look closely at her bracer you will see it is he phone
Is it just me or does anyone else forsee Event Horizen Comics moving soon.
True, they’re going to need a bigger building XD Like, take over a small mall maybe?
nope I see them opening in the ARCHON building.
what better place to put a comic shop
and you can bet Ari will do all she can to help
think about the PR possibilities for her to set up
XD True. But given the cafeteria/food court, that section of the building might actually qualify as a small mall.
Yea, I have always assumed that. And the shot we had in the opening scenes, set in ‘a few month time’ was an interior, so could have been there, regardless of any similarity to the current shop. It is sensible practice to keep shop interiors consistent, to avoid alienating customers.
That said, it would keep the focus at Archon much more than in the current location. I guess it depends how much of life outside of the building Dave intends to feature.
But in practical terms it would help Halo a lot. Leon and her shop could be much better protected against the machinations of super villains seeking to use them as leverage against her. She would not loose time in her commute. Which is important when holding down two jobs. And the revenues of being a licensed dealer of Archon merchandise, in the building itself, would be considerable.
Really don’t feel they would set up the Comic store within ARCHON HQ: can you imagine the numbers of geeks showing up on a regular basis? Won’t be long before the security people just start letting them through without even issuing Visitor passes
The mall-type area is separate from the military part. Thus requiring them to switch elevators and such (https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/694 for reference). With all the marketing planned, it’d be a great place for a “gift shop”… or the comic book shop BE the “gift shop” stocking all the official merchandise.
I assumed that moving the comic shop to the ARCHON mall and working there part time was the condition for her joining. (https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/755 for reference)
Well, we can tell from the comic above that continuing working at the comic shop part-time was certainly part of that condition. It may have been the only one, or it may have been part of her negotiations to move to the building.
Now that I think about it a little more (and the idea that I put up above), I could see it be something like this:
Sydney: “My condition is that my comic shop gets first dibs on all official merchandise.”
Arianna: “You own a comic shop?” *gets that gears are turning look*
Maxima: “That could be a problem…”
Arianna: “Of course! Do you mind if you moved the comic shop’s location. I’m sure we can find a spot for you in the mall downstairs. That way, when you’re not training, you can tend to your store.”
*Maxima looks at Arianna* “Yeah, that could work. Now stop drooling.”
(Note: I’m horrible a dialog and such, but it gives the jist of what I’m thinking)
Between the opening role-playing game and the start of the flashback, we see Sydney leave her shop, get in a car, and proceed to meet up with other members of Archon, including Maxima and Anvil, who high-fives her.
Thus, I conclude that despite any practical aspects of moving the shop, it isn’t moved to the Archon building, (although it looks like it may have been moved, since she exits by a guy at a bare counter, and there is a staircase to a second level. Possibly a mall somewhere.)
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/60
True, and well argued. Of course, there is nothing to categorically say that she was driving from the shop to Archon. It can just be taken as an example of her going about her daily life. In the mind’s eye the montage could include her visiting the hairdressers or shopping. Continuity-wise yours is the most reasonable implication. But it does not have to preclude other options if <bDaveB</b likes the idea.
True, but she left the game because she had to get to her “other job”.
*wriggles around on the hook*
*squirms a bit more*
*flops down*
Ok, conceded.
(Do check out DR.REVENGE‘s post below though. His “They are still running out the lease on the original location.” is still a runner. Which I prefer to my own, somewhat contrived, “Alternative explanation number 2”, below that.)
“we see Sydney leave her shop….”
Picking at a nit here; while I would concede that the building that she’s in is most likely her shop, the comic never identifies it as such. For example, it could also be someone’s shop or even (possibly, however unlikely) an apartment building.
Maybe but that guy looks like Joel to me, and the poster at back could fit too.
They are still running out the lease on the original location.
+1
Also could be Dave changed his mind about where he was/is going to have the store moved to
Which he is perfectly entitled to do. It is just nice if he can do so without breaking continuity. Your ‘running out the lease’ idea being an absolutely perfect solution to that.
GivesYORP a grilled rack of beef ribs as a thank you
*sniffs food suspiciously, until deemed fit to eat, then wags tail enthusiastically* Om nom nom.
Except in the opening scene we have Sydney driving to ARCHON, which she wouldn’t need to do if the store was in the same building. So new location, yes (since the game was played on the upper level of the store [which the old location didn’t have]).
Alternative explanation number 2:
The shop is on one side of the Archon building, perhaps on the ground floor with pavement access. Maybe having access to the lower-level of the food court. Or not if the court is high in the building. Whereas the official heroes car-park entrance is on the other side.
A shop keeper would routinely need access to the shop with a vehicle, even if she could walk to it via another route. She gets free parking in the hero park. If she stayed outside the shop she would need to keep feeding the meter or get a ticket.
Although yours is a more likely explanation of that page, mine is not an unreasonable option.
Just wanted to post that I have Patreonized Grrl Power, and I hope more of your readers do too. I’m hoping you will be able to do this for a living…
May I extend a heartfelt thanks from those of us in the community who are not in a financial position to do the same. Y’all patrons are much appreciated.
Seconded!
3″d
+2
Bleh.
Out of archive again.
In terms of pages I suppose there are a moderate amount more than last time… (though if what you said about the time it takes you to do a page at the start of the comic still holds true, I’m kinda impressed you even bothered)… but time-wise and event-wise…. this still seems very slow-moving.
I guess everything happens at its own pace, regardless.
… Anyway… maybe she should get Leon to try and figure out the function of the remaining two orbs since their general modus operandi seems techy. That is if she can convince him not to be a dick for a while. =3
Hoping it’s okay to post this
Adamas: Disquis won’t let me comment on Spinnerette anymore (somedays it won’t even let me read the comments :() and wondering if you could post the following for me (felt it kinda appropriate with the current page)
“Hello Glass, my name is Marylin Seong, you killed my mothers, prepare to die!”
And yes, ‘mothers’ is correct
Theory time.
I’ll try an explanation on Harem, not about “what” she can do, but “how” she does it.
To be comprehensive, I tried that using just one main element, and fewer secondaries as I could, everything is already canon (ie said by DaveB or shown in the comic) became explained.
The full explanation is like three pages. Now I will give only the main lines briefly mostly to present the idea. If something is not clear I can extend it.
Like all theories versions may be made without affecting the main explanation. I have my favorite but now I will introduce the simpler.
Unfortunately for a long time I had no chance to read the comments in full, so I can have omitted facts of canon. Or worse, maybe this theory was already filed. If so my apologies.
To keep the discussion orderly, the explanation will be separate by topic one in each post. I strongly suggest reading them in order.
This is the most complex text I’ve written in English and there are certainly errors in the use of words and expresionies. Keep this in mind.
* continues in the next post – Being *
Harem – Theory about how her power works
Index
Prologue
Being
Bodies
One mind
Teleport 1 – Departure
Teleport 2 – Arrival
Strength and Epilogue
WARNING: the post about “One mind” seems to have failed, I reposted it at the end. The link in this index is right.
* comes from previous post – Prologue *
Harem – Theory about how her power works.
Being
Since she was conceived Harem exists partly inside our three-dimensional universe (tridU) and partly inside a hyperdimensional space (hyperD), not parallel but “above” all our multiverse (physically) three-dimensional. The dimension “time” is the same.
This ability to expand herself into HyperD could be considered her true power.
The hyperdimenional Harem (hyperH) is formed by energy and is basically the extension of her consciousness.
* continues in the next post – Bodies *
* comes from previous post – Being *
Harem – Theory about how her power works
Bodies
HyperH can come into contact with tridU (our universe), the original Harem is the original contact and was the “anchor” for a while.
When hyperH aquired size and energy enough, she could make a new contact with tridU. Whenever she extends enough she can repeat the process.
Every time hyperH “intersects” tridU she can “condense” his energy into matter. Each of the three-dimensional bodies of Harem (tridH) are those “condensations”.
When “condensed” inside tridU a tridH interacts normally according physic laws.
HyperH’s energetic “signature” comes from the original tridH and is kept along her extension, each new “condensation” starts repeating that “signature”.
* continues in the next post – One mind *
* comes from previous post – One mind *
Harem – Theory about how her power works
Teleport 1 – Departure
Harem can “withdraw” hyperH’s contacts with tridU “evaporating” matter back to energy. The corresponding tridH ceases to exist inside tridU.
When hyperH evaporates a tridH, she could extend slightly her energy field including the sourrounding matter. All matter inside that area is also evaporated and being absorbed by hyperH.
Harem may influence the extent and intensity of the drag area depending on the total available energy but within very narrow limits.
If the involved matter is excessive will depend on the inherent cohesiveness of the object if it is dragged in part or not.
The recovered energy has its “signature” changed by the alterations in matter happening during its existence in tridU. HyperH can keep that “signature” and derive the recovered energy to other activities.
Harem can macke hyperH to “re-contact” with tridU causing the reappearance of tridH. Using the kept “signature” the tridH, and everything dragged, is reconstituted identically. Living things do not resist this conversion.
* continues in the next post – Teleport 2 – Arrival *
* comes from previous post – Teleport 1 – Departure *
Harem – Theory about how her power works
Teleport 2 – Arrival
The re-contact point may differ from the “evaporation” point causing the tridH moving within tridU. Also It can be done immediately or delayed.
The displacements of hyperH’s energy form, and therefore the teleportation of a tridH, are done at the speed of light.
Nonetheless due to the different geometry of hyperD the involved time could differ from tridU.
When hyperH “condenses” energy into tridU she can collapse the existing matter at the point and merge it into the same phenomenon, though in a very limited way. If the limits are exceeded hyperH must move the condensation point or resign.
The sole ability to “sense” hyperH has is to detect and to differentiate tridU’s points, ie knows where there are and can make a difference between each other.
This capability is unconscious to Harem, but allows her to find desired points inside tridU.
HyperH knows about tridU points through the tridHs. The more times a tridH is placed at a point the more accurately hyperH “learns” it.
HyperH changes its “shape” in order to reach tridU desired point, the farest she has to extend the more accurate her knowledge needs to be.
* continues in the next post – Strength *
* comes from previous post – Teleport 2 – Arrival *
Harem – Theory about how her power works
Strength
HyperH can energetically interact with the tridH, this allows her to “strengthen” the material activities of them. The more energy available the more noticeable the contribution becomes.
HyperH’s energy level depends on how much it has “grown” along time and how kind of activities she is performing.
Keeping tridH inside tridU is her highest energy cost.
* End *
————————————————–
Epilogue
That is it :)
Being so summarized this presentation is not full inclusive and could not be clear enough. Ask me whatever you want about it.
Due the same there is a lot of room to variants, deepening and additions. Customize it if you want :)
Almost surely this theory is far away from DaveB’s own explication, but I like it anyway :) Feel free to comment it, change it or ignore it :) it is ok, I did it just for fun.
Just one more point. Some changes will make this theory becomes a different one. We will remain into the same theory as long as we keep the key points:
– Harem is extended into a hyperdimensional level.
– Her hyperdimentional being controls the matter making and unmaking her bodies at any reachable tridimentional point.
– Her hyperdimentional being plus her tridimentional brains constitute Harem’s conscience and works at once.
Enjoy :)
* comes from previous post – Bodies *
Harem – Theory about how her power works
One mind
Condensed tridH remains energetically in contact with hyperH. HyperH’s consciousness and tridH’s conscious functions are mutually linked. All activity is reciprocally replicated, actually building a single mind.
While hyperH’s consciousness resides in HyperD, hyperH does not have senses and does not provide sensory information (with one exception) so Harem only have perceptions from the tridH. HyperH’s consciousness “feels” like she were in tridU through the tridH.
Conscious signal intensity determined propagation. HyperH generates intrinsically more powerful signals that the tridH, so a reaction on her part is “obeyed” by them.
* continues in the next post – Teleport 1 – Departure *
Very interesting. Could be more concise. ;-)
Your explanation overlaps with genuine projections of 4th dimensional space (ignore the fact that time is often referred to as the 4th dimension), when you extrapolate up from 2D and 3D space. Hyper-cubes being an aspect of that, I assume you are using the terms advisedly. We know that a 4th dimensional being would:
1) Be able to observe everywhere within 3D space. Just as we can observe everything on a 2D object, such as a sheet of paper. *
2) Could travel anywhere within 3D space. Just touch your finger to a sheet of paper to see the analogy with 2D space. If you want to, you can pick it up from the sheet of paper (appearing to vanish from the 2D world) and place it elsewhere on the sheet (re-appearing in 2D world).
3) Could appear in multiple locations within 3D space. Spread your hand out and touch the paper with each finger. To an observer in 2D space each finger (or the slice of it they can see anyhow) appears in a separate location and is not attached to the others (the rest of the hand being in 3D space beyond their world is inaccessible and invisible to them).
4) Despite appearing to be 5 separate objects (including your thumb) to the inhabitants of 2D world, your hand is actually just the one object. Which remains in continual contact with all the others. Blood that is in one will shortly be in another. There is a continual exchange between them.
5) We know that there is strength in numbers. You can snap a twig in your hands. Bundle several together though and it becomes much harder. If you only put one finger on the piece of paper, but strengthen it with your other fingers and the rest of your hand, you can apply much more force where it is touching.
Modifying your explanations to talk more in these types of terms would allow you to avoid use of “Hyper H”, “Evaporating matter” and other phrases that give the explanation a pseudo-scientific feel, when you could give a much more grounded version.
* Let us assume that Harem’s subconsciousness can do this even if she cannot consciously.
This is very satisfying :)
You are talking about the Flatland model, widely used as analogy of multidimensional relationships (Carl Sagan in Cosmos for example). Actually is the one I use in several of the examples that I have prepared, mostly the same you included :)
The five fingers is the most direct one but I prefer the palms of both hands because it includes likeness (and linking with your theory, mirrowed :)
The problem with Flatland model is that it clarifies but do not explain. Why the finger removed from 2D stop aging? Why there are mater from 2D disappearing along with the finger? Etc, etc. It not states HOW things works.
We could say that “carrying the clothing” is like the finger lifting the dust off the table glued to the sweat, but quite obviously that is not the mechanism by which Harem does it. Even your examples would allow Harem do thing that is canon she can’t.
Flatland just an illustrative tool, but it is not a proper theory.
To move on from example to theory you must explain HOW things happen and it must be absolutely coherent with the observed facts.
That was my intention, not to give an analogy, but to build a theory.
By the way, the terms used were absolutely intentional and intended give the more accurte idea of what is happening inside lenguage restrictions.
Yep. Not being able to remember the name was frustrating. However, my memory and names have an agreement to differ, so I am used to that.
Harem is a 4 dimensional being who can move parts of herself to certain other dimensions, where they behave according to the properties inherent in that dimension. The part that she moves into the 3D world manifests itself in the form of a woman called Daphne.
The rest of her remains in the 4th dimension and is impossible for any 3D creature to visualise other than by analogy or a mathematical model.
Alternatively, she can even move her body* out of the time-stream, which is nothing more than another dimension. Sadly her body* is essentially frozen in time until pulled out, as she is unable to perform other manipulation within the time dimension.
Somebody in Flatland (the 2D world) can place a ring around your finger. From their perspective, they have completely enclosed you. When you withdraw your finger from Flatland, the ring remains on your finger but is incredibly thin. Viewed edge-on it is all-but invisible. Making it both very flimsy and potentially dangerous if you fear paper-cuts.
Daphne can wear clothing and it behaves exactly like her body * does, other than being wrapped around it, rather than being attached to it or to the greater 4D body.
Sadly the use of jargon makes an issue more complicated, not less. Unless it, and the connotations associated with it, are intimately understood by the audience. Introducing a number of complex terms is not desirable if simple language can convey the concept more easily.
* Definition: Her ‘body’ refers to one of the five parts of her 4 dimensional body which can be moved into the 3D world. Whilst this body is part of the greater body, it is specialised for operation in the 3D world and, as such is both vulnerable and dangerous if moved fully into the 4D world. So needs to be immediately either returned to the 3D world elsewhere, or placed out of the time-stream completely.
Yes, that is it :)
One main difference between analogy and theory is that the later talks about the actual object while the former talk about something else “similar”.
You:
Me:
They are different theories but, do you see the likeness? and even in the same amount of words :)
About the jagon I concur, but using it is almost unavoidable.
If I have “an hyperdimensional extention of Harem conscience” I need to give it a name for short, I do not know an existing one, do you? Then I build up “hyperH”.
Sadly my terms are less popular that your “3D” for “three-dimentional” but, can you imagine my posts if I change each “tridH” to your “a part that she moves into the 3D word”?
I do understand your point, but when you want to build kinda formal theory you need some abstraction and that lead to lose clearness for sure.
Beside that, this is truly exciting :) just in case thank you very much for the reading and the input :)
My pleasure. And thank you for posting yours in the first place. It was interesting analysing it.
The danger of analogies is that lead to misconceptions, and the paper sheet universe is almost the queen of them.
If you let me I will take your example:
Surely you already know but I want to clarify this just in case someone not aware could read it.
In a real 2D universe there is not a such thing like “incredibly thin”, “thin” is not an existing concept. Even matter is not existing cause atoms are 3D. However it could exist a 2D version of matter (in Yorp’s honor I will NOT call it 2DM :) made out of nobody know what.
If somehow you gets a 2D version of matter ring around your finger and you pull it out off Flatland, the ring will NOT remains with you not matter how much tight it be.
This is cause you are moving your finger in a direction (“above”) that do not exist in 2D. There is no friction or anything, 2D version of matter has no way to interact in “above” direction.
Also the 2D version of matter could have not a way to express itself in 3D universe. It will not become into 3D atoms because 3D phisical rules avoid to create matter from nothing.
So we can’t keep that souvenir, at least not as a ring, sorry ;)
Thank goodness we are talking about a super power though.
The 3rd dimension requires objects to have a 3rd dimension, otherwise, as you very rightly say, a 2D object could not exist in it.
Ergo in order for the power to function, it must give them that third dimension. But no more than the absolute minimum that is required in order to exist. So it would be incredibly thin, almost invisible edge on. And likely as dangerous as a monowire weapon.
The same would apply when taking her clothing from 3D to 4D space. Her greater body already exists in the 4th dimension so her power need not adapt her 3D body as it is attached to the 4D one. But the clothing would gain the properties necessary to exist in the 4th dimension. Likewise gaining no more than the minimum.
Should she somehow take a 3D person with her (presumably a very small hero, given her weight limit for teleporting), that person would gain an extra dimension. But would almost certainly not be able to appreciate that, because all of their senses are geared up to only work in 3d space. All parts of the body would gain a little bit extra to exist in the 4th dimension.
But none of the touch sensors in a 3D body would be aligned to point into the 4th dimension. And even if they could be manipulated by a 4D surgeon, to somehow do so, human brains would not understand the input. Likewise for sight and the other senses.
That 2D ring, translated to 3D, would probably do so as subatomic matter, and evaporate in a flash of light.
Ok :)
Just in case, as I tried to state I was not objecting your example, I was just doing a science corner intending to avoid some passerby catching a misconception.
As a point of interest, the way a flatlander puts a ring on you is to cut or break it, then wrap it around your finger and glue or weld it back together. They cannot slide the ring onto the end of your finger like us 3D people can. They can only see the edge of your finger where it intersects Flatland*
* My analogy before was a bit misleading because I was simplifying it for ease of reference. Rather than touching the paper with your finger, you move your finger through the paper. Where it intersects with you is the place where you and Flatland can interact.
But that is the step that Harem can take which others cannot. Actually entering the other dimension. We cannot enter a 2D state, because our finger bumps on the edge of the paper, rather than becoming one with the paper, as it passes through it, without harming it.
Yes, I realised it :)
By the way I am not commenting about your theories cause I guess you are giving them just as support to your comment about how to express. I you want me to comment them just say it :)
I have no objections to anyone replying on any of my comments. As you say though, these posts were just responding to the various points you brought up and/or clarifying my earlier replies. Where the analogies were, hopefully, obvious I left them as stood, rather than expanding them.
There you are right on the spot.
A realtheory about Harem needs to explaing how she manages to actually passing from one univers to the other.
Ie if she is a physical 4D being then how she converts her 4D version of matter “atoms” into 3D atoms.
Even Newton had to contend himself with saying “Gravity works this way. Not quite sure why, but it does.” And we still cannot say definitively today. Although we are a step closer with the work on the Higgs-Boson.
And, ultimately, it is better to have an underlying theory for how all super-powers work rather than to explain each from basic principles upwards.
If you establish that everything weird happens because of the meta-chlorians in your blood, then fine, that is how she tweaks matter from one state to the other.
But we do not have any hints about how that works in the Grrl Power universe. So that last bit works because – super power.
Of course, having insight into the true nature of reality, I could tell you how weird things work in our universe, but we do not have Harem teleporting around here, so that is not what you are looking for.
*gestures with paw* These are not the answers you are looking for.
I agree, I’m not claiming otherwise.
However that we can’t explain everything at the moment does not mean that this should not be the ultimate goal. In reality as in fiction. To keep looking for.
Obviously in a fictional universe fantasy is the foundation, and I have no problem at all with DaveB stating:
However, I think it is a challenge to the author and a pleasure to the reader if fantasy as explanation is minimized.
Ultimately the only truth is on DaveB but I think the comments show that we all love to speculate anyway :)
Of course partial theories, in fiction as in reality, are absolutely ok. Even so I like the challenge of finding a complete one as much “real” as I can :)
PS: Nonetheless I do remenber DaveB saying he actually has a full explanation about Harem.
The trouble is, the next step is a massive one and would take up a lot of screen space to work though. This is because we have that discontinuity between a super world and ours. Namely that even the powers which we can explain via genuine science are packaged in human (or humanish) form and are able to carry on working without being attached to vast power plants, arrays of specialist equipment and the like.
Whilst animals can actually replicate some of these powers, their capabilities are far more limited than heroes in comics, because they, like humans without equipment, lack access to vast energy reserves and other extraordinary assets. Take the stunning ability of electric eels vs Storm or Jiggawatt.
Up to this point the properties I have described are genuinely based on what a 4D creature would be able to do if able to interface with a 3D realm. Barring the time stream bit, but that is simply because that power is disparate enough to the other powers that the explanation needed a bit of fudging. Albeit of a credible nature.
Of course, I have to emphasise the “if“, because I am unaware of anything in nature that can transit between a 4D state and a 3D state. As explained in previous comments, even the Flatland analogy breaks down, when examined closely. Although we can hold a sheet of paper, it is only analogous to a 2D environment, as it is actually a 3D object. A physicist or mathematician reader may be able to point out something I am overlooking mind. I have to acknowledge my limitations.
Doubtless, even if science is not aware of it, there will be interactions between the various dimensions. And some effects will be able to transition between states. The most obvious example that springs to mind being light. As it is able to function as both a particle and a wave simultaneously. Hence my feeling comfortable describing a 4D creature which can also have part of itself inserted into and functioning in 3D space. Thus allowing it to function in both realms simultaneously.
But as to how a person could do this, you hit the problem I outlined above. Until you can explain how they can package the ability, operate it and still keep functioning like a normal person as well, you cannot narrow down the explanation further. Not without keeping saying, at some point “then somehow she…”
And the range of options that we can draw from for speculation are vast, especially given that DaveB has kept the field wide open. So can include magic, psionics, divine intervention, natural abilities refined by various means, ki (martial arts mind powers, loosely speaking) as well as mundane or extraordinary science explanations. And given that there are examples of many of those already in the comic, one needs to figure out how they interact and whether there is any underlying cause(s) for all the disparate ones.
Then you need to figure out which apply in Harem’s case. Finally, to incorporate that into the last stage of explaining how she does that end step. Otherwise whatever explanation we might come up with, for her abilities, could have no bearing to how things turn out to work for the comic as a whole.
I totally agree.
By the way, real science is plenty of “then somehow…” as well, as you pointed out with gravity example :)
I googled for the witty source that I wanted to link you to but, my impatience exceeded my search skills. So shall have to contend myself with paraphrasing it in my own way:
Look at any scientific explanation of the big bang. Keep examining it closer. Eventually you will find that, no matter how they try to conceal the fact, it starts with the phrase “Something mysterious happened then…”.
Which I find hilariously funny, when you look at those scientists who choose to ridicule people of faith. Given that their own chosen explanation for the universe contains that phrase. Implicit with the faith that is required in trusting that humanity will be able to resolve that ‘something mysterious’ into ‘now we know’.
And I will piss myself laughing if it eventually turns out to be scientifically proven to be caused by a divine act.
I know! :))
I was in a hurry there but it happens that the Big Bang theory is actually a religious one :) It was propossed by the catholic Monsignor Georges LeMaitre :)
By the way, we do not have synchronized brains either, but we do have the quantum entanglement thing used to explain that in comic.
So your knowledge about how weird things work in our universe could be actually what I am looking for ;)
*shakes paw, looking quizzically at it* Odd, normally that works. The force must be strong in this one.
Hahahaha :) I’m sorry.
Of course, were we able to do Daphne’s trick, but as applied to the 2D world, we could ask them to place a ring sized for our finger in position, but unbroken. And they would be amazed as our finger entered it, without breaking the ring.
Just as Daphne can ‘teleport’ into a standing suit of fully-enclosed armour, or a space suit by moving into it from the 4th dimension. Without first having to open it up, like us 3D people have to.
I did not intend to continue this thread, but rereading it I realized I may have made a mistake.
I did not mean to say that using analogies is not right or yours was incorrect. Quite the opposite.
As I said, I have written a complete analogy in terms similar to yours. But give both analogy and explanation as you did here, made the whole thing damn long.
I decided to take off the analogy on the belief that people in this forum has shown insight enough to understand the theory even without help.
Your post giving that accurate analogy showed you had understood perfectly and so I guessed right :) That is why I started my reply saying “This is very satisfying.” :)
To use analogies is ok, and yours is perfect. If not a matter of length I would have totally included one.
*closes his folder and takes a step back mingling with the shadows *
*thiny astonished voiceover: this damn thing IS contagious…*
Poor guy…and gal. He can’t easily relate to beautiful women…but he has no problems with Sydney.
See Sydney, see! I am not the only one that can tell Leon is wrong for you. He does not see you as beautiful, so does not suffer from the same problem he has with the women he aspires to. Find yourself a guy who likes you for being yourself, rather than what he will settle for.
Perhaps one with a ‘nice’ English accent?
All joking aside, Sydney is our primary view to the world. Although it is good to follow her exploring relationships, I hope that there is something big in the future. Anything less than Buffy and Angel would be disappointing.
Well it would be marginally better than a Seras Victoria/Alucard relationship…
What? Do you want them to have some mountain demolishing flying sex?
…seconded
of course, she’s an A-typical superhero that DOESN’T look like the typical Super-Babe… her being a tomboy is also advantageous from his point of view… if she looked like Heatwave or Maxima but still had the geek-cred / mentality that Sydney has, i’m sure he’d still be a stuttering and stammering fool. since she ISN’T “hot” looking, AND she’s a fellow GEEK, he’s not threatened by her, and so can talk normally to her.. at least as long as he doesn’t surprise her… then we’ll see just how high that snap-kick of the Ninja-Expecting-Sydney can go…
Ok an unrelated post here :p
I just wondered who are theother 5 on patreon that wants their own superhero/super villian ot thmselves being made cameo on grrlpower. Ofcourse you don’t need to expose yourself to general public or to me at all I am just curious.
Is anyone else wondering what Sydney’s house is like? Or where in America Archon headquarters is located?
My impression was Dallas, TX.
Close but no cigar, I say Addison. The Archon building resembles many of the existing buildings in our universe’s Addison, especially over by the Tollway.
It’s crazy that this is a possibility. I live in Dallas between Addison and Carrollton.
In which case, be sure to take extra care, when driving around. Watch out for cyclists. Otherwise you could end up hitting our resident poet laureate!
Yes. If she has one. Unless daddy bought her share of the shop as a present, she may be sharing a small flat with flatmate(s). Or living in her parent’s basement. Or in the attic of the shop.
My personal opinion is it is set in or around Dallas.
Reason 1, it is Dave’s home local.
reason 2, there is an artillery range a little north of there (Fort Sill United States Army Field Artillery School )