Grrl Power #191 – Super powered frame of reference
As a fellow ADD sufferer, I’ve always been terrible about remembering people’s names. They tell me what it is, and in that same instance I’m thinking about that scene in Dune where the guy says “Mua’dib” while he still has his weirding module on and he winds up blowing up the doorway or something and there’s that close up of Paul while he thinks “My name…. can kill…” and then I’m thinking that more movies should use internal dialog presented in whisper form or at least have a second audio channel as an option on the DVD that has what everyone is thinking or maybe word bubbles on a video overlay like Pop Up Video and more things should have a pop up video option with all sorts of factoids because those are really interesting and what was that guy’s name? Probably Paul. I remember thinking Paul recently.
The simple way to avoid that is to just train yourself to repeat their names right after you hear it, either internally or make yourself say “Hello Mike.” instead of just “Hi.” Of course you have to remember to do that instead of thinking about Batman.
My point is that probably the most unrealistic thing about my comic where superheroes exist, are militarized, recruit some maniac nearly sight unseen and put her on national TV with a few hours of meeting her is that Sydney has remembered everyone’s name so far. Well NO MORE!
BTW in case you missed it, go back a page if you’re looking for a scanable version of Leon’s QR code.
Links ahoy!
Flaky Pastry recently just posted their 500th strip. This is a comic I highly recommend if you like Grrl Power. It pushes a lot of the same buttons; Female leads, humor, zaniness, etc. It’s not super heroes but rather “basically D&D” meaning it’s somewhere between Tolkien-esque fantasy and WoW.
The TGT interview is up. We chat about the comic in general, characters, writing, Patreon, etc. About 47 minutes in I show one of the finished pages and go through the art process a little. Hopefully I didn’t forget I’m on video and start picking my nose or anything. Man I talk fast. Apparently I say “but, um” and “you know” a LOT. Geeze, I need to work on that.
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.
So she still didn’t call Joel?
But I wanna see his reaction :(
same here but that just might be funnier in person
she’ll come in with a huge PR staff redoing everything and he’ll be all like “we can’t afford this! How could you agree to this without telling me! Also, show me your powers!”
If anything, Joel’s reaction should be along the lines of… “You mean you were’nt lying that one time!?!?!?!?!”
Remember way back when she was doging the question of what was in the tube when Tony and Olivia (way back) and Joel was remembering all her previous lies…. She did say that it was ‘full of acient artifacts that give me superpowers’ and he dismissed it.
Sydney: Doing that inside the comic shop might not be a good idea. I might take out the ceiling, or the walls. Tell you what; I will be doing a training exercise down at the police firing range. Why don’t you come down and watch. I promise I will not blow the place up. I had to tell the cops that already.
Well, it almost goes without saying that Sydney is being propositioned; “Show me your powers & I’ll show you mine,” sort of thing.
Or worse. {advance apologies}
“Show me your balls and I will show mine”
Again my aplogies
…Clearly you guys haven’t reread this in awhile. Joel already knows about the bank robbery – she discussed that with him on the phone before she was ever dragged to Archon. And she had a time and a half first convincing him she was serious and then convincing him she wasn’t the one responsible. Since he knows what’s going on with the money, there’s not nearly so much urgency for her to get in contact with him. She can afford to get settled in and learn more before hitting him with knowledge of her powers and what that means for their shop.
While it was true that she told Joel that she helped foil the bank robbery, her powers weren’t mentioned to him. She was still quite about her powers with Maxima at that point as well.
But as I said, telling him about her powers is a tad less urgent than letting him know about the money or telling her parents about them XD
Given the nationally broadcast advertisement for his store by one of the world’s first superheroes, he’s probably a bit busy at the moment.
Funny thing is I actually been asked to describe color to a blind person. I told him red was the color of hot and blue was cold.
Colors are the notes that emanate from an object when light bounces off them; Red is the highest pitch we can see, Violet is the lowest. There are colors which lie outside the range of human sight, just like sounds too low or high pitched cannot be heard. Sight is the sense of absorbing those neighboring colors and making sense of the result, the same way you hear dozens of different instruments making a cohesive whole of a song.
Err, yeah, ok if you say so. But I think you got the “Red is the highest pitch we can see, Violet is the lowest” thing backwards. red wavelengths are the long and lower energy form of light and violet is the shorter and more energetic.
As Ai Vin said, red is low frequency, with longer wavelengths, around 700 nm and blue is higher frequency, with shorter wavelengths around 450 nm. Just a little bit below red is the infer-red, which we often interpret at heat radiation. Just a little above the blue is the ultra-violet, which give us sun tans and is used by many flowers to direct insects to the nectar and pollen. Very long radio waves are like giraffe, elephant and blue whale speech; way too low for us to hear unaided. X-rays and gamma rays are like bat echolocation signals; much too high for us to hear without technological assistance. Mind you, that is what gamma-ray telescope satellites are for.
Here’s a little tidbit for you: There are some people who CAN see ultra-violet. Actually, all humans have the “ability” to see ultraviolet light, but it is passively filtered out by the eye’s lens. People who undergo surgery to remove the lens can detect ultraviolet light, and I happen to be one of them. When I was young I had cataracts so they removed the lenses in my eyes.
In that light, pun intended, I kind of understand what’s being said on this page but at the same time, because I was so young when I had the surgery I never thought of this ability to see UV as anything unusual.
Yea, what kid can tell that other people do not see what you see? If you can see what happens to you the next day at school, you just assume that everybody else does the same. Although, with adult hindsight, it might explain why you got so many lectures on correct use of past and future tense.
Surprisingly, it’s described on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphakia pretty good (probably as good as possible for people with lenses) … including the bit that while both you and bees see ultraviolet, you see it completely differently. Which is related to Maxima’s comment about flying.
It’s interesting that red is perceived as hot and blue as cold, despite blue flame being actually hotter than red. Seems our ancestors didn’t met blue flame often :-).
Uh … I mean it SEEMS described good. Feel free to correct it. I still have lenses so I can’t really say.
I think I saw a thing where someone had a program for the blind that figured the frequencies of the colors and then converted it to sounds
It actually speak.
Any spoilers in that interview? Or am I safe to watch.
Okay, I watched it anyway. Good interview, but mild spoilers.
More teasers than real spoilers.
Agreed. Well worth watching for anyone who is interested in how things look from the artist/writer’s perspective.
Food’s being served: now we’ll learn what Syd ordered.
Should be easy to tell apart, it’s the only one that’s being carried in by people in Hazmat suits.
She has hinted that what she ordered was not hot.
“Look out, it has broken free! Don’t turn your backs or run, or it will attack! Somebody get the cattle-prods. No, no do not shoot it! They must be served live!”
She ordered Gagh?
I honestly just had the mental picture of Sydney using the Telepresence orb to shock someone (Ariana? Harem?) as they are ordering… “I’ll have the.. GAGH!”
And then turning back to find the waiter saying “Excellent choice madame” and walking away… xD
It is so hard to find a restaurant that serves good Gagh.
Gagh is never as good as mother used to make.
Klingon mother to her child: “Hurry up and eat your food before it gets away.”
Which is probably never said anywhere, given that gagh is a delicacy. Not many kids are offered caviar or truffles, after all.
Hell, human kids just don’t have much of a palate at all, or at least not the ones to which I’ve been exposed. I recall the near disaster where a friend couple was in town for a company award ceremony, and we were asked to sit their kids during it. I enjoy cooking, and made pizza. Every kid loves pizza, right? Well, yes, kinda. Bland, boring pizza only, not the tomato, basil and goat cheese pizza that I made.
Luckily we had things in the pantry which the kids enjoyed more.
Until the american masses almost depleted the stocks of sturgeon, caviar was cheap food, kinda like how in ancient egyptian times beer was reserved for the priests and the high mucky-mucks and the lowly workers had to drink wine!
actually there are carvings showing regular people making and drinking beer. it was easy to make back then.
All praise to Tenenit
It’s still easy to make. I’m a home brewer, and mixing up a batch of beer is a pretty simple process.
Wait, managed to beat everyone else? Screetios!
Okay, just wanted to mention: totally caught the Darkwing Duck reference :D
Poppy flops! Those other posts weren’t there! Shouldarefreshedbeforeposting :(
I KNEW I remembered that ‘terror flapping in the night’ line from somewhere.
Thanks
“Let’s get DANGEROUS!”
I LOVED this series. Would still watch it too.
Gotta say its one of the few series where I like the localized voice (im german) far better than the original.
Of course a lot of jokes and subleties went lost in translation…
Well, hopefully they didn’t forget the milk.
That could crush your whole day.
Lets get DUCK L’RANGE
I waw wondering when will we see a DWD reference. It happened faster than I aspected :p
Now, what does it say about Maxima that SHE knows?
She doesn’t.
Take another look. It was Leon that mentioned Darkwing.
…And I don’t think Sydney got the reference either, or she would’ve said something like, “Suck gas, evil-doer.” :)
She was too busy coughing, and he continued before she could respond?
Maybe after dinner :P
She ordered the Spicy Chili, with extra scotch bonnet peppers diced in?
I have never seen anyone discribe remembering names so correctly before. It fits exactly.
For me I only remember someone’s name if I write it down. Fortunatly it’s decently easy to have a full conversation with someone without ever mentioning their name.
And than somehow, there are people that can remember 20 names, first and last, in minutes (or atleast it looks like that)
With me it usually takes 2 to 3 weeks to get someones name stuck in my brain, and that’s with me being around them most of the week. Thank god for name tags at work or I would always be going Hay You!
There has instances where I’ve had to stop in think about the names of people I’ve with for at least three summers, the only exception seems to be those on my list.
Ive been with some people for the entire high school, and I still don’t know their names.
You just dont need’em for a normal conversation.
I learnt that assotiations usually help Taida -> taiga.
On the other hand I kept mistanking if for savana for some reason.
I have been friends with people I went to high school with for 23 years now. Sometimes I forget their names. Completely gone. Or I’ll use the wrong name… or the name of a random hotsauce, or just throw something at them and grunt. Today I was eating dinner with one of those friends and thinking about human migration patterns and how they relate to D&D race distribution, when I wanted to ask for the margarine. I got as far as “Could I have the…” and realized I couldn’t remember the name of the person sitting down the table from me nor could I remember the words “Margarine”, “Butter”, “Country-Crock” or “Spread”. This, despite the fact that the words “Country Crock” were written on the side of the container facing me. The only words that were filling my head were “Explosive Population Growth”
*gigglefit* Did those words actually make it out of your mouth? If so, I imagine a very interesting conversation resulted.
I sometimes realize after the fact that I substituted a related word for the noun I meant – though the connection isn’t always obvious to anyone but me. Luckily my best friend’s used to this – she didn’t even bat an eye when we were unloading the groceries and I suggested grabbing the frozen pizza first so we could ‘put them in the ice cream’.
No that time. Everyone at the table instead helpfully suggested random stuff that I’d not ask for or wasn’t in any way on the table. Like Boliva.
agreed – that was a very accurate description of the process
I’ve found it sometimes helps if I force myself to use their name several times within the introductory conversation, but I’m completely hosed if introduced to more than 2 people in a row (“hey everybody, this is jee – jee this is john & sally smith, mike & sally jones, charity hollingsworth, susan rodriguez, and drake mallard.”)
*Whispers* Don’t worry, Mr. Mallard is harmless…eccentric,but harmless.
I have always considered the name thing entirely logical. You enter a new environment (job social whatever) and everyone else has 1 new name to remember but you have to remember ALL of theirs. Not surprising if you don’t.
I meant stuf like teachers in high school, that not only learn all the names in your own class, but also in all their other classes. While I couldn’t even remember the names of half my teachters
Seating charts are a big help if they use them.
Teachers have names?
Let’s see, who were some of my teachers? Mrs. Lewis, Mr. Bardelaben (often referred to as Mr. B.), Mrs. Brocklebank–Vincent (not referred to as Mrs. B nor Mrs BV), Mr. Weir, Dr. Mitchell, Mr. Keys, Mr. Clark, Mlle Hollcathan (later Madam Ferrier), Mr. Farquharson, Mr. Reid, etc. See, those are names.
Come for the comic, stay for the ADD commiserations.
I wish there was a like button on these comments ’cause that was good
+1
thanks again Yorp
I had someone teach me a way to remember names, it doen’t always work but it is good.
When they (or the person introducing them) says their name, look the person in the eyes and say their name, but aas a question. As if you’re just trying to confirm the pronouncation or just what it is. Then they will say it again, you repeat it and then say Hi/Hello soandso. You have now heard their name 4 times while you’re looking at them. The name and face should now go together in your brain.
Yea, DaveB is writing convincing dialogue. One of the harder writing skills to get the hang of. I have seen more than one director trying to emulate Quentin Tarantino coming a cropper because of that. They pull off the action scenes ok, but when it comes to the talkie bits they, the actor or the writer get it wrong. All it takes is a subtle error in nuance, inflection or the dialogue and the whole scene feels fake.
As regards the ‘remembering names’ side of things, with that part of my brain broken, the best I can do, using every technique in the arsenal, is to emulate somebody who has a poor memory for names!
For interest’s sake, it is one of the reasons I put people’s names in bold when typing comments. Keeping it identical in appearance, to where a name appears elsewhere, allows me to remember the name just long enough to visually search for it, with a reasonable success rate. Although I will usually cheat and cut and paste the name into the search function, to save the inevitable periodic failure to store the name even that long.
Are you good at languages? I’m terrible with names too, but good with languages, so the trick I hit on is to think of names as the ‘word’ for a person. It comes in especially useful if I know the person both irl and online, or on multiple sites where they use different usernames – they’re all just different words for the same thing. Or rather, person.
Admittedly, I haven’t yet had to test this in a room full of new people…
Sorry, I posted my reply to one of your comments further down.
*hang-dog expression*
Offers Yorp the seletions again.
I think I would prefer an unpoisoned Scooby Snack, to nooses. Even in an attractive range of styles.
Well we now have Ambush style SydneySnax if you want to try some.
No thanks Cato.
Please I am not a violent person.
Now the Ambush SydneySnax have a spicy barbecue flavor {a bit of a bite} going down.
But coming out is where the fire will be.
I love communicating in any on-line fashion. Be it here, in a MMOLG or via Skype. Because everybody has their name printed on screen! One of my friends from a nearby town has his name tattooed on his arm, which is invaluable.
However none of my other friends locally have taken up the hint that it would be really helpful if they did likewise. :-(
Communicating online always works better for me too XD Not just for the name thing. I seem to be misunderstood considerably less online.
I have been married for 36 years, and I still sometimes forget my wife’s name. And let’s not forget the numerous times I have called kids by the cats’ names (because the kids insist on using people names for the cats). I am just about the world’s worst for remembering names and that was before the truck hit me in the head. I’m worse now than I was.
XD Growing up, at least once a week my Mom would have to run through the whole list of names of pets and people in the family before hitting on the right one when trying to get one of our attention.
My mum does likewise (we share the same problem). Except it is every conversation, not once a week. And often she can go an entire evening and not get my name right once. I do not draw her attention to it, because she gets extremely flustered if you do. Plus I know that there is not a lot that either of us can do about it, in any event.
I wonder if all moms do that cause mine did that too.
When my mother’s mother would get a little flustered and wanted to get the attention of one of her kids, she would start with the oldest and work her way toward the youngest, saying each name and increasing the volume on the one she wanted and stop. Here, I thought this was peculiar to my grandmother alone, but I guess not.
I traditionally called my father Bozo, because I had a tendency to forget the words “Dad” or “Daddy” and also because it was unlikely that anyone would call “Bozo” at the top of their lungs to get someone’s attention at comic book conventions, which I would take my 80% blind father to… since he was a comic book reviewer, eisner judge, and convention event planner. At least calling him Bozo was unique.
I’ve been going to University with the same people for the past two years and I only know certain people that stick out in my mind based on personality… or, when I see their names on their artwork…
That being said, my family is just as bad. My Grandmother calls my by her youngest Son’s name constantly… now, my mother and Aunt are doing it as well…
That just comes back to, I love them, but they are getting elderly….Time to soon put them onto the ice flow and push them off into the great white yonder.
Thanks for conducting the interview with Dave. You kept the interview going on very interesting paths and it was much appreciated.
Repeating the person’s name helps, but it’s become an unconscious thing now and I don’t really pay attention when I say it any more. Back to square one.
What helps me the most is thinking of an association to make with the name (and, ideally, the person). I like to think of words that sound similar, so that’s what I do. Weird associations are the most memorable and work the best, as long as they’re unambiguous.
“Hey there, Adrian.”
Ah, triangle brackets for thoughts mess up the formatting. The last paragraph there was supposed to be:
{I remember picturing this guy as a snake with a tiny orb spinning around him… ah, that’s an electron, so an adder with one extra electron… an adder ion…} “Hey there, Adrian.”
I have problems with names too. sometimes I forget them right after getting introduced to them. sometimes I remember them for years, after only seeing them once. And of course, there’s the occasional childhood friend that I don’t see for a couple of weeks, and I can’t for the life of me remember their name. the weirdest thing that happens though is when I know someone’s name, when I’m 100% sure I’ve never met them before in my life.
Sounds like you might be slipping between alternate realities without noticing. ;-)
Plays havoc with your memory. Simplest way to check is to look for subtle, unexplainable differences. If everyone has a tail, for instance. Normally your mind will shy away away from noticing such scary differences though, so you have to pay attention or they will just get blocked out.
Now, if you wake up one morning and everyone looks like giant pink bunny rabbits, yet you can still remember their names, you should check under your bed first. If you find a pile of empty drinks bottles, or used drugs gear, then there is a more likely explanation.
wait… you guys don’t have tails?
ugh – not again!
Well, in all modesty, the best ones do.
*wags tail*
Then why do you have one?
The fact that I only have one is why I was being modest.
better one try telling someone without showing them which way is left
‘Left’ isn’t really a direction, unless in relation with something/one else
Left is a direction. It is over that-a-way. Waves left arm around.
Depending on your handedness I’d tell you on or off hand.
Put one hand up, the other down. Ok. Your left hand is the one that is …
Now try this with an alien over video, when you’re not sure if their video scans left-to-tight or right-to-left … or even top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top.
Ahh, a much more elegant solution than mine. Resorting to using a chainsaw to remove any pointing appendages is a bit uncouth.
I think Sydney is scared about how dangerous her powers are (specifically the PPO) if used irresponsibly or even just incorrectly. “With great power comes great responsibility” is just a bunch of words until you actually have power but don’t want anyone to come to harm because of it.
I don’t have superpowers and the closest I’ve come to that is handling firecrackers or a firearm- but I can relate. It’s scary. You MUST be careful if you don’t want yourself and anyone else to get hurt.
Yeah, back when I was doing my military service (required in my country) I got a taste of this when we were learning to use explosives. Basically every one had to prep and light an explosive charge. All in all it was pretty safe, long short burning fuse and shock safe explosive, but even so you knew you were working with something that can explode in your hands and KILL you and others around you. Not nice.
No, she’s just plain scared
I think it’s all a matter of internal perspective. I personally came face-first with that that rule pretty early on – martial arts at 8… firearms instruction at 12… driving at 14… There are plenty of people out there with frightening power that never actually consider that power comes with responsibility.
And with grate power comes grate responsibility.
When grate power is NOT tempered with grate responsibility, you may wind up literally serving finger-foods with the appetizers…
lol.
I have a sneaking suspicion that her energy projection is powered by her emotions. It didn’t go off until she got annoyed at it. Now she’s feeling a bit drained. dun Dun DUNNNN!!!
Best way to describe something is just like how Maxi said: tell how it makes you feel
“Like my pants were filled with hot sand”
That’s an interesting thing to fee…
You happen to have been to the beach?
How about a semi-arid weapons range after a massive daisy-cutter-style demolition charge has gone off? The wind was still whipping things around when Sydney dropped the shield.
Not sure if being bad with names is an ADD/ADHD thing, Mac in the current season of CSI:New York has memory problems due to what happend in the last episode of the previous season (forget* what the name is) and that has been me for the last 20-something years, not sure if it’s due to the many un-treated strokes (8 in 16 years) or the Chronic Fatigue that leaves the brain feeling like it’s in cotton-wool covered in muck dipped in
molassassgolden syrup, but remembering even the basic things that others take for granted (names of people are just the more obviously noticed things that have been forgotten, and just waiting for Mac’s condition to get that, probably when it does he will finally admit he has a condition: speaking of scary things, that is one of the scariest, going from personal experience)*seriously, not being funny here
Please seek treatment! You are too valuable to this community to loose, if number 9 is worse than the others! Some of the treatments that can be offered are inexpensive, even by my standards. Which will help to mitigate some of the problems. And controlling blood pressure and other aspects, that will reduce future risk, like dietary balance, can be done with little more than good advice and some cheap over-the counter pills.
Kept telling the doctor, (have to have a checkup every 3 months becuase of being on Sickness Benefit due to the Chronic Fatigue) and he has dismissed it everytime, the first one was just shy of 18th birthday, got rushed to hosptital, wasn’t seen until the next morning and the doctor just asked about me being allergic to tomatoes (no tests with an MRI or even blood tests, just simply: “Are you allergic to tomatoes? No? Then nothing to worry about). Had a stroke on averge every 2 years until 2002, then had another in 2006, haven’t really had any major ones since then as learnt to pay attention to warning signs (vision going slightly ‘spotty’, right arm/hand going numb, speach going more slurry/jumbled/garbled than usual, written words being interpreted wrong {that’s a diffuclt one: could only tell it was wrong because it didn’t make sense for the ‘new’ sentence to be on what it was}) and stopping what was doing and going to bed
Even had what believed may have been a heartattack once (tight sharp band across the chest with a sharper pain that seemed to go right through from the front to the back), that he also dismissed out of hand as me being ‘too young’
Have naturally (for me) low blood pressure, but when relaxing (sitting watching TV, being on the computer, or even going off to sleep) the heart would start racing and the best way to describe it is a spinning top that starts to get the ‘wobbles’, either before it stabilises or runs out of momentum. Talked to another doctor (one that actually had me checked for a lump which turned out to be a very rare form of cancer) and he said that one way to tell if there is a problem is if it causes me to pass out: “how can you tell you have passed out and not simply gone to sleep?” asks me, “because your breathing changes” says he (which would explain the times mum hears me ‘snoring’, most people who snore do it all the time, or at least on a regular basis)
In which case, other than sticking with a second opinion doctor who actually believes you, the best advice I can give is the next time you feel it happening, drop everything and call an ambulance. You may be used to them, but the next one could be the deadly one. And, even if it is not, if you get to a doctor whilst it is happening they can precisely diagnose what is happening. Afterwards it is just your word vs the fact that you are not dead.
I have particular experience with that. My best mate had migraines on a regular basis. Bad enough that he had to stay off work. And he never stayed away for any illness or skived, so I knew it was serious. Periodically he would give in to me nagging and went to see the doctor. After the event though (simply because it was too bad to even drive with). With much the same result as you had.
One day he called me up to cancel a D&D game we were going to have, citing a migraine. So I told him to head to the hospital immediately to get it diagnosed. He ummed, and said he would go on Monday. So I told him I was coming over to pick him up. He relented and went to hospital. Where they thought he had broken their blood pressure gauge. When they switched to one using a digital display, they found it was because his pressure was so high it went off the scale on the analogue one. He had to be rushed into intensive care, and spent two days there. Technically dying twice and being revived.
On the plus side medical science had to add a new category of description to the blood pressure scale thanks to him. And photographs of his eyes were added to the medical textbooks. Due to blood squirting into his eyeballs under intense pressure. He ended up blind in one eye and partially blind in the other. But lived.
Please do likewise!
Huh, all I’ve been told after an expensive MRI, that I’m still paying for, and seeing a few doctors about my migraines, is that I should try taking two ibuprofen at the start. Of course the one that told me that is a moron that managed to turn my reasonable request for anti-depressants into a “we have to hospitalize you!” kind of thing. Ended up terrified of absolutely everything after that until I somehow forced myself to go to a thing with people. You know how hard it is to drive while hyper ventilating? I dislike that doctor immensely. Otherwise I’ve just been told to keep taking the pain meds I’ve been taking to deal with them when they happen. My biggest problem with migraines is that pain is very depressing and depressing a depressed person beyond their normal level of depression leads to certain thoughts. The last batch was so bad that my parents noticed and were worried about me driving. Of course since it had been a couple of weeks straight of it, I wasn’t particularly in the mood to deal. I did discover from that not to mess with my hormone meds, even if it disrupts the migraine it tends to lead to huge emotional instability for me apparently, and I also remembered that I can choose not to feel pain, until people ask if it still hurts, the jerks.
Regarding your final point first, that is the easiest to deal with (in terms of suggestions, anyhow). Just tell people not to keep reminding you about it. Some folks will never get the point, most will. Especially when you say “every time you ask me that, you cause me pain”. Only the truly dense will fail to catch on if you keep saying it bluntly. And avoid too much contact with people who can’t understand that, until you have the pain under control.
But make sure that you do not put people asking ‘how are things going?” Just tell them to avoid asking specifically after the migraines or pain. Tell them that if things change you will let them know. It will likely be a tricky balance to avoid the reminder whilst maintaining proper social contact. Do not alienate your friends!
Most of us will have depression at some point in our lives. I have been there and am most thankful that I have managed to change my lifestyle radically enough that I no longer suffer from it. But I do remember how debilitating it was. And, in particular, realise just how badly it affected my judgement.
This is where it gets tricky, because I can say something like “do not let your depression put you off seeking help from medical professionals because you had that bad experience”. Which seems good advice. But may be as useful as telling the sun not to shine. If your depression is as bad as mine got, then it could bias your judgement enough that you ignore such suggestions out out of hand.
I can empathise with you being absolutely terrified, but just hope that you do not let the fear stop you getting help.
None the less the very best route you can take to dealing with the other issues is to seek help for the depression first, to ensure that you have the best opportunity to make sound judgements on the other matters yourself. If you are not happy with the first medical professional you deal with, find another. Or a third if you have to.
That takes time though. And there is always the possibility that you may be discouraged from seeking medical help. So the other thing which I found to be most helpful in my case is to be open with friends and relatives. Tell them you are having problems. Let them know that you have depression. Tell them just how bad it is.
If it gets really bad it can lead to suicidal thoughts. If so, say that to them. If they realise you are in trouble they will help. And it is very important to get help to compensate for the fact that depression will be impairing your judgement. Learn to trust your friends’ and families’ advice.
And if they are not helping, there are organisations which can help with depression. You can get in touch with them with a brief googling. Likewise if the other medical expenses mean you cannot afford to pay for help with the depression.
However the fact that your parents are concerned is the best sign. Do not hide your problems from them. They, more than anyone else, will be able to help you through. Mine did.
Get help with your depression as your top priority. It will allow you to face the other problems in a better state of mind. Trying to sort out money problems first, for instance, will only make the depression worse. Deal with each one step at a time to avoid the magnitude of it freaking you out. And it is probably best to treat the depression as separate to the migraines. Specialists for one are not necessarily the best for the other.
I actually go to therapy pretty much weekly, along with talking to close friends online frequently. Considering I’ve had suicidal thoughts for over a decade, I know about them very well and they’re like good friends too :) Anyway, I’m on anti-depressants that probably don’t help as much as I’d like and have been going to therapy regularly for a while, half a year? Something like that. And no, I don’t hold it against my parents for asking if it still hurt, because they could tell how miserable I was before that. It’s just a case of the pain still being there but not acknowledged, so it still was bothering me, just not doing much to affect me. I’m actually rather disconnected from my body, making things interesting since I don’t tend to notice temperature unless it’s at a damaging level and I don’t get hungry or thirsty, or full for that matter. It did also lead to a nice long excursion to my happy place where I brought friends with me and played and it was awesome until close to the end of my drive where all my friends were being sent home and Death came to tell me it was time :) Yeah, I have an interesting imagination.
As far as the extreme paranoia episode, yeah, it still colors my perceptions of doctors. I’m more scared of them even than I used to be. I go to the therapy places with people I know, but other than the one prescribing anti-depressants, I’m pretty much at the point of wanting to bring a friend with me. That did make the endo I went to much better behaved. But when your experience with doctors involves asking if I’d consider not taking hormones to fix the migraines, basically ignoring how vital they are to me, it sets up an adversarial relationship, especially when even therapists that are otherwise helpful ask about your sexual orientation as if that is somehow related to your gender identity and how you dress is somehow pertinent to endocrinology.
All that said, I’ve actually developed better skills at dealing with depression. I did consider hospitalization for it a few days ago, but didn’t ultimately do that. Actually, talking with a friend yesterday was interesting in that she can’t bottle her emotions up any more on hormones, and I still do quite a bit. She desperately wishes she could, and I wish I could be more open about mine. Although I guess it’s somewhat balanced with a recent thing being bad thing happens, I break down crying and talking about it with friends, am almost completely controlled in public setting, break down alone with friends again. That thing is still bothering me I think.
Good, so long as you have a support structure in place around you to help you, then things are promising. Just keep getting the help and follow the advice. I know that it can be hard for people to accept that their judgement may be impaired. But it sounds like you have a grip on that, and can factor it in.
It sucks when medical professionals allow personal prejudices and hang ups to interfere with their work. Hopefully it is just a matter of being taken out of their comfort zone and having awkward conversations as a result. If they appear to be doing more than just that*, then strike them off your list of competent professionals and move on to the next one.
Where you say “you considered hospitalisation, but decided against it”, I would urge you to discuss it with those whom you trust. And more than one, given how important it may be to your health. Purely from the point I raised before. It is safer to assume that your own judgement may be flawed and get as much good advice as you can, from people who know your situation well. If you already did so, then all is good.
* Bear in mind that it is possible to over-read things. Many people, alas including those who should be better trained, are not well prepared for discussing gender identity issues. If only from a lack of day -to-day experience with it, even if they are not narrow-minded. This is just talking in a general conversation context. As opposed to what is or is not a suitable line of questioning for medical reasons.
I remember one girl getting in a tizzy because I was not up on the politically correct terms used amongst the trans-gender community (yep, still am not). My phrase “I am sure you make a great girl”, going down particularly badly. Despite being a pretty normal way of saying something. Like “I am sure you make a great employee”. Which is not normally understood to imply “but you were unemployed before that”. But, I can see where I failed my diplomacy check on that one.
Something I’ve told my friends several times, all of them. If I was hospitalized against my will, I would find a way to kill myself. I think all of my friends respect that and me and didn’t want to tell me to go in. I was encouraged to, though, after I mentioned it.
Incidentally, I think the bigger problem with your phrasing is that it suggests that the person isn’t what they are. Like a lot of people object to the word “passing”. I’m actually rather open about most things, so awkward questions mostly don’t bother me.
Yorp is right.
While your doctor may (in his/her mind) have a very valid reason to dismiss strokes because of lack of tomato allergies, based on what you have said YOUR DOCTOR HAS NOT DONE THEIR DUE DILIGENCE.
Get a second and third doctors opinion.
While I am not a medical professional by any means, anyone who tell you ‘not to worry’ about reoccurring strokes is a [Insult Omitted].
Unrelated: Yay! Found something that I feel strongly enough about to make an account for this site. I can stop lurking now. :)
:) Anyone who unlurks purely to help a member of the community is most welcome indeed.
Yay verily thou art most welcome here.
Second opinion?
“You’re ugly too.” (quoted)
Given your age and the symptoms…you might want to check out if you have MS. Depending on the variety, MS attacks can feel/act a lot like strokes and heart attacks. It wasn’t until the third that my mom’s doctor finally figured out they weren’t strokes, and I believe it was another year before they narrowed it down to MS.
Don’t have MS, but do have ME (or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)
And, once again, Maxi shows why she is a great leader: she spots Sydney in panel 6 and knows to go have a quiet chat, without it seeming like she’s have having a quiet chat (which probably would have made Sydney feel worse)
Panel 5 shows poor Sydney looking so lost and scared and vulnerable, well done on the artwork
+1
Yup. Maxima is being much more empathic than a typical boss.
If she is a sociopath, she is a very well trained one. In which case, she is thinking in that scene “time to go punch some buttons or I will not be able to manipulate her as easily later”. But the possibility of her being one is shrinking fast, in my opinion.
In the above situation, I do not see somebody with zero empathy even picking up that there might be an emotional problem going on. If she is sociopathic, I do not think that she is near the upper end of the scale.
Max isn’t a sociopath, maybe a little autistic, with moderately limited emotional understanding. She is positive and compassionate one-on-one to people who are not completely freaking out. Panic and fear in others she will exploit, but she has no reasonable means of controlling it. I think she also underestimates her effect on groups of people. While individual humans can be intelligent and rational, groups of people often tend to react with the lowest common denominator and build cycles of emotional impact in the worst ways.
It seems you have a misconception here – autistics don’t have a problem grasping emotions, they just have a hard time with communication. Specifically body language and facial expressions, which are how most people communicate emotion, thus the common misperception. Once they get past that and figure out what’s going on, those on the spectrum I know are among the most sensitive and empathic people I’ve come across.
To be fair to David Nuttall I think that you are overstating your case somewhat in your opening sentence. Given that Autism is characterised by impaired social interaction (as well as communication problems).
However, that is not to say I do not listen to your comments with interest. You clearly have first-hand knowledge and it gives insight into explaining what that linked article fails to do. Namely describing how the social impairment manifests and thereby giving implication as to the cause and treatments which help alleviate the condition. I see that some autism champions advocate not describing it as a disorder, interestingly enough, hence avoiding the term.
However, I do follow your point that their social issues stem from their communication problems which make it hard for them to intuit other people’s feelings. But, unlike sociopaths, they do actually have those feelings and even more than average folks.
In particular though, I agree with your conclusion that Maxima does not show autistic traits. From this very page we know that Maxima can pick up on body language and draw the correct emotional conclusion. Plus,she knows how to make a connection.
>Max isn’t a sociopath, maybe a little autistic, with moderately limited emotional understanding.
Doesn’t sound like she’s on the autism spectrum so much as made of indestructium with a military authority to match. My interpretation was that she acts haughty and aloof, because (a) she needs to be taken seriously as a commanding officer, and (b) it unnerves people when someone who could kill you in a millisecond acts “wacky” or “emotional”.
Not that she can’t make jokes, just that she makes less than anyone in her command.
That is far more reasonable than the notion that she is a sociopath and is faking empathy FOR REASONS.
Maxima’s attitude is what the burden of power and responsibility look like through the lens of military enculturation.
Personally, I very much prefer those quiet moments when we get to see her as a person, rather than a rank.
well you “asked for it in a way” maxima hehe
Now I’m just waiting for Syndey to shout at the villains, in the heat of battle,
“Stop exploding, you COWARDS!”
With a maniacal grin.
Hah hah I’ll have to remember that one.
No, that’s not good either https://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/sexy_monster_ladies
Damn you DaveB
You got me hooked on that Flaky Pastry. Now I’m going to bombrush through it in a few hours, and than be annoyed at the slow update again :(
ADHD here. not only do I have a hard time remembering names. But I also go off on wild tangents that spin off into ooh butterflies
I have been known to translate the Lords Prayer to contemporary english while praying just to FORCE myself to actually THINK about the words I’m reciting.
I, too, am very bad at names. I’ll remember how a person walks before I remember their voice, both cadence and pitch. I’ll remember their voice before I ever truly learn either their name or their face. I usually just treat strangers as people who obviously know me, so I must know them.
I’m just glad the foot
notesjokes are back!Way to go super-fatigues super-leader Leander!
If Sydney really wants to know what it feels like to be hit by lightning, we do have another team member who could help her out in that area. I am surprised that Max has not been hit. If her skin is conductive as well as shiny she would make a really good target. It would be like waving a metal pole around in a thunderstorm. (Oh wait, that’s called golf.)
Considering police personnel can take taser training which includes voluntary taser exposure for certiifcation, I’m shocked that noone has thought of this at Archon.
Nice play on words.
Mind you even someone who has been on such a course will not have any idea what it is like to be hit by lightning. Different by several orders of magnitude. Including far greater risk of death, likelihood of permanent scarring and other long-term side effects.
All of which are far more significant when trying to understand what it feels like to melt a tank with the flick of your wrist. Especially for those who worry about the dangers from feedback, mutation, radiation poisoning, summoning mind-sucking aliens, ricochet injury or scorching hot sand in their pants.
I thought you were referencing this https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/468
Dave B. you seemed a little uncomfortable at first in the interview but once you started talking about your work you seemed to open up. Perhaps next time you should warm up a little by talking to the interviewer for a couple minutes before.
Given that they mentioned “as we were talking about before the interview” once or twice, I am pretty sure they did. But it is quite different when you ‘go live’. And I felt that Dave came across smoother than even the interviewer, once he had settled in.
Yorp: Thanks for calling me a smooth interviewer :) I’ll have to add that to my title… Executive Producer / Host / Director of Attitude / Smooth Interviewer…
As for the pre-show chat, I usually like to have a good 20 or so minutes before hand, ease the guest in. Dave and I had a great talk overall. But, once the show goes live, sometimes, even for myself, it takes a bit to get warmed up and I’ve been doing this for six years. :D
Ooh, nice of you to spot it. Even though I missed your reply on this comment until after I had commented on one of your other posts. But, no harm in saying thanks for the interview here too. And looking forward to more in the future!
I think it was just getting the flow of the interview going. When I’m in my element I can talk a Ferengi’s ear off.
Gratuitous Star Trek reference for the win! XD
I actually was empathizing with you because I’m kinda bad at direct interviews but I can also out-talk most people on almost any subject. For some reason having the focus on me kinda unnerves me a little. BTW your end of the interview was much better video-wise. You’d think after so many interviews lighting wouldn’t be a problem.
(sees Ferengi ears laying on the floor)
Hey, did someone butcher an elephant in here?
They’re furry. Those are probably an O’benn admirals’.
Nice, now we get to explore the internal aspects of life with super-powers. Even one experience with a profound, but unexplainable, paranormal or supernatural phenomenon can affect someone’s life. Be it turning to religion, if they take it as a miracle or sign, or taking to wearing tin-foil hats to prevent alien mind-control*.
But it can also shape a person’s thinking and personality, if it changes their world-view or gives them a perspective that society at large does not share. Ebenezer Scrooge exemplifying the end of that line of reasoning, as regards sighting a ghost. Let alone how profoundly it would affect somebody having a whole bunch of strong super-powers that can be demonstrated on demand.
Mind you, having witnessed or experienced something which cannot be repeated or proven, has it’s own set of possible hangups.
* Apologies to any readers who have some less-comical response to sighting of a UFO or other alien-attributable phenomenon. Such as might happen to folks who suffer from sleep paralysis.
Oh yes. Witnessing something that’s not repeatable on demand when you’re already strange results in not mentioning it unless you really trust the person you’re talking to – lest you wind up in a nuthouse.
I used to be fluent in several, so yes. Nowadays though, my name problem impacts heavily on learning just the one. And in a country where I am in contact with it on a day to day basis. Just yesterday a local was trying to ask something that was clearly important to him. But kept on using a word that I could not understand.
So I had to apologise to him and explain. “I recognise that word, I heard it yesterday. But today I cannot remember what it means”. This after a five minute conversation where I had been struggling to bring it back into active memory and asking him to phrase the question another way. As soon as he made a brief mime of driving, I realised it was their word for “car”. Something that I have used many times over the last few years.
Just to clarify, normally it is the other way around. Where I have the word I want to use on the tip of my tongue (almost invariably nouns or pronouns, I have no more problem with other words than any other learner). I only mentioned this because it was so recent.
Ming you is probably more indicative of a psychological problem that is getting worse, tracing from my core problem with names. If I once mistake a Bulgarian noun for a similar one (or even a radically different one, bizarrely enough), I will ever after hesitate before using either. Convinced that I have chosen the wrong version again.
*sigh* “Ming” = “Mind”
Good thing you made the correction, or you would have been teased Mercilessly.
Don’t worry, I would have fought back like a Flash.
In your silver underwear?
Flash Gordon is the traditional cure for Ming the Merciless. Although I guess the The Flash would be able to do a credible job too.
Now Yorpie the Flash wore red and yellow
As per the clip I linked to. Mind you, I am a couple of decades out of date on any developments in super hero fashion. I figured if Spider Man could go with a black costume then the Flash might have gone with a white.
Oooh, ooh, I only just noticed your name. Please do your “Gordon’s alive” line for us!
Having multiple images of Sydney from different angles in this comic made me notice something. She is going to have to find some way of tying back her bangs during missions or they are going to seriously affect her peripheral vision. It could be way too easy for someone to sneak up on her.
And speaking of vision, does ARC have any restrictions on field personnel wearing glasses? They could possibly affect the wearing of things like gas masks or night vision goggles.
If she needs a gasmask then they can drop her into one of those suits she wore while testing her shield with Max.
The bomb suit protects the wearer from shrapnel, not poison gas. A Level-4 hazmat suit should do it, but they are designed to protect against most chemicals and biological agents. Mind you, they tend to sacrifice easy movement as well to provide the protection.
She’ll probably wear one of those caps when on active duty.
She has a personal shield that’s adeptive to the danger. She probably wouldn’t need a gas mask
Hmm. Makes me wonder how adaptable it is. Is it air permeable? If so, does it differentiate between air and other gases? If it doesn’t differentiate, how small a particle does it let through? If it’s air permeable, is that only one way? Does the shield let OUT harmful things (such as, shield formed underwater, she flies up, does she have to disable the shield to let the water out or will it just leave on its own), and if so, how does it tell the difference between harmful and beneficient?
That is the difference between ‘smart’ tech and ‘dumb’ tech. We do not have the former yet on this planet. It still needs to be micro-managed too much. When we can tell our car “New York” and climb in and fall asleep until you pull up outside your friend’s house there, then we have the hang of the basics.
We will have to get there the hard way, by programming in the options. Although we may be able to use other techniques, such as geting our robots and computers to emulate living brains. With the risks that entails.
But Halo’s orb makers have access to truly extraordinary powers. So their technique could actually be really simple. Predict the results if you allow “X” substance or energy through. Scan the future. If the orb wielder dies or suffers some disease or other adverse effect, then reduce the amount allowed. Also predict the results if none is let through. Check as many variations as may be needed to find an optimum future for the possessor.
Of course, their underlying agenda may not actually match Halo’s. So the orb’s instructions might be “Keep the possessor’s meat moist and fresh. Likewise for as many inhabitants of the planet as possible.” Should she discover their prime directives, she may have good grounds for suspicion.
But, in the meanwhile, she is not likely to be suffocated by her own shield. If it applies the same principle to air as it does to energy attack, that is.
This is all assuming that they actually enabled these simple tricks in the early levels of the shield. If their goal is to test intelligence, they might not have.
Very true.
If you look at Halo’s Skilltree, you might notice that only one branch of ‘Shield Orb’ has been filled in. It is at 4/5 capacity.
Presumably this means that The shield has a bunch of stopping power OR that it has all these ‘smart tech’ things enabled.
We do know that it is smart enough not to let 400mph wind through (page #158)
Skilltree page: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1166
Perhaps some version of the “Maxwell’s Demon”-algorithm applies, specifically to various atoms…?
(EX):
– if OXYGEN = free (=O2 gas-molecules)
– – then allow it in
– – else if it’s part of CO2
– – – then let it pass outwards only
– – – else if it’s part of H2O
– – – – then it doesn’t pass in either direction
– – – – else …
…well, you get the idea.
Good call on the ‘if nothing is let through’ addon.
Stuf like Oxygen is a good example. To much and you die. Not enough and you also die
Well, we already know the shield is not sand permeable. Sydney herself may know the answer to your water questions, given that she found the orbs in the ocean. As for gas, she may not have thought to test that. My opinion is that the shield is likely not permeable by anything other than non-coherent light and sounds under a certain decibel level; so, no matter at all. Any engineer that evolved in an atmosphere would know certain gases can be dangerous, so why make such a great defense permeable? However, that might be one of the advanced options (shield clears poisonous gases from interior) – tough one to engineer, though, since any one component of our atmosphere, even (or especially) oxygen, can be dangerous if not at normal concentrations.
[I know the mix in tanks for deep diving are not normal, but that is very carefully formulated and for specialty use only…]
Hmm. I suddenly remember the lawyering in the superhero rpg at the start of the comic. And start wondering if she was speaking from experience with the whole ‘if it’s transparent, it doesn’t block lasers or light-based powers’ thing.
Possibly so. In any event the games master made a good call backing down. You will not win an argument about forcefield mechanics with somebody who is experienced in using one!
Even if we, as readers, weren’t aware of that at the time XD
Besides, any good GM knows that arguing with players too much reduces the fun of the game, and you want it as fun as possible so that the players will consent to bring you snacks and other such offerings in reward for the effort you put into running the game.
+1
*sniffs Kalietha‘s hand hopefully, in case it might be concealing Scooby Snax*
Sorry, never heard of those XD Hmm. My mom’s beagle likes pizza bones….*offers one*
Pizza, alllwight. Munchmunchmunch. Thanku.
*Wheels out TV, DVD player and inserts DVD*
Scooby snax
…..that’s the same actress as plays Buffy, isn’t it?
*that should probably be ‘played’ Buffy, undoubtedly the series is long over. My time sense got skewed because I haven’t finished watching it.
Yes. Sarah Michelle Gellar.
I loved the series Buffy, although I actually preferred one of the other characters, namely Willow. An example of me being drawn to a more normal look, rather than the California Beach babe type. The fact that she is a shy geek adding a lot to her appeal.
Sarah, I know you google things on the internet about yourself. If you read this, I love you too. You need not concern yourself that some random nerd is not particularly into catwalk-good-looks. Besides which you have a lot more to you than just that.
Odds of Sarah spotting – extremely remote. But having had the last celebrity I commented on here reply, I feel happier saying that, just in case! Not to mention that a notable scientist spotted a quote from one of his books here recently. The readership is growing. And Buffy/SMG is one of the flag bearers for girl power, so there is a tenuous possibility of some connection happening via that side..
the US military issues a pair of what they call “gas mask inserts” which are halfway between glasses and goggles and designed to fit inside a standard gas mask.
I always figured that if I found myself in a scenario where I had to describe color to a blind person, I would frame it in emotive terms with reference to the other senses.
Red is the heat of a summer day, fresh cinnamon buns out of the oven, the buzz of bees.
Blue is the crash of the ocean, the spray of sea salt, the crisp zest of fresh lemonade.
Green is the chirp and hum of a forest, the wind blowing through trees, freshly-turned earth.
Etc.
Uh, Max? Do you remember the last time Sydney went with her gut reaction?
He he.
+1
That does keep the page interesting whilst exploring all the different expressions she has. I really do love the comical ones and the sad face in panel 3.
As a bit of constructive criticism, panel 7 feels off*. Whether it is the manga eyes not working from that perspective/in that expression or the angle of the jaw, I cannot say. But it just does not feel like Sydney to me.
* Although, giving credit where credit is due, the retrospective look is pulled off perfectly. So fits with the dialogue and, most importantly, carries the emotion of the scene perfectly.
Agree with you about the top half of panel 8 (panel 3 is Darkwing Duck having a coughing fit, panel 5 is where she is sad clutching Mr Tubey)
If you’re meaning the one above her sticking her tongue out, I’d agree. She looks a little like Milo from Disney’s Atlantis.
Yea, that is the one. I got distracted counting, trying to decide whether to include the two sub-panels or not. Making it either panel 8 or 6 respectively. I guess my subconsciousness decided to have a laugh and average it out.
But I had decided to go with the latter convention, so should have actually said 3 and 6 in my comments. Or 5 and 8, using the other option, as Guesticus rightly points out.
Ahem…. khm….
GREETINGS, FELLOW ADD SUFFERER! (I’m one as well.)
This explains to some degree why I enjoy your creations so much. ADD may be called a “disorder”, and it does make living in the modern world harder, but at the same time it gives a very real edge in creativity, perception, sensory input. I don’t think I would want to get rid of it even if it were possible, anymore…
I think that Leonardo da Vinci had a pretty strong case of ADD, judging from the way his imagination jumped all over the place. And he left more than one piece of art unfinished because he got bored of it :)
Welcome to the community. Although, I you are not an ADD sufferer, you are an ADD possessor*. We do not want genetic scientists to attempt to ‘cure’ such an advantage to society!
* Please help me in finding or constructing a better word than this.
I think that “ADD” should be replaced with “Chaos Mastery”. Drop the “disorder” part altogether.
How about being an ADHD “custodian”? It works for me.
‘With great creativity comes great distractibility’
…and yes, I too am a fellow custodian. Nice to be in such pleasant minded (if not present-minded) company.:-)
…the other term I have always loved and used for my ADHD is being a ‘spark’ – a term co-opted from my other favorite web comic Girl Genius :-D
greetings and care for a hersey’s kiss save on snack bill for a week being it’s size unless your my size then it’s a few seconds chewing…. ??? did you just borrow my attention span? that was cool.
I do not know this for sure, but as somebody with both ADD and a few other fun conditions:
I suspect that ADD, while a powerful tool in its own right (if you respect the limitations it brings) has evolved as part of the human genome for a reason: it makes people much better able to bring together disparate pieces of information to form a composite whole. This makes it much easier to undertake a creative task than would otherwise be the case, and lets you accept that such tasks will not always be perfect.
On the other hand, ADD is, I think, an incomplete tool–it works best if it acts in support of something else, and seems to have a large number of synergistic effects with a number of other conditions. I strongly suspect, for instance, that ADD, when combined with certain forms of autism, is responsible for something like the traditional Renaissance Man (such as Leonardo Da Vinci), as well as many of the best-remembered names in the history of science, as this combines the ability to focus very completely on a subject with the ability to rapidly assimilate information from a large number of sources.
Likewise, ADD combines with the OCD complex to create people who are not just obsessive about details, but who are obsessive about details OF ALL KINDS, and, in my dad’s case, in how they interact, both with each other, and with the rest of the world. Where an OCD person will fuss about getting details exactly right, somebody who also has ADD fusses about getting details right…and then expands their focus when they notice that changing one thing seems to affect a whole host of other things. This is a trait that is highly valued on the stock market, for instance, and can allow one to make a great deal of money in trading.
My mother, who does NOT have ADD, thinks that I’m blowing smoke when I talk about this. Which is a shame, because it’s not so massively common that there are people I can develop this idea with.
ADD can be a tremendous asset in good teamwork, when some of the people are of the focused type and able to keep the butterflies away from our field of vision (damn Rhopalocerae…)
When the other part of the team knows how to work with ADD people efficiently, it can be a formidable power: Creativity paired with solid implementation. I’m lucky to be a part of such team and know the benefits firsthand.
I describe ADHD and OCD combined together as in “You know how some details in your life just aren’t interesting to you? They’re mundane, trite, boring. They aren’t to me. EVERYTHING is interesting. So interesting I have to learn everything about them, sort them, sometimes and often times for the thirtieth time that day. The world looks different when everything is fascinating.”
That is a really interesting way to describe OCD. Although I am familiar with it being described, or portrayed, that is either from a clinical perspective or an actor’s way to entertain. Such as Jack Nicholson in As good as it gets*. A very enjoyable movie, by the way. Provided you are at least mildly romantic.
* Not being able to remember names has made me improve my googling skills to compensate. And, as I need to get the name up on screen for myself, it is only courteous to link it for other’s convenience too. An example of my disorder providing a useful social side-effect.
I’m not crippled like the stereotypical way to portray OCD. I don’t worry about stepping on cracks, I don’t bring my own silverware to a restaurant. I’m even polite to the people that bring me my food. It’s only common sense. I saw the movie too and liked it. Though I liked the gay black guy who’s name escapes me more than the OCD guy. (R.I.P. Harold Ramis.)
I sort everything of mine all the time. I organize books by height and width. Sometimes over a period of two hours with it being a ten minute job. I come on here about twenty times a day as well with every site I comment on just in case I find something said that I want to comment on. I wrote myself a recipe book because I like to cook and wanted a collection of my favorite recipes for ease. Everything was alphabetical order, with course items collected together and the categories put in Alphabetical order. When I grocery shop, all items are put on the checkout stand according to size, name order, and related categories. This isn’t counting my games, my toys, dvds and so on.
Hey, that’s it! :)
I have not ADHD or anything as far as I know, but I find myself surrounded for fascinating things non stop, I am never bored. I can’t belive that people can look at a neon sign without asking themselves “how can something like that even BE?
It have its downsides though, one of my problems with my classemates was me saying “Bored class?! Come on, there was a leaf making food out of ligth! That is like… MAGIC, man!”.
Sadly I mostly got (and get) “What’s wrong with you?”.
All this discussion on ADD/ADHD has got me thinking.
Perhaps those of you who have them are the vanguard of the next step of humanity.
If we’re the next stage of humanity then I weep for humanity. Think about what Star Trek would be like if the entire crew had ADD or ADHD.
Kirk: “Lt…….Su…you over there! Head to the neutral zone!”
Sulu: “But Captain, there are several little farmer’s markets.”
Kirk: “Very well, stop at each one and let’s see if we can get some peanuts!”
Spock: “Captain. I find this whole thing quite illogical.”
Kirk: “What are you looking at?”
Spock: “This screen has a slight crack in it.”
He he. If nothing else it would severely cut down on the number of opportunities he had to break the prime directive.
Next stage? Probably not, it’s been around for a LONG time, ADD’ers would’ve taken over by now if that were the case. However, ADD’ers are a necessary part of society, required for proper balance and progress. The way my parents explained it is as such: Those with ADD or ADHD are the explorers, the hunters and trappers, the pioneers. They need such a split focus in those professions to keep track of everything, or they’d wind up dead in no time, or at the very least be highly unsuccessful. A working population needs them. They need the farmers (‘normal people’, ‘neurotypicals’, what have you) as well, and in greater numbers, for stability. The farmer-types come in after the ADD types have mapped and tamed an area and settle it, making a more permanent claim, as they could not safely do without the ADD types. Historically, they have appreciated and often honored the explorers/hunters/trappers for this reason, and the social conflict between the types didn’t often come up because they didn’t interact as often. In modern times, the explorers don’t have many exploring options – space travel isn’t readily accessible, much less colonizing planets/moons/space stations, and the other options (the poles and undersea) are almost as bad. So the ADD’ers are stuck in with the farmers, and conflicts arise. As a much smaller portion of the population, naturally the farmer-types see something ‘wrong’ with the explorers, because of course the explorers do not fit into the mold of the farmer-life. It’s not what they’re suited for.
The same thing applies to risk aversion versus risk takers. Those who need a daily dose of adrenalin to stay happy are drawn to exploring (or jumping off mountains when they run out of things to explore)*. Whereas those who are not inclined that way get to hold the farming implements.
Likewise fussy eaters vs adventurous eaters. And/or people with different tastes (Marmite = “yum” vs “eeew”). If a tribe of hunter-gatherers found a yummy new food source and everybody ate it then there is a distinct chance that, sooner or later, everybody would die simultaneously when something nasty contaminated it.
Fussy eaters are problematic in day-to-day life because they refuse to eat perfectly good food when it is available. Particularly so in times of food scarcity. But are likely to be amongst the survivors in a mass-poisoning. The same applies to modern life, just as much. Where it can manifest in issues like GM foods.
We need as broad a variety of people and personalities as we can get.
* Risk-taking ADHDer = great explorer, poor life expectancy. Discuss. :-D
Trying to get the masses to grasp that in more than just platitudes, however is a bit…difficult.
Obvious common example: “I have nothing against fat people! They’re just lazy and ugly.” (in reference to anyone not anorexic-looking. I have seen EXACTLY that posted in far too many forums, or said aloud, often about girls who are barely heavy enough to be in the healthy range for their size)
Similar attitudes prevail for pretty much anything ‘different’. The masses claime to have no problem with whatever it is, but their actions speak the opposite – even – or especially – if they are hiding a tendency towards whatever it is they are attacking.
Example:
High school girl to less popular girl: “You still play with dolls? Haha, you’re such an idiot! When will you grow up?” *scene moves to show the collection of Barbies the first girl uses to practice hairstyling and clothing design*
One of the most romantic scenes I recall from science fiction dealt with getting past differences. Two characters were of races so disparate that their very atmospheres were deadly to each other. Yet they fell in love. One or the other of them had to always be in a sealed environment suit. But at least they could keep each other company, cuddle and hold each other’s hands.
Eventually however they found themselves in an inescapable situation where one of them was about to die. Rather than face the prospect of life without their loved one, they simply both opened their environment suits, letting their lethal atmospheres mix. But also allowing them to finally kiss.
Similar scenes seem to be a commonish theme in scifi ^_^() Not always to that extreme, but…it seems to be the science fiction version of the ‘impossible love’ trope.
My point is as Whlindsa said that ADD is part of an incomplete tool set.
And now that humanity has reached the point where our mental abilities are becoming more important to our advancement.
Nature is now trying to complete the tool set.
If you look at science these days most researchers are specalists in their fields.
And in my opinon to make the advances necesary it will take people who can look at alot of differnt data and see where the synergistic forces combie to give us that advance.
Now I see ADD as a needed component to that resault.
20 sounds like a big number. Until you compare to what people like the royal family manage.
Unfortunately, cant find a reference right now, but I think i read once, that part of their growing up training, is practicing how many names they can remember during a party.
I think 20 is kinda the “you’re barely scraping by” line, and the expectation is around 50.
The prince interviewed said that they use similar tactics; word association and so on.
On another topic; female leads? Gah, what comic DOESNT have female leads these days.
It’s a little… wierd. (As are the ones that dont. lol?)
Dead straight. I know a retired member of one of the regiments who get royal protection duties. The Queen knew every member of his regiment by name. And, even years later, would also remember what they last talked about, even if just in passing. In particular, she would sometimes take the pee out of him for one time when he left her husband waiting beyond the guard post. He thought the person who said “Look out Prince Phillip is outside” was just joking, simply because there was no escort.
The commander was going to throw the book at him, but reduced the punishment on direct instruction from the Queen. But she always had a twinkle in her eye if she made a joke about the incident.
Awww, super girls time :)
And another glance to the human patronizing side of Max ;)
MP draining orb. Have red bull on hand.
Red bull shmed bull. I prefer Nos.
I miss NOS powershots, and the cool bottles, but yeah, NOS is my favorite energy drink. All the others either taste like bubblegum or feet. Zipfizz is pretty good too, but you have to add it to really cold water and have to chug it before the B12 breaks down in the water.
Hooray for someone else who knows what it is XD
We have NOS down here, but in dull cans (big cans)
I usually drink it from the 16oz cans myself. One can with breakfast every morning or I can’t focus XD My body has trouble absorbing B vitamins and Nos fills the gap nicely. Do you have a preferred flavor? I snag the grape when I can get it, but usually I’m stuck with their ‘original’ grapefruit flavor.
We have NOS in 1 of the machines here at work.
The cans are blue, red, and purple.
What ever that means flavorwise.
Blue is the regular (grapefruit), purple is grape, red…I think that’s fruit punch, but as I’ve only ever seen that available a couple times I can’t be sure.
Also, I officially want access to that machine XD Most of the places around here carry regular, sugar free, and OCCASIONALLY grape.
Had to dig through collection of cans, but knew had a can of NOS: either white or silver and 500mls
Well it is in the breakroom here at work come on by and I will buy you a can.
5 hour energy WAY better
Take a look at the percentages on the bottle sometime. Just because they haven’t studied the side effects of OD’ing on those vitamins doesn’t mean there aren’t any. You can OD on pretty much anything.
Did you notice? The images at the top DO link to the cast page now.
I think your prayers were listened ;)
:) Bad link
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1206#comment-57731
On a technical note, I find that linking to a particular comment has to be in bare form. Every time I have tried to substitute a simple word, in the usual fashion, the link fails. Despite double checking the syntax most carefully.
Not sure if I understand, you mean you cant do this?
I havn’t been able to, although it seems that you can. :-D
Maybe you are using the links on the “Reply” word which have the form:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1214/comment-page-1?replytocom=57861#respond
and trigger a Reply page.
You must use the link on the “#” symbol which have the form:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1214/comment-page-1#comment-57861
If you want to link a sub-comment (which have not “#” link) you just need to take the number between “=” and “#” in the Reply link:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1214/comment-page-1? replytocom=57865#respond
and edit the link to this:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1214/comment-page-1#comment-57865
Looks like missing the http bit is what causes my problem:
http://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/793/comment-page-2#comment-38043
Which I check is correct by pasting it into my browser. However, if you try to embed that in the format needed to display it as a single word it confuses the program. Obviously the browser corrects for the missing http but the comments field does not.
Thanks for displaying your workings, I will tweak the bookmark I use to remember that.
Interesting, I typed that link sans http. Yet it has added that when displaying the link, just like my browser does. But presumably only when pasted in bare form. Interesting.
Wow, that ended really messed up, if you intended to link to your “THE HALO ORBS” post then you got a full today page url added before your comment url.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1214/www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/793/comment-page-2#comment-38043
What browser are you using?
Google Chrome.
Test 1
comment bare: http://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1214/comment-page-1#comment-57861
comment embedded
Test 2 – not the same page
comment bare: http://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1164#comment-53131
comment embedded
Test 3 – outside site
bare: http://www.wikipedia.org/
embedded
Test 4
page bare: http://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1206
page embedded
And I threw my explaining post into moderation :( you will need to wait
Dave,
Drink lots of Mountain Dew, or some other drink that’s high in caffeine content. Not really sure why, but the stimulants in the caffeine help with the focus and the remembering names bit. They don’t help me as much as I’d like, mind you, but your case doesn’t sound too bad, so you should get a bigger boost from it.
yesssss caffeine my favorite sedative.
You mean the effects are consistent for you? XD I haven’t tested Mountain Dew (too sweet for me, yech) but coffee/strong tea have a one-in-three chance for the following effects: Does nothing, does what it’s supposed to (energy boost yay), or knocks me out (opposite expected, and more strongly). Completely randomly. I generally don’t consider it worth the risk.
for me, it depends mostly on dosage – low to middling amounts (1 can of highly caffeinated soda like Mt Dew or Big Red) make me drowsy; higher amounts (3 cans of same, or an energy shot) bring the world into sharp focus for about 20 minutes; excessive amounts (3 energy shots, or a couple big cans of Monster – taurine is amazing!!) give me a headache and make me feel a little fuzzy & jittery. It would all probably be easier to manage if I didn’t hate the taste of coffee…
Interesting. Red bull and most energy drinks usually have no effect on me whatsoever (and I admit I find it odd the way red bull tastes like liquid smarties), but some difference in the chemical combo in Nos makes it the ONLY thing that consistently gives me extra energy. I was delighted when I discovered it because it does so by adding to my energy pool, so to speak – it doesn’t make it hard to sleep or anything, just makes it so I have the energy available if I need it. And has the WONDERFUL sideeffect of knocking the creative part of my brain into overdrive for a few hours, as long as I was reasonably healthy when I drink it (since it can’t counteract the muddle-headed effect of being sick).
That’s actually exactly why they prescribe Amphetamines (adderall, ritalin) for ADD and ADHD. The overload of stimulants gets your brain to be all “Whoa there, slow down!” and dump a ton of depressants in.
Also, for all you out there who were ‘diagnosed’ with ADD or ADHD by your school psychologist or family practitioner- be warned. Bipolar disorders can easily be mis-diagnosed as ADD, and thus the common amphetamine prescriptions can in fact be the wrong medication for the condition.
That’s what happened with me- luckily I was intelligent enough to realize the pills weren’t doing what they were supposed to. Then I found out that ADD apparently seems a lot like what happens when you have a genius going Manic on you.
Yeah, unfortunately ADD and ADHD are frequently misdiagnosed, even by supposed experts. There are a LOT of things with similar traits, and on top of that, the assumption seems to be that if an elementary schooler can’t sit still they must be ADD (Did they ever think that maybe, I don’t know, they’re kids? We’re built to do a lot of running from one thing to the next at that age. And the schools taking away or reducing recess are only making it worse.)
*I meant to put ‘mis-and-overdiagnosed, sorry
They would be better off getting the parents to cut off computer and mobile phone access after 9pm. Given the massive problems with sleep disorders in school children.
I could have cited the results of a world-wide study, showing the bad patterns throughout the Western world. Although the pattern is not exclusively limited to developed Western countries. But the one I did link is of particular interest, as it mentions how sleep deprived children are often mis-diagnosed with ADHD.
If anyone reading this has school tomorrow, and it is after 9pm, shoo! Off to bed. It will make you smarter in class tomorrow!
The other thing that schools can do rather than getting rid of breaks, is to change the school schedule. As briefly mentioned in that article, teenagers are built to stay up later and therefore also get up later. Other studies have suggested that shifting the school day back an hour, for teenage students, would provide significant educational benefits.
Unfortunately, shifting high school later in the day, while healthier, is just not going to happen until the world economy is in much better shape. One of the reasons they have it so early is to allow time after school for teenagers to have jobs.
Another main reason, of course, is sports. And we all know how sports-mad most people seem to be. *never got the point of watching most sports*
Stopping children getting a proper education, and thereby being of optimum use in the workforce, by making them work in the evenings, instead of studying, seems somewhat counter-productive to me. Looking at it from a long-term perspective.
Not that a one hour shift in the day for them would stop evening working. Given that teenagers are designed to be awake later. Plus, they will work better in the evening, if allowed to get the rest they need in the morning.
XD Since when are the politicians in charge of determining such things capable of thinking long-term?
That is our own fault. We allow the fear of getting a bad regime, which will not give up power, to shape our politics. So we ensure that none stay in for longer than four years, without being re-elected. And then we wonder why they are incapable of seeing beyond those four years?
If you look at the top 100 list of companies, and isolate those which have been around for more than 100 years, you find that they had a corporate structure which encouraged long-term planning. We are talking 20 year planning typically. Although some of them literally do 100 year planning. Which allowed them to anticipate when their core business would become unviable on the world market, and shift to a new one.
No politician wants the costs associated with long-term infrastructure or societal changes to fall due on their watch. Look at the levies in New Orleans, the power infrastructure in the UK or the costs associated with combating global warming. All of which are expensive to implement and will cause unhappiness amongst the voters, because it will impact on their immediate quality of life. Typical politician response: stick head in sand and hope the problems do not crop up until the next guy is in the office*.
* Implementing a policy of rounding up and executing those who failed to plan ahead would incentivise the next generation to do a better job mind.
I think the point of the four-year cycle was to make it readily possible to remove a president who was…problematic. It works well with an informed and educated populace. Which we don’t have anymore, because the politicians are in charge of the education system, and the system working properly isn’t in the interest of the power-hungry…
New system: Remove long-term policy making from the hands of short-term politicians. Have something like the supreme court system and appoint lifetime members. Give them total control over a proportion of the tax revenue (say 1/3) whilst leaving the quibbling over whether to tax the rich or the masses and other such issues with the short-timers.
In particular keep the long-termers out of the loop as regards controlling the armed forces and security services. Just in case a corrupt group manage to become entrenched, then their options for abuse are minimised and the means of removing them remain open.
Principal responsibility: Ensure humanity does not go extinct. The rest they can probably figure out for themselves.
I get it, but I don’t like it.
Sports are mock battle. Your side against the other. It’s a caveman response to a first world situation. I firmly believe this, and I believe this is why sports always seem to be held in higher regard, especially by the community at large, than the academics the students are actually there for.
Give sportsmen their swords and spears back. Natural selection will gradually reduce the number of sports players vs academics.
“We, who are about to die, salute you.”
and we who have just resurrected offer the bird, jerks.
I once had a therapist tell me that some ADD sufferers self-medicate with cocaine. At the time I thought this was a really bad thing to say. But it does point out that drugs work differently on some people.
I drink Jolt Cola when I can find it to medicate my ADHD aspects. It doesn’t get rid of all of them, but it brings me down to 90 when my brain wants to go 180 mph. It also helps me let go of issues I would normally never let go of.
Okay, you’re already my favorite webcomic, so I’ll both praise you for quoting my favorite movie and forgive you for getting it wrong. “My name is a killing word.” And no, I didn’t have to check that that was the right quote, I’ve seen the movie so many times I wore out a dvd. I didn’t even know it was possible to wear out dvds… And isn’t ADHD fun?
On, and I totes agree more movies need inner monologues.
I don’t know that you can wear out a DVD, but you can abuse it.
I’ve scratched a number of disks because I had to resort to a paperclip to open the stuck drive tray on a computer. I can see the possibility of foreign matter in the drive leaving scratches.
Then there are all the idiots that don’t hold DVD’s correctly, leave them laying around Data Side down, etc.
Of course you didn’t have to doublecheck. That’s one of the most memorable lines in the movie XD
Yay! Another Dune movie fan!
In some ways describing the feeling of Super Powers can come down to which centers of the brain go active at the stimulation, both emotional and physical. Unless their brain chemistry is radically different or alien.
“Being hit by a lighting bolt” would very well describe the endorphin rush that comes along side both excitement and danger. Where the brain is at same time saying, “this is the best thing ever, lets never stop!!” and “this is the dumbest thing ever, why are we still doing this!?”
For flight… at high speeds at least Sydney is inside a shield which is moving or at least slowing the flow of air around her. Depending on how she feels the forces of forward acceleration would either be like sitting in a fighter plane OR a full visual immersion flight simulator. Actually thinking about it, if she isn’t really feeling any force from her flying she could end up experiencing motion or simulation sickness, unless her flight ball suppresses inner-ear imbalance. For Sydney she’s likely got a good tolerance for it if she’s very practiced at scuba diving so she likely doesn’t notice… but it could become an issue if she’s one of those people prone to simulation sickness.
=====
Total side note: That Telepresence power would be totally trippy trying to watch yourself dance externally. It’s something the Oculus Rift could possibly simulate.
….which brings up a question I thought of last night and forgot until now. Does her flight power come with inertial compensation? If not, she’ll have a similar problem to a super-strength hero lacking the compensating toughness – except instead of accidentally snapping her own bones and tearing tendons left and right, she’d be a pancake the first time she decelerated suddenly (aka crashed), shield or no.
Given that she can fly in this aggravating manner, I don’t think inertia is a concern.
Hmm. Good point. Given the way her bangs don’t move, it seems lass like a fly-ball and more like an ignore-physics-and-gravity-ball.
Perhaps the two greyed-out upgrade paths for the Fly-Ball are ‘ignore chemistry’ and ‘ignore mathematics’? Or they could be ‘ignore history’ and ‘ignore geology?’ Or maybe they might reverse the concept and be ‘learn law’ and ‘gain gravitas’?
Ignore geology, would that mean she can fly through a mountain?
Yup.
It means that when she dies, she’ll leave a cream cheese fossil.
Mmmm….cream cheeeseeee…..
Though it is considerably less tasty hardened into rock like that O_o()
ignore geography would be better
one of the things we discussed at length in the comments was that the blue orb is less “flight power” and more “affect local (i.e. personal) gravity.” Newtonian physics are still in full force – they’re just refocused in direction and intensity. So when she’s flying, she’s actually producing 2 gravity fields: 1 smaller envelope with just her and her immediate person (i.e. clothes, shoes, pocket change, etc), and one just outside that envelope through which she “falls” in whatever direction she so chooses.
It’s not that the Fly-Ball ignores physics, it uses it. From everything we have seen, it looks like a localized gravity field centered on the user or the orb itself. Depending on the design, you could feel more or less of the motion. Also, because the gravity well will accelerate everything in the field equally, you could accelerate at extremely high rates without experiencing any G force.
And as stated many times before “any sufficiently high technology will seem like magic”. It use science we haven’t a clue about to alter gravity in any way she wants. Perhaps a skill upgrade will allow her to use gravity as a weapon. Super standing in a 20G field not so super.
Should read “Maybe it uses” My ADD brain is always 5 steps ahead of my typing !@#%
Greta Grabbie already uses gravity as a weapon
I have been hit by lightning. Well, not directly, but close enough not to matter. 5 feet. You feel fire coursing through your veins, everything goes black, but you can still feel the vibrations going through your body. And you will have vibrations going through your body as you look up at the sky when your vision clears. Then you have to just lay there on the ground because nothing works.
Almost hit a tree branch that was on the ground and would have wiped my car out, so I was outside moving it so no one else had a chance of hitting it. WHAMMO! Lightning so close it threw me 30 feet back. All I could do was wait till my body could move in the rain so I could go get medical help.
So………. What superpowers did you get from this?
He he. He he. Titter. *snort*
From the description, the new power sounds like “Temporary Paralysis,” but usable only with a Specific Trigger.
My, we are a sympathetic bunch, aren’t we?
sympathy; a word in the dictionary between sex and syphylis
Got a friend who claims he’s been hit by lightning like, 3 or 4 times. Supposedly different people have different skin conductivities, and so some folks are relatively safe from the longer-lasting effects of lightning strikes, because the current just gets carried to ground over the surface of their skin instead of going through the internal organs.
Lightning also is going to have different amps and volts which is partly why some people can survive with a scratch, some die, some like me go flying and suffer a little with no long term problems (and sadly no powers, but that may be for the best O B Juan), and some people’s personalities completely change from the nervous system damage. Hell, Tesla had so much electricity going through his body to counter Thomas Edison’s electrocution of animals he was practically glowing.
Lightning is interesting like that. No two lightning bolts are alike. No two bodies react the same way. Not a fun time. And I’m still waiting to be able to shoot lightning out my arse.
The main difference is in clothing, and how wet you are though
Dry skin is WAY more resistant than wet skin
Better the back than the front, huh?
Oddly enough that is referenced in medical advice regarding lightning. But purely in the following terms.
If you are stuck in open ground during a bad thunder storm, and cannot get to any shelter, then your best posture is to lie as flat as possible, but with your bum sticking up in the air enough that it is the highest point on your body.
Hopefully you will not be hit. But if you are, and all other things being equal, lightning is attracted to the highest point. Making that your likely target. Whilst painful, it is the most insulated part of the body and, in any event, the organ least likely to kill you if badly damaged.
I once forgot a guy’s name before I could reply with “Hi [insert name here]”. That was bad even by my standards. And I wasn’t thinking of Batman!
I always imagined that the closest thing to the feeling of releasing an energy beam from your hands is like that brief moment when you first start to pee, that “release” feeling.
no one is questioning the not being hit by lightning thing?
maxima flys hundreds, mayby thousands of feet in the air! how can she not have been hit by…. wait a minute why aren’t planes hit by lightning…?
They are. They’re designed and built to safely redirect it. Just like lightningrods on public buildings.
Plus when you are flying you are not grounded
They are. Most get hit by lightning at least once a year. It does not bother them.
On a personal note, if you are caught outside in a thunderstorm get in your car. Even if lightning hits it, it acts as a Faraday cage and will protect you (assuming you have a mostly metal car rather than one made out of carbon fibre or the like).
If Maxima was made out of gold, she probably would attract lightning. But she has revealed that she is not. Presumably whatever her skin is made from is not highly conductive, or she would likely have been hit in a lifetime’s flying around.
The tires help too. Never underestimate the value of rubber tires in protection against rubber.
The extreme amount of current just jumped several kilometers down from a cloud. It can also jump the few centimeters of air between car and ground.
The cage is the entire thing keeping you safe. Tires can only reduce it alittle
Hey, if the gold is a side effect of her invulnerability; a reflection of the potential hazard of the light, then her gold skin may similarly be proof against lightening.
I understand your name sentiments exactly.
lots of comments but i must applaud those camo pants. i had to come back and comment on the art. great stuff.
Speaking of the PPO, is anyone else freaked out that Sidney and Math both have the same rating in Energy Attack, if that’s what the Nova symbol on Max, Sidney, Heatwave, and Math means?
Yes, given her lack of training in using it.
Oh, you meant Math? The guy with no super powers? Yea, that is quite a perplexing one. The two solutions I have proposed in the past are based on the fact that he is clearly a cinematic-type martial artist. Ie, he can fight supers to a stand-still because he can do things no martial artist in the real world can get away with. Not without the backing of a Hollywood (or Hong Kong) special effects team anyhow.
So you can take that symbol literally, if you assume that he can use his Ki to manifest fire, lightningor the like. Which seems to happen surprisingly often in martial arts movies.
Or we can assume that it simply means a ranged attack of some sort. Symbolising that he can throw shurikens and other projectiles with deadly effect. Given the rating, perhaps even being able to bounce them round corners. Certainly able to take out multiple targets with a single flick of the wrist. A must for any cinema martial arts hero.
I’ve been hoping Math lights his farts on fire for his long ranged energy attacks.
But he can probably do something boring by messing with people’s bio-chemicals and energy in mid punch. It’s not true energy projection, but it still might be regarded the same in a short range manner.
oh yeah – shuriken…
(quietly puts batarangs away)
Then why doesn’t Peggy have that symbol?
Peggy (and Dabbler) have a sniper-scope symbol. Which could be interpreted one of two ways. Either broadly, to indicate specialist skill(s) of some sort. One thing that supports this option is that Peggy is a dual specialist in both the sniper and helicopter pilot fields. Yet does not have a helicopter symbol to indicate the latter.
Or narrowly, which is to say they have marksman skill. If you take the narrow interpretation, that is actually quite a specific skill. For instance, there being a big difference between the range of a sniper rifle vs how far you can throw a shuriken.
Whereas if you take the broad interpretation, then Math would not have that symbol either, as there is a specific martial-arts symbol to show those who have that kind of specialised skill. Obviously the fist symbol may be itself taken narrowly to mean just open-hand combat skills. Or, slightly broader, to incorporate melee martial-arts weapons too. Which I consider more than likely. Or, at its broadest interpretation, to include ranged martial arts weapons, in addition to both the narrower versions.
I do agree that there is overlap with a generic ‘marksman’ skill which could apply equally to thrown weapons as to firearms, but usually those kinds of skills are differentiated. Maybe not in extremely simplified arcade games, but very often in more realistic games or real life for that matter.
That was actually rather insightful. I’m curious to hear Sydney’s response.
I love how Max is actually doing one of the jobs of a unit commander and paying attention to the morale of every single one of the troops under her command.
She actually has quite a small elite team under her command. So it is not impractical to keep a weather eye on everyone. If only so she can have a word with their squad leader to intervene if she spots a problem. Doubtless she can call on non-powered units as well, for crowd control or the like. But, from their absence in this team get together, we can safely assume that they are kept in separate units, with their own commanders. Which is perfectly sensible and a normal kind of arrangement.
Possibly their commanders fall under the general’s command, rather than Maxima’s, thus being peers of hers. But, even so, I would imagine they will defer to her in the field. Unless specific orders or their area of expertise gives them precedence in a particular situation (for instance the bomb disposal team when working on a nuke).
Let us assume though that she does not need to command the mundane units, and bear in mind that normally a commander will have between 3-5 units under his or her command. More than that and it starts to become unwieldy to keep track of them. Arc-SWAT composes approximately 20 heroes (based on the restaurant scene and accounting for known absentees).
Which means she will likely group them in squads of between 4 and 6 supers. Which will each have their own leader. Although a unit like this will need to be very flexible and trained to swap personnel at a moment’s notice.
Obviously any commander will pay attention to a new recruit. It is necessary to assess their capabilities and decide where to place them in the structure. Once you have assigned them to their team, then their own squad leader will take over.
However a super-unit may need to call on unique abilities in a crisis, so recruit status could be irrelevant. If the world will end, unless you can get somebody with a strong area force field, you grab whoever is available. As such Halo will always likely get more attention from Maxima. Simply because she has a wide range of very useful powers. And if she has to bring Sydney into the field, Maxima will want to keep her close. Being the person on the team most capable of mitigating any problems caused by having an erratic rookie bouncing around.
If so, she will be assigned to the command team* and thereby remain as Maxima’s direct responsibility. My personal feeling is this is likely and she likely reconciled herself to this early on.
* Unless one of her unique powers is specifically needed elsewhere, in which case she will be put on temporary assignment, but still report back to the command squad when it is over.
My dad did something similar in the navy. Being assigned to the admiralty directly, but actually serving on practically every ship in the fleet over his career. But purely because he was a photographer, and thereby periodically in demand by all vessels, large and small.
going with cast page and no name show ups 20 sounds good. tho I would call it a platoon for size.
now taking Max’s rank into account I would say she also commands the space marines to, as the information given suggests she is the field commander.
Yep. The three that we know about are in the restaurant scene, so I included them in that head-count (and Harem only got hers’ counted once). If there is a platoon of space-marines in addition to that, then those fall under my previous speculation regarding other mundane units.
If I may go partially off topic here, my father was stationed in southern Italy in WWII working in an air base / military supply headquarters. He did work as an aerial photographer at times taking photos of the cities and local infrastructure. When the army wanted to send a supply convoy somewhere they liked knowing whether a road, or bridge, or even city was still where it was marked on a map and passable.
He liked to comment that the reason I was even here was due to his standard issue army belt. One day as he was standing in an open doorway with his camera the plane hit a rough spot and he was pitched forward towards the doorway. Another person managed to grab him by his belt and hauled him back just in time. Another story he told was that at the end of operations in Europe the army suddenly found itself with literally tons of supplies that they no longer needed and would cost more to ship back home than they were worth. Just what do you do with a warehouse full of combat boots anyway? He said that the army basically had the biggest yard sale in history for whoever wanted to take it off their hands. My dad was told, want a jeep? It’s yours for 50 bucks. But, shipping is NOT included. You have to find a way to get it home. Unfortunately, it turned out I did not have my own army jeep to play with as a kid.
One incident my dad witnessed involved a Royal Naval small craft towing a target for US warships to use for gunnery practice. My dad’s job being to photograph where the rounds hit. Which turned out to be extremely difficult, because, despite an extremely long cable separating the craft from the target, the shots were straddling the small craft and even landing on the far side of it!
So an urgent signal was raised “We are towing, not pushing”