Grrl Power #214 – Better than a lightsaber
The fights are starting to get tough. Math and Jabber are fighting just off camera, and Dabbler it seems got a tough seeds for her first fight. I wish I had drawn that first panel the other way around, even though it’d mean I’d have to cross the word bubble tails, which is generally a big no-no, but that way I could show that the crescent patterns on Dabbler’s arm is draining as she uses up her shield. Why her glamor would include that particular feature I couldn’t guess. It’d be like running around with a hologram over your head showing everyone how much ammo you have left. Glamor or no, her corset must be literally magic cause even with double sided tape she probably would have popped out of it already. It’s weird that women sometimes have to resort to double sided tape to prevent spontaneous indecency with certain outfits. I think a guy’s solution would be to wear a bigger shirt.
“Silver Age Rules” as Sydney defines them is not something that really happened a lot. Sure, villains used to be better about announcing themselves when they showed up back in the day, but I don’t think that usually included a rundown of their powers. I thought I’d have Sydney try it on Heavenly Sword though as a way of introducing her name into the comic without it sounding like slightly awkward dialog. (“Let’s see how you fare against Jabberwokky!” etc.) Announcing yourself in third person really only sounds natural if your name is King Snooty the Seventh, and you also tend to say “we” instead of “I.”
As always I will be at A-kon this year (June 6-8 in Dallas) and as I did last year, I’ll be doing a panel on Friday. Humor-Based Webcomics 1: Humor in Story. Be sure to stop by!
My fourth Gynostar Guest strip is up today. The current arc starts here.
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I need to point out that we are breaking a very serious comics rule here. The ‘good’ guy is wearing black and the ‘bad’ guy is wearing white. This could lead to any number of serious repercussions. Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!
Batman -> black
Joker -> white (with bright happy colours)
The apocalyps is already here
The Joker is primarily green and purple which is a traditional villain color combination. (Lex Luthor has that combination fairly often too)
Black has been both good and bad for ages.
But in this case, you have several things on Heavenly Sword implying “good guy”
Athletic white outfit – this one has worn out it’s tendency for a long time…white=evil/death is common in Asia and it’s also been seen frequently in Western literature as well, Heart of Darkness for one
Innocuous seeming weapon – shinai are usually the purview of protagonists and tsundere love interests
Warrior/Martial Artist vs Demon Witch, literally
there are definitely some tropes turned on their head, which I love this for.
I’ve pulled the same reversal on this myself, minus the innocuous seeming weapon.
I had a psychotic mind controlling angel girl in a game I ran in A-Kon ’06 and Lady Tinia from Divine Blood rocks the white trenchcoat until she upgrades to white armor and angel wings….and she tries to kidnap Hel Logesdottir at one point…and one of my other settings has an evil blonde angel woman too…..hrrm
hulk of course is green and purple as well :)
the actual rule was- due to 4 color art form- the villians and the hero cannot have the same palette combination. So spider man ( red blue) would have all green enemies ( goblin, dock ock, scorpion) while a green hero- such as GL- would have red or blue enemies
the only change happened when a color became tied to a particular origin, such as the hulk… boy that was a lot of green on green at times :)
I thought main enemy of Green Lantern was yellow (eons old lights versus painting war)? :P
Strangely enough, Bruce’s transformations were originally into a grey-colored Hulk…It took a while before Hulk became green.
The reason the Hulk was changed from the original grey was that the printer couldn’t keep the color consistent, so Stan Lee had him changed to green.
If you are young enough to be told to go to bed at a particular time, you must not click to reveal this spoiler.
Stop…I mean it!
Santa clause traditionally wore green, until the Coca Cola corporation re-branded him in their corporate colours.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!,/b> x a billion kajillion.
:([Sobs]
Curse you, comma in place of greater sign!
Googleplex raised to the power of a googleplex?
Can you imagine how many zeros that number would have?
(Infiniy+Infinity)×Infinity to the power of Infinity
+1
;-)
Just use Graham’s Number. If you need anything larger, then you either don’t know the number, or just want bigger for the sake of bigger.
Bah, Yorp’s number is bigger than that. And it has a genuine need. It is the upper bound solution to:
Connect each pair of geometric vertices of an n-dimensional rubikhypercube to obtain a complete graph on 2n vertices. Colour each of the edges of this graph red, blue, white, green, yellow and orange. What is the smallest value of n for which every such colouring contains at least one single-coloured complete subgraph on four coplanar vertices when applied to every possible position that the rubikhypercube can be turned to?
Are you sure about that?
Santa is a ripoff from Saint Nicolaas, who dresses in red and white Bishop clothes
Yes. In as much as his traditional garb was green. In fact, if my memory serves correctly, the earliest surviving depiction, of Saint Nicholas, is in a stained glass window in a Bulgarian monastery. Where he wore green.
I am a bit unfair to the company mind, as many depictions of him had changed the colours before them. Gold being rather common, due to the association with saints and halos. Likewise they did not come up with the red and white. But what they did do was create the iconic image we recognise today, which did fix those particular elements in popular culture The red and white coat, the black boots and belt, and so on.
Prior to their campaign his depiction varied, but real traditionalists would stick to the green. After their advertising campaign, he was permanently re-branded.
Didn’t Cola also make him fat?
Anyway, interesting. I knew Santa was a combo of both Nicolaas and Odin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule), but I didn’t know there was also some english influence
No Coca Cola did not make him fat, “The Night Before Christmas,” one of the many Christmas carols did that.
“And when he laughed, his belly would shake like a bowl full of jelly.” (paraphrased)
Bah, of course it was the night before Christmas that did it! All those plates of cookies and glasses of milk. Not to mention the tipples of sherry. If it wasn’t for the fact that his weight gain was balanced, by the loss from dropping off all the presents, the reindeer would never be able to get the sleigh off the ground!
a historian snoped all this out several years ago; there were illustrated children’s books about santa decades before either the coca cola adds or the poem.
his fat/ jolly self comes from the fact that the original santa was Odin; the church Christianized the old indo Germanic winter holiday by adding st nick to it.
that’s why santa looks like odin ( fat, beard, red suit, black boots), and not a tall skinny old man in a church hat
.
I think that historian aught to check what he is smoking. If Odin came crawling down my chimney, there is no way I would mistake him for Santa. But my pants sure would change colour.
Mind you, there is another interesting link that can be made. The next time you take a look at a crucifix, you are actually looking at a representation of Zeus! Art was poorly developed in early Christian times. Yet there was a desire to create an inspiring likeness to represent Christ.
At that time, there was only one portrait that was considered to have the awe-inspiring presence needed. So impressive that it was considered one of the wonders of the world. The Statue of Zeus. Which they simply copied. Aside from artistic expediency, they felt it would help win over converts, who previously worshipped the pagan gods. And every generation of artist since, who has based their likeness on those early crucifixes, were propagating the likeness of Zeus.
Is it any wonder that God forbade idolatry? Think of all the millennia of worshippers, sending their prayers to the wrong god.
[spoiler]Speaking as a catholic (saint Nicolas is a catholic saint, santa clause is the Spanish translation of the name Saint Clause which was a nick name for Nicolas back in the day) all representations traditionally wore white (as far as I know). I don’t know where you are getting green, the coke story is true though. [spoiler]
Check my link above (the word “yes”) for confirmation of the colour from another angle. I have to catch a bus shortly, so do not have time to track down the earliest image of Saint Nicholas. But, as I mentioned above, I am pretty sure he wore green in it.
But, if you check out the stained glass collection at the Saint Nicholas Centre in York Minster, you will see that Saint Nicholas was shown wearing a variety of colours. In the 12th century stained glass image he wore green. Which was the best I could get in the time available.
Just for information (in case it was not a typo), to use the tags you need to include a “/” after the opening bracket “[” but before word “spoiler” in the second of the pair of tags. The same is true with any of the tags. Your usage was fine, barring that single omission.
(P.S. I decided I was cutting it too fine to catch the bus, but tomorrow is as convenient as today. And this way, I get to catch the update.)
hmm, wasn’t aware of the origins. Still, since red, white and blue were mysteriously favorite colors for heroes…it ended up with a lot of yellow, purple and green villains.
“white=evil/death is common in Asia and it’s also been seen frequently in Western literature as well”
Indeed, in asia the Colors of Live and Death are “switched”. I did not know of it till watching bleach, where the villains wear white and the heroes black.
For her being villain in white, the shinai and that she uses kendo (propably) as well as the name (“Heavyly Sword”) we can asume she is asian. Propably even chinese or japanese.
She is also having blond hair and blue eyes. Classical arian/nord european coloration. So maybe she is half japanese, half german? Possibly with an origin going back to WWII?
But could also be colord contact lenses, died hair and a faible for the culture.
No reason that she can’t be just plain American who just got into Kendo. There are more Westerners practicing Eastern martial arts than Western ones.
She may have picked the colour of her costume due to its asian symbology because she got into the Eastern philosophy. Or for several other reasons.
Over at Marvel comics, Apocolypse has already come & gone…several years ago.
…and several times over.
I think one of the greatest lines in TV dialogue was when Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s boyfriend said to her “Until I met you I did not need to know what the plural for apocalypse was”.
Ghostbuster reference. Woo!
and has a heart in their costume, and has heaven in their name. Indeed, she is built, character wise, like a hero cliche. i think there may be reason for that!
Well, George Lucas did it too. Stormtroopers wore white, Luke eventually took a liking to wearing black, Han’s clothes, while not all black, were dark in basic color & tone. This was more of George Lucas emphasizing the extreme colors with villains (just black & white) as a contrast to more varied colors with the heroes and natural settings on various worlds.
But yeah, it was a *deliberate* break away from the “white hat, black hat” trope. I always wondered about the guys that wore brown hats in those old westerns…Whose side were THEY on?
Remember, Han used to be an Imperial Soldier (maybe just in training) until he came across a giant smelly walking carpet being abused, that’s why he wears those trousers with the stripes
Oy!
No dissing the Wookie! (Unless you want any of your limbs ripped out by said Wookie.)
Also, Chewie was one of the most awesome characters in SW.
It literally took a moon dropped on his head to finally kill him, he was so awesome.
No dissing noone, it was Han himself who called Chewie a “giant smelly walking carpet” (or something similar)
The problem is, everything after RotJ is considered ‘fan-fiction’ at best: so, no Grand Admiral Thrawn, not Insane Ice-arse, no Jaina, Jacen and Anakin Solo, no Mara Jade-Skywalker, and no moon landing on a Wookiee
Darths and Droids deserves special mention. Any writer who can turn one of the most despised characters in cinematic history, namely Jar Jar Binks, into a thoughtful statesman, should be awarded an honorary Oscar.
Not to mention they came up with an actually valid reason for the Jar Jar Binks character even existing in the first place (not going to spoil this – you have to read for yourself{don’t worry it doesn’t take long to get there.})
Surprised no one else have noticed that the sword Heavenly Sword made is the Buster Sword
Not technically the Buster Sword…but in it’s league yeah. Also, nice name.
Why thank you, got a thing for anagrams :p
Are you an Agatha Cristie fan or a Touhou fan?
Agatha Cristie, the book in question are And Then There Were None… Its content are awesome, one of the few where I didn’t figure out who did it right away… Not even sure what Touhou is…
Less so much the buster sword, more the sword from cloud’s limit break… third tier i believe, when he makes a sword that reaches to the heavens and splits the battlefield with it
I think you are mistaken with Squall and his third limit “Cosmic Guillotine”
For my reference, I going to go with Inuyasha using the ‘Wind Scar’ technique.
That was my first thought.
Heh… Need to remember “Silver Age Rules” when I next play a supers game just to see the look on the GM’s face. :)
In reference to your comment about men’s solutions to wardrobe malfunctions, most men really seem to feel the solution for then is, *shrug* “If it shows, it shows. And if, it shows, hey…free show!” Prime example? KILTS!
Sorry, there was supposed to be the “In my opinion” disclaimer there as well.
Kilts are not only for men.
Well, eldritch abominations aside…
Just so long as they keep the ancient traditions, that go with it, I am all for women wearing kilts. Even if they choose to walk over air vents.
+1
But let me ask one thing:
Compare bikinis and the usual bra/panties underwear set.
Now, WHY exactly do people make such a fuzz about it when seeing ladies in underwear, but not in their bikinis with mostly the same or less coverage?
Nudity taboos are a strange thing. They are mainly there so that people, who are ashamed to show some aspect of their body, can conceal their inadequacies anonymously. If everyone covers up to a similar minimum degree, then they will not stand out, and feel embarrassed. In the case of beachwear, they can choose to avoid the beach, so will not stand out, if covering up more. But they cannot avoid feeling segregated, if outnumbered, in their normal community.
If it were not for that argument, I cannot see any merit in enforcing a nudity taboo. If it could be scientifically proven that there is a higher incidence of rape in a nude environment, compared to a clothed one, then that might support the counter-argument. But I have not come across such.
A sufficiently wealthy, and enlightened, society can cure the affliction of embarrassment. By a combination of counselling to allow people, with a false sense of inadequacy, to overcome their shyness. Or offering corrective surgery, or gene therapy, to those who have a genuine need for it. And an enlightened society will have no issues with someone who is happy the way they are, even if their appearance falls below unrealistic expectations, that might be set by intolerant societies.
But, until we are wealthy enough to ensure that everybody in society can be offered help, then it is fair that the taboos remain. Removing laws enforcing it, would cause social embarrassment for some individuals. Leading to possible mental health issues and even risks of self-harming or suicide. Whereas maintaining the status quo does not carry such severe ramifications. And nudists can comport themselves how they like, in private, or in designated nudist areas.
Of course genuine religious edicts are another matter, and can over-ride the above arguments, to some degree. If someone’s core religion requires that they cover up, then that is fair. Although not so if they decide that those outside their religion, should conform likewise. Similarly if the edicts do not stem from divine mandate, but come from clergy with small dicks.
It’s always sexier when it’s unexpected?
Yes, I’m probably a terrible person.
I may be a 260 lb male, but since you like surprises, I may at some point strut and pose in front of your home in a speedo at random intervals.
——> NUDITY <——
awww no nakkie Guy.
Sounds like you have a taker for your offer Random Guy. ;-)
Alright!!!
In panel 5 there is a (motion?) line coming diagonally off the sword’s cut line. Anyone know what this is?
I’m especially curious because if it is sharp, Dabbler may need some cybernetic toes.
Are you talking about the purplish line that appears to originate from Dabbler? Something like a shield mechanism maybe?
Like Prototype Cyborg this looked more like a motion line to me, when I first saw it. If you look up, you will see that it appears to continue even in front of the ceiling. So I was taking it as being the swooshing trail left behind by the sword, as it made it’s downward stroke.
Looking for points to support your interpretation though, there are several. There is a distinctive purplish tinge. Dabbler’s shield is no longer present, even though it was visible before. Plus her posture is very defensive, as opposed to evasive.
I don’t think I would like to call it either way. Dabbler could be invoking some kind of protective spell there, or redeploying her shield in an alternative manner.
Or, a third possibility, is that it is some other kind of magical effect associated with Dabbler. You will note that in panel 1 she was clearly preparing some kind of magical energy in her right hand. Possibly an offensive spell.
The attack could have either disrupted this (so the line is a sign of the shield and/or attack dissipating) or it could be Dabbler improvising with it.
The possibility that springs to mind is the spell ‘sticky air’, mentioned in an earlier mini-comic, referring to her duel with Math. If she was casting it on Heavenly Sword, whilst being attacked, she may have re-directed it. In an attempt to slow down the incoming attack.
I took it as Dabbler expending her shield to deflect the energy blade since it was far too big to block. This would explain the blade hitting a couple feet to the left of Dabbler without the villain having to have bad aim, and the purple/pink haze around Dabbler would be the remnants of the shield dissipating.
It’s Dabbler’s shield. The angle’s wrong for it to be associated with the blade not to mention the coloring is consistent with the shield and not the Blade Beam(Which would be the correct FF7 reference to make *eyes the post mentioning the Buster Sword*). The increased size is either due to the shield being enlarged or the shield releasing energy(either from being damaged or releasing the absorbed kinetic energy out).
I hadn’t paid attention to the off-had spell before, but on examination I think it could be some sort of pushing-type spell, intended for tossing HS away, Dabbler instead used it to launch herself out of the way of the sword. This would also explain how she suddenly got to be so far away from where she was in panel 1 (15-20 ft back).
Clever interpretation.
She has hooves, not toes :)
I said toes because dodn’t know what to call the front tip of hooves.
I dub this villian, “She Who Cuts All the Cheese At Once”.
No sir, her name is “Cleavage”!
Ordinarily, I’d say “You have won the internet”….
But Rich Burlew beat you to that joke:
About a decade ago, actually.
OOTS 102
That’s a name I’d give to the villain who acts as a lookout, to warn the others that the police are showing up…the usual warning goes, “Cheezit! The cops!”
Well, at least Sydney is making the intel guys job easier. And maybe Dabbler’s as well since she got her to show her true power BEFORE she managed to wear Dabbler down much or lure her into a weak position etc… Sydney as a comic fan does a good job of preying on these showboats natural weakness: Vanity.
Can’t wait till everyone has had a chance to shine a bit so we can get down to some combos involving more than one team member working in tandem. Want to see Sydney sniping the unaware etc… should be funny.
The names in this sometimes remind me of my old Whateley reading days. Its been a while but I am sure at least a name or two is nearly identical or perhaps it was one of their old names before they settled on a final one…
You know it’s great service when you’re provided with something you want even before you ask for it.
I’m greedy, that was me asking for more!
IIRC, that was Team Kimba throwing out silly names for Chou before she took the name BladeDancer.
Does anyone else see the fault in Heavenly Sword’s costume? It is like she is begging for simultaneous front and backdoor super wedgies.
If so, I would *ahem* be happy to oblige her.
Fault? Hmmm, that she might be cold dressed like that?
I didn’t get the impression that Dabbler and Sydney were positioned that close together. The slash seems more for demonstrative purposes than to be intended to actually maim/kill. With that many incapacitated comrades on the floor, she’d have to be careful in the placement as well (assuming she cares).
Dabs, it may be time to stop going easy on her.
Okay, question! If her name is Heavenly Sword and she has uber martial art powers… WHY DOES SHE HAVE A LITERAL KEY HOLE OVER HER BOOBS?
I get that, you know, cleavage panels? Those happen, they’re the norm for costumes and I will not rant about the logistics of a hole right over your vulnerable bits, I will just roll with this. But seriously, why a key hole? I like it aesthetically, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t match up with her powers at all and it seems silly to have a visual symbol that doesn’t apply at all.
So, either she’s hiding a power she hasn’t shown yet (possible) or she got the costume discount at a second hand costume shop and is just wearing it ’cause it looks cool (also possible).
Ooor she accidentally ironed a key shaped hole in it
Sooooo, who sells a key shaped iron?
*Hides the Keyhole-shaped press-cutter*
SO YOUR TE CULPRIT!!! *begins GTA style law enforcement*
*Runs into a carwash and the APB is canceled*
To understand symbology you must get inside her head. Her nomenclature and dress indicates that she considers herself to be a good person, and in the right. Beyond that, she has a broken heart on her headband. And, as you say, a literal keyhole over her heart.
She has lost the love of her life*. Either she is raging against the world, in general. Or she specifically blames Archon (in themselves or as representatives of the cops or society). She was a good, law abiding member of society and has been betrayed. Either by it, or by her love. And she will have revenge for that.
* The usual disclaimers about this being my opionion apply.
As someone who’s making a comic where a girl has a handprint on the right side of her face, I understand exactly how easy this is to forget, but:
Sydney’s bruise, DaveB.
Whooop, didn’t mean that as a reply.
My reply to that was that while her powerset does say “Heavenly Sword,” I still say her costume says “Heartbreaker.”
Her heart is locked up and love crossed out against further abuse. Or does she have the power to ward off Dabbler’s lust??
C’mon Dabbler, save her thru the power of love! Free her heart! Or is that how you got her into this mess before??
Like the heart on her head the keyhole seems to be more of a personal symbol than a “professional” one like Superman’s “S” (I know its not technically an S but in reality that’s why its there so ssshh). At least the heart has been sliced up and so feeds back into the sword thing. Anyway my guess is that the symbology here is she is looking for someone with the “key” to her “heart”. Failed attempts at the lock will result in a sliced up heart! (whether she thought all of this out or it just made the author/artist giggle is beyond me but probably some of each)
Slightly nerdier reference: the videogame Kingdom Hearts. The hero goes around with a keyblade locking mysterious keyholes and the bad guys have the slashed heart logo, as shown on this google search: https://www.google.com/search?noj=1&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=kingdom+hearts+heartless+symbol&oq=kingdom+hearts+heartless&gs_l=img.3.1.0l10.8416.9558.0.10844.9.5.0.4.4.0.151.489.4j1.5.0….0…1c.1.43.img..0.9.504.5dw74wiub28.
Good thought on that! That actually makes some sense for inspiration. While I’ve heard a lot about it I have never actually played the game so wouldn’t have even occurred to me.
Cause Powergirl has a copyright on the round boob-window?
Yup, SMILF (before she retired, had a kid, returned to being a SuperSlut) was ordered to stop dressing like Powerslut
I think miss ‘Heavenly Sword’ is in for a nasty surprise. Dabbler isn’t even using her ‘combat’ form nor any of her tech’s or sword.
I say she has this one easy, she’s just playing around.
Since Sword hadn’t even used her power(s) yet Dabbler may have been holding back till she could get a better bead on the only opponent to show any interest in strategy thus far. Then Sydney got her to show some cards so now Dabbler has enough info to start getting serious. Or at least that’s my hope.
The line about modern age rules made me chuckle.
Nah, “modern” comic books have already descended to the Bronze Age. The Golden Age was back when Superman was first hitting Action comics & lasted through the 60’s. The Silver Age was more like in the 70’s & 80’s.
In my opinion though, when Marvel sold out to Disney & DC got REALLY stupid ( https://hasdcdonesomethingstupidtoday.com/ ) is the time we arrived at the Copper Age.
More like zinc, like the modern penny.
Copper is worth something.
I love the look on Sydney’s face in the last panel.
You know she cosplays with a keyblade.
Dang! Never considered Dabbles to be one of the fallen Arches!
I don’t know why but in this comic I have an urge to find one of those giant keys to the city things and stick it in her chest.
Note to self: If we ever organise a Grrl Power convention, ensure that only plastic cutlery is available. Very bendy types, at that.
Looks like Heavenly Sword is quite the contender. Dabbler shouldn’t complain so much. Least she doesn’t have to waist her time on cannon fodder.
Quite the useful power she has. Practically turning anything she can get her hands on into a deadly weapon. And with the skill set to back it up.
And Sidney shouldn’t judge people about fashion. Little miss wearing the same wonder girl tee sense page one.
1. Halo wore a uniform to the press conference.
2. She hasn’t been home to change all day. Yes, it’s still the same day.
When was she supposed to change? This comic hasn’t even lasted 10 hours yet (in universe time)
Actually Sydney has worn a range of fashionable super-hero tops.
I love that fake boob window on the last one :P
It makes a clever poster too, in context.
Getsuga… TENSHOOOO
Gesundheit
<—-apologizes for accidental joke theftage.
What are you, joking?
That’s just the kenatsu.
Gesundheit.
There is a better question to ask, Sydney, and moreover it’s one Heavenly Sword might be willing to answer.
“Why are you attacking us?”
I think answer is “Because I want to be a vigilante” :P
Yes, I can totally sense 20ish or so of them should have:
-known they do not even add up to 10% of Maxima, or half of Math, or even beat up one member of Archon using 5 of their own.
-realized they have limited intelligence on Archon powers and how quick they can get military backup
-Have a plan that does not involve taking all the cop attention on themselves while their mastermind runs away with whatever with quarter completing his over complicated plan to teach humanity their limitations (muahaha!)
-Could have at least had the “when Maxima shows up…” talk BEFORE attacking.
-Realise how much money they could make by non-supervillain means. In hollywood or bodyguard or cops or the construction / demolition business. Even granting an interview BEFORE you become a supervillain to finance yourself is not a bad idea if you DO want to be known
-Realise that overall, it was a bat idea??
-Realise that if you wait for ANOTHER batch of reckless idiots to wear down and reveal Archon’s power and tactics first you learn something?
-Pick off members of Archon separately?
-Google for something similar to the evil overlord mistakes list??
-Consider bombing Archon as the first surprise attack???
-Wonder how ANYONE could have united 25ish supers in a cannon fodder mostly attack without being into mindcontrol, scheming, or bitten by a radioactive politician? “I am not evil, I only work for an evil company” doesn’t look good on a resume…
Yeah, that makes sense, but you forgot two things:
1. Without those things, we wouldn’t have this comic.
2. EVERYTHING MOVES AT THE SPEED OF PLOT. (And is written either FOR plot reasons, or simply as ‘fluff’, which may or may not become canonical and/or central to the subsequent plot.)
Had to read it a second time to see why “keyhole”. I’m embarrassed!
Okay, so now Dabbler needs to announce – “Impressive, but this isn’t even my final form!!!” and drop the glamour.
A thought just occurred to me. Why is Dabbler blocking a wooden sword with a magic shield? You would think she would have grabbed it with one of her invisible hands and disarmed and/or knocked the daylights out of the lady by now if this is the first time the energy power has come out.
I’m guessing that is because this woman is expert in swordfighting and is keeping the blade moving too much for Dabbler to get a grab in. Even with a set of arms that she can’t see. Or maybe Dabbler doesn’t want to give the fact she has extra arms away. Or maybe it just didn’t occur to her.
I’m waiting for Syd to use the telepresence/truesight orb. One would think that if she isn’t going to PPO or lighthook for fear of destroying property or interfering with her team members, she can at least be a very effective spy and/or startle the mastermind while he is organizing the second wave of villans.
And also possible find out what her skill point she put in, does.
+1 to both of you.
I must be missing something here. In order to do that, wouldn’t she have to know where the master mind is?
With Halo’s erratic behaviour? No. She is capable of startling people on another planet, observing her, even though she might be oblivious to their existence.
When I read it the first time, I understood that as “spy on and/or startle the mastermind” (assuming, of course, there is a mastermind and he/she/it is “is organizing the second wave of villans”).
Regarding why Dabbler did not simply block the apperently regular wooden sword with her bare hands, then i guess it might be because she became suspicious when someone tried to hit her with what looked like a normal piece of wood.
True that. When you specialize in disarming or fighting enemies with weapons, and you see a team of villains with nunchukus, a poleaxe, a sword, an unarmed combatant, a guy with two shields, and a person with a spoon, YOU STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THE ONE WITH THE SPOON.
Because, seriously, who the hell brings a spoon to a death fight?
No, no, no, the guy with the spoon is obviously a psychic with telekinesis an therefore it doesn’t matter how far away from him/her you are they can attack you.
There is no Spoon.
https://cdn.motinetwork.net/animeotakus.org/image/anime/1309/gar-occult-academy-gar-spoon-anime-otakus-1378245497.jpg
Congratulations you have passed preliminary assessment for the agency.
But what about aliens disguised as little girls who aren’t carrying advanced physics textbooks?
If they have a convincing cover, then there is the possibility that they are legal aliens, settled with permission. Shooting is not appropriate. Wait until they try to bite, shoot or entangle you with their limbs and evade.* Then shoot them.
* This is an optional tactic with any little girl.
My whole point was assuming that an alien intent on mayhem is going to disguise himself/herself/itself as a little girl in the first place, why would he/she/it go around carrying an Advanced Physics textbook when the textbook (at best) doesn’t add anything to the disguise and (at worst, as seen in the clip) negates the whole purpose of having a disguise?
Because she is an alien and does not understand the subtle nuances of human society. She did her research, so knows that school girls carry books. But made a simple mistake, that anybody who was not born here might. In her society a six year old girl would be studying quantum physics and the like.
Although this is a funny example, it is exactly the kind of thing which can catch out spies. If they have only studied the language and culture, but have not lived in the foreign country, there will be lots of nuances that they miss.
There is one example that I recall seeing in a film, but found out later that the particular blunder paralleled on a very real incident. An allied spy was posing as a German, and in a pub ordered two beers. Although his accent was perfect, he accompanied the order by holding up two fingers (the ones next to the thumb).
Nothing wrong with that, you might think. But, apparently, in Germany (or the part of it he was in, and at that time, anyhow) it was normal to hold up the thumb and first finger instead. He had marked himself as being a foreigner, by doing something no local would do. Despite an intensive training program and fluency in the language.
Aren’t those swords usually made of rattan?
Or bamboo, rattan cost more and dose not flex as much.
I really like this character, Heavenly Sword and I hope we see a fair bit more of her, was kinda getting sick of watching Math while the (IMO) far more interesting Dabbler was clearly in a far more tricky fight behind him.
Still, things are no doubt about to really take off and I’m getting giddy in anticipation of the smack-downs Max is gonna start handing out like take-away menus :)
One thing I notice here is that she “missed” Dabbler and Sydney both with her attack, but then I noted the placement on the bodies of the “previously defeated” allies. She would have to do a horizontal attack to “miss” the bodies and be much more likely to strike another ally out of line of sight. She may not be a hero, but could be a villain with a killing attack and a psych disadvantage against killing.
Silver age rules huh? So long as you avoid (Modern Anime rules) then you’d have fifty pages of one character explaining what their powers are and every finite detail of how they work to such an extreme that it boggles the mind that anyone could have ever figured out how to use their own powers without an owner’s manual.
They all clearly stopped by Academy City so the scientists could do experiments on them and make an owner’s manual.
Now that I look at Heavenly Sword’s getup, it makes her look more like an unknown villian from Kingdom Hearts; all she needs is a weapon that looks like a Keyblade. :)
I wouldn’t say “better than a lightsaber.” Okay, maybe in mass combat, but I would rather have the lightsaber. Unless she can control the size of the field…
Depends on whether her energy blade is capable of blocking attacks. If she’s a top-tier swordsman and her blade can be used to block, it might really be better than a lightsaber (better blocking area when sideways, and larger area overall).
You don’t need to block attacks if you can parry them.
Parry also costs way less energy, and is way more reliable to succeed (because you don’t have to worry about things that have to much momentum to stop)
Try to block a broadsword with a rapier, and you’re gonna have a bad time.
But if you block it with a weapon capable of slicing a building in half, not only will the broadsword be chopped to bits, so will your enemy. And his mates behind him.
And if you can do the block, whist he is still at the other side of the room, then even the falling tip cannot land on your toes.
Shouldn’t they all have associations colored in by now at the bottom of the info boxes next to tactics? I mean they all arrived together.
It looks to me like the blue highlight is just to show which type of information is being displayed. In the middle of a battle you will need access primarily to tactical information.
Later, if doing some detective work, checking up on the known associates will display a different page of information. In this case, as you say, all the villains who were at this battle would be listed on each other’s info. Along with other mundane associates, that are uncovered through regular police work.
Likewise, hopefully, they will all end up with a rap sheet showing lengthy prison time as a result of the battle. When viewing that, the final icon “record” would be highlighted.
Although we, as readers, will probably view “profile” as being the villain’s back story, police would be after the psychological insights that might be gained from the information on that page. It could be invaluable in hostage negotiations, for example.
Yeah, that seems reasonable, but the information displayed is abilities, not tactics, and the tactics icon has an arrow on it as if pressing it will cause something to happen (i.e. show you information on known tactics) whereas other buttons are greyed out with an x icon, as if pressing them will do nothing.
Alternately, another explanation is that Arc-Light is triaging and don’t expect anyone to need to look at associates quite yet, so they focus on tactics and powers.
Which is why they wouldn’t take the time to fill out the “Association” data during the fight: names and powers would be less evident and thus would be given a higher priority.
Eh, I guess that simply summarized your second response.
Egads, Heavenly Sword knows a variation of Kuno’s Watermelon Splitter Strike.
I thought that was Gallagher’s Watermelon Smash :D
Gallagher uses a mallet, not a sword…It’s a mallet that “slices, dices & makes Gullienne Fries, but I swear you gotta hit that sucker *just right*.”
Is it to late to point out that isn’t a stick it’s a bamboo sword or Shinai, a weapon used for practice and competition in kendo representing a Japanese sword.
Doh!, helps if I look at the who’s who
technically it’s a piece of wood, so a stick
It’s a specificly designed stick, made from a specific type of wood, but still a stick
Four arms versus two and hooves versus feet plus the experience of sparing with Math should mean dabbler has a big advantage here.
Then again she did loose an arm in a sword fight.
For an expert Swordswoman she’s dropping the tip of the blade awfully far. I used to get yelled at for that.
Here’s a question: why is Dabbler even still using her glamor in the first place? She can’t be worried about letting civvies see it, as she already informed the public about her “battle form” during the press conference. And this is certainly the type of situation where you’d want to whip out a battle form, if you had one…so why doesn’t she?
Or push lust to her opponent. Really Max it out.
Context is everything. In a bloody life or death struggle, do you really think it is wise to turn all of the bald apes in the building into psychopathic rapists, fixated on Dabbler? As a species, if we have raging adrenalin, bloodlust and a maxed out sex drive, the results would not be pretty.
…Sounds like you just described a piranha school feeding frenzy…
Dabbler only mentioned her ‘battle form’ at the press conference (contrary to instructions), so that she would not have to worry about keeping her disguise up at all times. Never being able to relax, and be herself, except in a couple of high-security locations would be unbearable. Especially as it is likely that some things could disrupt or dispel her technomagic, so it would not always be her choice as to which form she presented to the world.
But that aside, her capabilities do not change. Even if she looks like she only has two arms at the moment, she does actually still have all four. Therefore ‘changing forms’ would not actually increase her capabilities. In fact, it would decrease them. As a couple of other commentators have already said, having two invisible arms could give her an edge, if she felt she needed it.
Basically it would take effort to change (however small it may be), and there would be no particular advantage to doing so. Unless she wanted to grasp weapons in multiple hands. Under those circumstances, Dabbler would not want to draw attention to the invisible hands by holding weapons with them. So would need to ‘change forms’ (aka dispel her illusion) if she wanted to go postal.
And, of course, even though she has mentioned it at the press conference, it is by no means certain that every villain will remember the full details of each hero, given the amount of information covered. Plus it is one thing to have it described, and quite another to see a purple four armed alien in front of you. So there is a certain surprise advantage to holding back any ‘transformation,’ until she is ready to use multi-weapon fighting. Or some other tactic where the extra distraction would help.
One way she could get away with holding weapons in invisible hands: pretend she is using magic or Telekenesis to move the weapons
Heavenly Sword’s laser sword thingie reminds me very strongly of Riven from League of Legends
I didn’t read all of the post so I’m not sure if someone already came up with this, but maybe Heavenly Sword is the one good fighter that was send in to check out the situation, like what Maxima is doing outside.
SPIN TO WIN HEAVENLY SWORD !!!! SPIN TO WIN!!!
Now if Heavenly Sword’s partner was Dragon Saber, then I’d geek out.