Grrl Power #295 – Ovareaction
I’m sure no woman has ever done this. I’m also fairly certain most women have wanted to. Yes that’s right, Book 2 opens with our heroine punching herself in the ovaries. That should set the tone nicely. Eventually I will go back in and draw a splash page to insert before this one indicating the new chapter.
I thought a lot about whether book 2 would just start with the next day or jump ahead a few months, maybe to catch us up with the flash forward at the beginning of the comic, but I knew if I did that, then half the comic would wind up being flashbacks to Sydney going through basic training because there’s a whole lot of humor to mine there. Plus my favorite part of most superhero stories is the origin tale slash discovery phase where they’re learning about their powers and limitations. (Except when a movie studio is rebooting a franchise for the third time and for some reason feel the need to retread the origin story. It’s like sitting through a long joke that you already know the punchline to. Everybody knows Superman is from Krypton and Spider-Man got bitten by a spider!) But don’t worry, day two will not take another 300 pages to get through, in fact I think book two should cover several weeks of time.
Also, evidently Sydney’s version of quarters is played with 20-siders – although the 20-sider in panel 5 seems to be sitting outside of her bowel, which is… concerning, now that I think about it. In any case I may have taken some liberties with the background of that panel. Sydney does not, for example, have a broken Guyver unit where one of her kidneys should be. The dragon thing is probably true though.
Here’s the link to the new comments highlighter for chrome, and the GitHub link which you can use to install on FireFox via Greasemonkey.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
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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.
50/50 odds? Man, are you an optimist!
Also, I feel hopelessly compelled to say this, and may all the gods of teh Interwebs forgive me….
“FIRST!!!!”
Eh, at least the comment was relevant.
Yea, we can all give in to enthusiasm, at times. But nice that the initial comment was a witty one.
Yeah starting with a witty & relevant comment is always your best bet. Most of my issue with “FIRST” is the lack of witty & relevant. That and the fact many come off as “Look at my junk” instead of “Oh neat”
The urge to shout “FIRST!” came only when I have realized with some considerable surprise that my comment is, in fact, the first one :)
(and yes, I’ve been hitting F5 for a couple of minutes around the posting time, which is 11AM where I live….)
If it happends in that order, it is forgivable
Plus you have a perdy avatar,* so all is easily forgiven. :-)
* Dang, it is sooo long since I had one of them, on my lap, begging to be stroked. Y’all stop stoking my nostalgia!
OMG! Stroking your nostalgia in an open public-access venue?
(covers eyes)
Good thing I’ve got plenty of Brain Bleach™ on hand…
Well, you are taking part in this mass debate too. :-P
You are definitely this comic’s best known mass debater.
*blushes*
You flatter my verbal fencing, sir. But I seem to recall that you have handled yourself well, when we have crossed swords, in the past.
Yes, I confess to waxing nostalgic on occasion. I’ve also “pulled off” quite a few puns in my time here. I’ve been alternately serious & silly because I believe that variety is the spice of consensual context.
Playing Devil’s (Succubus’?) Advocate may be a dirty-minded job, but people who don’t participate in mass debate are leading to the forced genocide of intellectual intercourse.
;)
That, and the fact most of them end up being number five or higher
The optimist is Sydney, thinking that might possibly be the dumbest thing she will do today. =)
The fact that she punched herself hard enough to knock her own socks off is pretty impressive…
Well, she IS a superhero, after all.
(By the way, Sydney’s alignment in D&D would be True Chaotic.)
i’d say more chaotic good, since she IS part of arc-swat and by loose definition a super-hero (technically she’s more of a Super-cop… as heroes are vigilantes)
I’d say Neutral Good or Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral. Her personality is chaotic doesn’t make her alignment chaotic.
it kind of does tho
Sydney is 100% Chaotic Good
of the sort that under different circumstances could have vERY easily been Chaotic Evil
That might be why V seemed to take a liking to her.
i think V liking her was just due to her being friendly to him even in the middle of a brawl. and the fact that both seemed to have visited their worlds equivalent of TV Tropes probably helped too (he knew what “inverse ninja” meant before she explained it… i think?)
Not so much friendly, as respectfull. There’s some mutual respect from both for the other.
And concidering this world is basicly ‘our world, but with superpowers’, their equivilant of TV Tropes is… just TV Tropes
Chaotic chaotic with chaotic good nerd tendencies.
Mmm, but would that extreme an embodiment of chaos choose to endure both the discipline of army life and becoming a ‘tool in the enforcement of the oppression of the establishment over the freedoms of the populace’? *
She has demonstrated chaotic behaviour, certainly, but her principles are not necessarily in line with her eccentric play. Zintiel, of Flaky Pastry, is a true embodiment of chaos. As happy burning down a church, for a laugh, on one paw, then helping to rescue the people in mortal perils (in a spirit of competition, mind), on the other.
Unless Sydney has signed on because she has somehow heard of Maxima’s mosque-burning incident, and figured she may be able to get away with anything, I think a different classification might be more appropriate.
* A.k.a. a police woman.
i think that chaotic character wouldn’t care about what you expect.
government is not enslaving anyone so its not like there would be any freedom to protect.
also, as far as we have seen there is not much of the discipline in this team.
besides, who said she has single alignment? why can’t she be chaotic-neutral–neutral-good?
just like dabbler (or xuriel?) being alien and an succubus – “can’t o be both?”
from her chaotic-neutral side we see her being unpredictable, and not very obidient.
but why should you rebel if what the other person says make sense?
rebelling for the sake of rebelling, is a sort of an order too.
as a role player, being a super hero is sort of entertainment for her. also, not having to hid her balls… (i know) allows her to show more of herself (I KNOW ALREADY!) and be more chaotic.
superheroes are known to be “good”, but there is no “you committed a crime therefore no mercy”
kind of lawful bs, which makes her neutral-good. she isn’t there to solve crime, she is there to have fun as a super heroine (how should i spell that word to not make it sound like a drug?!).
also, for a role player its really easy to assume personality, so there would be no problem with falling in line.
well, there are just me interpreting her character, but its not entirely baseless theory that appeared from the thin air just for the sake of a counter argument.
i myself designed a character whose “true” alignment was lawful neutral, but because he read many stories of adventurers (this word should say enough about his world) he decided that he should be of a good alignment, so he acts as neutral-good.
he is lawful, he is good, but he is not lawful-good…
but that’s just what i think about it. you don’t have to agree, since i can be wrong.
Chaotic neutral is my favorite character alignment. They get to be unexpected! I mean, a halfling in a pink dress hanging from a tree. Need I say more?
I’ve always been a fan of Choatic Good because many kingdoms had laws I didn’t like. Also it gave me leeway to do things I wanted to do. If I felt a kingdom would be better off without the current king/ruler I could take steps to remedy the situation. Or if a slavetrader was camped nearby I could chose to act or not according to the situation.
The way I saw it is Lawful Good would alert the Guards about the Slavers and help the Guards to Capture them.
A Chaotic Good would Raid the Camp, free the slaves, beat the crap out of the slavers until they spilled everything they knew about their organization, eliminate the “Guild” with much bloodshed and screaming, and THEN Leave a note for the Guards telling them about it.
I’m not allowed to play as chaotic neutral anymore after The Great Plot Derailment of ’09. But it was worth it.
Ahh, sounds like somebody who takes the alignment to heart.
“super [b]heroine[/b] (how should i spell that word to not make it sound like a drug?!).”
Well, that ‘is’ how it’s spelled. If you wanted to reference the drug, you’d drop the ‘e’ at the end.
…and apparently trying to make the word bold failed hard. Either that, or my grasp of HTML is sorely lacking now…
That should have worked. Normally the square brackets are interchangeable. Although I typically use the angular ones, as they match the examples listed (visible below the comments box, when you are typing a reply).
Maybe you inadvertently used code (not visible to us), which causes the text quoted to be treated as text, and not run as code?
But, just to test, I will try square brackets, to make [b]this bold[/b].
Nope, not interchangeable, on this website. For that particular tag. Best stick to the example ones below. Angular brackets for most of them (the exception being spoiler). Otherwise as you typed it.
&lgt;strong>…&lgt;/strong>
Dammit! <strong>…</strong> is what I meant…
I find there is enough scope for variety in role playing, that I am happy being forced into one alignment, by the mechanics of a role-playing game. It is an interesting exercise. Just as I like to see the world from a woman’s eyes, or those of a dwarf, or a dragon. If you are a born role-player, you will want to know what it is to think like that individual.
Personally I find the D&D alignment system to be far too simplistic to realistically portray an individual. I certainly would not find my actions pigeon-holed into one category (albeit, as a rule of thumb, I am in the Neutral Good/Lawful Good corner).
But, just to give an example, I am so extremely lawful, that I will not break a law, even when there is no way that I could be (realistically/practically) caught or punished. Even though I am in a country where everybody (including the authorities) routinely ignores copyright law, I will never watch a pirate DVD.
I am self-policing, by choice, not by fear or a desire to ‘fit-in’. I see it as the right thing to do, and behave that way accordingly. Although I am not quite at the extreme scale of turning myself in if I inadvertently exceed the speed limit. I am rational about it, not obsessive.
Yet, on the other hand, as I have mentioned in open comments before, I would, quite literally, fight to the death to prevent the implementation of personal chipping ID’s being enforced on the public. Regardless that armed revolt, against what on face value is just an efficient national identity system, is the ultimate anti-establishment stance to take. If you view the issue in a simplistic Law to Chaos scale.
I have a friend who tries to pigeon-hole real people into the alignment categories. Whilst that may be fun as an arbitrary exercise, if he then bases his interactions with them, on that assessment, he will make serious misjudgements.
But, for role-playing, I do love it. And have played more chaotic neutral characters, than any other. Including Chaotic (Neutral). One might embody randomness (using a table of emotions and quirky behaviours and a d300 to pick the combinations to play at any one time).
Whilst another might simply be a selfish individual, who does what she wants, with little regard to the morality of it. And another might champion the rights of the individual, and freedom of self expression. Simply seeing Good and Evil as being optional ways of expressing that.
i was thinking what alignment based on some examples and i came up with
(lawful) obedient or enforcing obedience
(chaotic) disobedient and/or fighting authority
(evil)selfish
(good)selfless
then i was thinking about the alignment of a common thug…
he obey the boss of the bandit group (obedient=lawful), but he is not in good terms with the local law(indirectly fight authority=chaotic).
and at that point alignment doesn’t make any sens anymore…
another example would be “righteous fury”.
Anger and intent to kill is not something you would consider “good”, but on another hand, they usually have a good reason for that.
“…and at that point alignment doesn’t make any sens anymore…”
In that context, being Lawful means adhering to the Laws of the Land in accordance with the dominating authority, rather than to the laws of a sub-group or sub-culture within society. So yes, you could be viewed as Chaotic from the viewpoint local government, even if you strictly uphold the laws of your Thieves’ Guild.
In that context, some of those Guild laws might read as:
Thou shalt not steal here in the Guild Hall
Thou shalt not withhold your Tithe to the Guildmasters, lest you also revoke our support to do your business.
…So on & so forth…
Actually, I think this type of situation is directly addressed in the 3.5 PHB where they say that you mustn’t mistake a lawful alignment with the laws of the land, but instead you should associate it with the character having their own set of personal laws that they don’t bend on. From that perspective, the mafia thug who conflicts with law-enforcement but unwaveringly follows his bosses’ commands is still considered Lawful.
i see, so my character can be lawful, even when he could occasionally kill a king if he was seen as evil tyrant. ofc, not without a GOOD replacement ready and the support of the crowd. it could make things even worse otherwise.
My most beloved (and most extreme*) Chaotic Neutral character could behave very consistently Lawful, in some circumstances, and Good, in others, without betraying her alignment in the least. Because she simply did what was most expedient to fit with her personal desires.
Her utmost priority was to preserve her dying sub race of Elves. And was a member of their royal family. So in matters of state, would always act in an upright and reputable fashion, so as not to cause political ramifications. If push came to shove, she probably would have used surreptitious ways to resolve a problem, but, if a Lawful one could be found, she would do that in preference.
The strongest kingdom, which could threaten her people, was a Lawful human one. So she needed to present a suitable front to them, to preserve peaceful relations.
On a personal level, she loved all elves (even those not of her sub-group), so would do anything to preserve their lives. And sought their good opinion. As most were of Good alignment, she would deport herself accordingly. Whilst in sight of them. Evil was a tool in her arsenal, to be used if necessary. Or if prevalent personality demanded it and circumstances allowed it.
None the less, she absolutely loved it, when she received permission, from a human king, to fireball him, in his own throne room! Ok, it was because he was surrounded by assassins, and figured he would survive, and they would not. But it was one of the most enjoyable moments in playing that character.
Notably she was not all that concerned if he could survive, as she had witnesses, so the risk was all his. She really was Chaotic, despite asking his permission first. She only did that much, because it ensured that her long-term priorities were not endangered by short term pleasure.
* She was the one who’s personality varied, at random. Often changing every quarter of an hour. Even though she was consistent in her goals, and did not mind conforming, for appearances sake, if her goals were at risk, she would otherwise behave in radically eccentric ways. You can see why I like Sydney so much.
“If you are a born role-player, you will want to know what it is to think like that individual.”
I wholeheartedly agree with that: If you can play a Hobbit or Halfling character & say, “What? They expect me to skip second breakfast or leave my pillow at home?” with the same fervor as a human mother might say, “They want me to give up my child?”
Then you’re on the right track.
Sydney knocks my socks off, when I just look at her.
Puppies wearing socks? What next, Penguins wearing monocles? o_O
penguins need monocles! in fact some are so fancy they need a top hat and a second monocle just for all of us non fancy humans to recognize penguin facnyness
That is just unnatural. Peanuts are supposed to have top hats, monocles, spats, and a cane. Anything else wearing such is just a peanut wannabe.
I dare you to say that to the Penguin…
Leave Cobblepot out of it.
Translation: Damn you, you beat me to it! ^_^
Yeah, panel 3 would be particularly fetching, if it weren’t for that nasty ‘ol bruise. At least that will heal.
Dunno. I am never too keen on manga looks (stylised schoolgirl with big eyes, being cute, but not sexy to me). So Dave normally does an incredible job making Sydney look great, despite using a manga style. But the overly big eye, in that panel, just feels too freakish for me.
The one thing that actually tones it down is her bruise. It takes her out of the sickly cute zone, by giving her both a beauty spot (in a way) and the dirtied up look, that makes her look less plasticky.
Assume that she has one of those magnifying mirrors, and then it works. As Sydney is a tomboy, she would need one of these whenever she attempted to tackle the issue of girly-girl makeup.
Those are bad. They make dinosaurs look much closer than they really are. Which could make her badly mis-judge her reaction.
Sydney’s eyes are weirdly difficult to draw from the side for me, especially if they’re not looking in some other direction that forward. I suppose her eye is a bit large in that side view though.
Looks perfect to me
Dave, I think you did a pretty good job of drawing the eye. You just need to make it a bit smaller.
The other day we were talking about the ‘uncanny valley’. In this instance, I think DaveB has reached a critical threshold. Where it is being triggered for a few people, but not others. Therefore this is a very useful panel for Dave to use as reference.
So I agree with what you say. Very slightly less and he will likely still have people gushing over her good looks. Without triggering the uncanny valley reaction, in those of us with a lower threshold.*
* Presumably as regards eyes, given that mine is, otherwise, pretty flexible.
I’m personally indifferent to manga or anime styled looks, mainly because these days, it feels like everyone does them. :P I’ve lived with manga my whole life before it even became more mainstream, including old 70s style, though I would’ve been too young to fully understand them even with translations or (awful) Canton dubs. So large eyes on art just don’t bother me.
That said, I have to agree with you that Sydney looks cute both in that side profile, and the bruise on her cheek. Mouth normalized, check. Pronounced lips, check. Hair down and lifted off to the side, check. And the ‘dirt’ on her cheek adds depth as you said. Really, some of the girls have their moments of cuteness or hotness when you normally don’t expect it. Max, Anvil, Dabbler in her succubus form from last page, etc.
Yeah, the way her eye is drawn there is a bit “off” but I don’t let it detract from Sydney’s overall look.
Dude, I’m not female and even I know a punch there when you’re getting THAT time of the month warnings, or any time really, is painful.
Even if you’re a guy there is still stuff in that area that will get messed up badly depending on how hard you hit.
Trust me, it’s less painful than the cramps.
As a girl, I can attest that given HOW MUCH every woman wants to do that, it’s a fair guarantee that at least one has tried before Sydney
that shit SUCKS
Should I be worried that one of them has a moustache?
Well, she is a tomboy.
All women’s ovaries have at least one that has a moustache. It’s something they don’t often cover in sex ed class.
According to several women I know, that time of the month is actually when both ovaries choose a weapon to have a duel like true southern gents. You can tell the weapon they chose based on the pain (I’ve heard the weapons range from fisticuffs to tanks). It explains why the battles can last varying number of days, have different amounts of blood, and cause different reactions.
This also explains the mustache.
Ugh… mine have moved on to nukes. Annoyingly homicidal little bastards.
I’ve never heard it put quite that way before but it sounds about right. Though, I think I’d compare it more to a battlefield where the tide of battle ebbs and flows. Sometimes it’s minor and other times it is pure, unadulterated carnage.
Flows indeed….
The whole analogy was very apt, from my second hand perspective, anyhow. Well deserving of a +1.
I thought the one with the mustache was where the male ovaries were made?
So the one with the tophat makes females?
You find those under cabbage bushes. Or is it storks?
I think it’s storks that put them in the cabbage
Except that the sole source of the y-chromozone comes from the sperm not the egg.
Surprised I’m the first one here
Well, off to work. Wheee
Missed it by “that” much
Well, that much and maybe a little bit more.
At least they didn’t say “FIRST!!!”
FIRST!!!!!
XP
To be fair, he was MUCH closer to the top of the page when he originally posted that. :P
I feel sorry for Golite actually. So excited and happy, going off to work. But, when coming home will be all “Where is it, where is it? Nobody else had commented, when I wrote that. OMG, all the way down there!”
Still, there is that little buzz going on, until then, to offset work (checks calendar) on a Monday.
As someone who has ADHD I have to ask: did she sleep with her glasses on?
Also, Toothless!
Yes, or maybe after waking up to disturb Dabbles in the middle of her ‘recharge’ she took them and her bra and shoes off, but forgot to take everything else off (but that would have resulted in an Age Barrier slapped all over panel one)
The real question is what trouble she is going to get into before she takes her meds and has time for them to kick in. She said herself that she thought her meds were wearing off in the middle of battle. Did she take more, or did she not get to them yet? She was pretty spastic before the battle while on them.
After spending five minutes with Sydney, Maxima probably had special darts (painless and dissolving) ordered up for her. As soon as the Sydney was off-panel post-battle, there was a “thpppt” in the background followed by a voice over Maxima’s doohickey: “Payload has been delivered. Mission accomplished.”
…as soon
theSydney…Rassing frassing typos.
She’s not just any Sydney, she’s THE Sydney! Don’t ever forget it!
You forgot the distraction part.
Math: “Why are we guys taking our shirts off and not the ladies?”
“Because Sydney is halfway to completing an automatic hot sauce dispenser and we need to medicate her for the safety of the planet. So start distracting her”
+1 for the “hot sauce dispenser”, I want one now :)
On the other hand, it might be fair to call her The Sydney. I certainly can’t think of anyone else (in this universe, at least) deserving of that capitalised distinction.
Not a person, indeed. Mind you, there might be one other Sydney that is deserving recognition as being of world-wide prominence.
Well, yeah…but if I’m reading you correctly, that’s a city, not a person.
;)
From The American President:
Well, I sure hope the “Sydney Issue” refers in some way to a problem we’re having with Australia, because if it’s anything other than that…
‘So, Mr Secretary, you are saying that when you told me “Sydney just withstood a half-megaton nuclear explosion”, you had not intended me to raise us to Defcon 2?’
And there shall now be Defcon SYDNEY for when nothing else will explain it.
President “So you are saying that 2 stellar battle fleets are demanding that we join their respective nations or be destroyed. Also an Ancient God has awakened in the pacific. And you say it just got worse. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE ?”
Secretary “All the entire chilie pepper crop and reserves have been destroyed, along with All the hot sauce supplies.
President “MY GOD WE HAVE REACHED DEF – CON SYDNEY! May God have mercy on us.”
+1d1,000
So she has to decide between A) Going into the comic store B) Going to Arc for Basic or C) Calling it a “sick day” from cramps and RAIDING on de interwebs wrapped in a comforter all day. I would bet C but I expect Maxima to call in a panel or so.
As for A) I am also expecting Joel to get a visit from Arianna with cardboard cutouts and merch to put on the shelves…
I doubt that Maxima would have abandoned Sydney to her own devices. I would expect her to say something along the lines of:
“After everything you have been through today, you can have some time off, before we proceed with your basic training. Sort out your social and work affairs. Plus, you have to pick up some personal effects, from home anyhow. You will need to report in by…”
… And / Or possibly having someone from ARC informally drop in to help Sydney with some of thioe things.
Given that the press could be swamping her at home or her place of work very very shortly, this would seem a wise precaution.
….. If only for the sake of the press. who are still learning how to deal with Sydney.
EVERYBODY is still trying to figure out how to deal with Sydney…Although admitting to having used to be a nerd, Max seems to be one step ahead of everyone else on that.
Sydney already stated the night before that she would see Dabbler this day. So the assumption should be she is going into her new position for introductory training (paperwork!) as well as some more do’s/dont’s around the press. Then she will probably see Joel sometime in the afternoon or the next day. Newly “discovered” high-profile individuals like this usually already have the press hammering on her door for an interview and having a fresh set of paparazzi hired to follow her around everywhere. I don’t doubt Joel has already had a preliminary interview “How long did you know she had super powers? DID you know? Were you there when she got them? Are you dating her? Is she dating anyone? Favorite…color? hair style? food? etc..etc..etc..”
You forgot one last task to take care of, updating her last will and testament.
Although in the comic-verse trying to determine if someone is actually dead before divvying up the property could be complicated. And then there is the awkward moment when someone who has been dead for five years shows up and wants his stuff back.
“Your Honor, I move that the case against my client be dismissed because the plaintiff, due to him being a clone from another dimension, is not legally entitled to the property of his counterpart from this dimension.”
In the webcomic Love and Capes they have a “Doc Karma clause.” After the third time you’ve been declared dead there is a mandatory 90 day waiting period. ^_~
It is my understanding (thanks Hollywood, you keep me fully informed on so many matters), that the military has forms for just that. I would assume they get completed during basic, and updated periodically. Or whenever there is a change in personal circumstances. Notably before any particularly risky mission.
Does anyone know if Captain Rogers after being declared missing in action and presumed dead got 70 years of back pay after being thawed out? Also, since he is closing in on the centenarian mark, is he owed a few decades worth of Social Security?
If the government decided to “reclaim” him as a “military asset” after he thawed out, then they should have reinstated all of that other “official” stuff as well…If not, then he got screwed.
As it presently stands in the US Military (and assuming no fraud), a person whose was listed as KIA and is found alive (a POW for example) is retroactively awarded all back pay they would have been entitled to during that time. In addition, there is no requirement for any death benefits to be repaid.
So depending on what incarnation you use, he got anywhere from 20 – 60 years of back pay. And whomever received his death benefits did not have to pay them back.
Yep, basically a more verbose detailing of what I said.
:D
Wait..was that Captain STEVE Rogers..or Captain BUCK Rogers we are talking about? Both were in the military, then frozen, then thawed years later. Both were recommissioned into some form of service…haha..j/k..
Many a true word spoken in jest. Actually, because I have a problem with names, I did not associate one of those as being Captain America, and had to google it. So, despite noting that the time period seemed to be too short, but not being bothered, as it had little to do with the argument, I was actually viewing the case as from Buck Rogers point of view.
It does work either way. Even if the future society he found himself in was no longer the U.S.A., he may still be eligible. Provided that what used to be the U.S.A. was incorporated into that society, using the typical protocols we recognise today. Namely the acceptance of the debts, burdens and obligations that go with the nation.
It was specifically noted that all such records, people and institutions that used to be the US were completely destroyed. Buck Rogers had to take Tweetie, and a councilor into a VERY dangerous district just to find some graves. He got no back pay, and he had no living relatives. The reason he re-enlisted was purely so he could get a job with a paycheck as he had no other marketable skills for the new society where he found himself.
Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, did indeed get back pay and, aside from his occasional super-hero works, is a very successful actor/stunt man. (Basically, his primary job back in world war 2.)
Gotcha. Mind you it does go to show that the script writers realised the issue would arise, otherwise they would not have gone to those lengths to block the path.
I’,m pretty sure they do. When I served I had the delightful task of collecting and organizing these forms for several hundred people. Sure made things feel real all of a sudden. Now granted this wasn’t in the US, but it’s such a basic thing I’m sure they’ve doing it pretty much the same way.
The testaments are one thing, what really felt weird was unpacking standard forms for casualty reports and condolence letters. These I never had to use other than in training, but they were a harsh remainder of what might have been.
It gets complicated even in non-comic-verses, like with Honor Harrington.
She dead nope just imprisoned on an alien world by neo-fascist. She’s dead nope survived that as well. Damn Salamander. She has a limited version of the Jean Gery problem she just doesn’t die Webber wanted to kill her off and start the young generations stories he just couldn’t figure out how to. Personally I have no issue with that they are great books.
I’ve got one from smack dab in the middle of the series, having not read any of them.
Any suggestions on where I should start instead? From the beginning, or is there a sort of ‘event horizon’ where the novels suddenly become higher quality or something?
For “On Basilisk Station” it has been uniformly Excellent.
As Dr.Revenge said, that IS the first book in the series. if you DON’T read them in order then you miss out on vital info and character arc’s that define stuff later on in the series. though some of the “other”books set in the universe of, can be read in most any order, they will reference stuff from the original series but it usually can be taken as background info, and it won’t “RUIN” the story, but it does help to place it in the timeline of what happens to who and when…
It’s also available from Baen books in the Free Library section in our dreaded flavor of choice. As are several other books. https://www.baenebooks.com/c-1-free-library.aspx
I would also recommend “There Will Be Dragons”
Ugh, no. No, no, a thousand times no.
Especially note: The author has abandoned finishing this series due to having received a great many criticisms against his insertion into the stories of his fetishes for rape, bondage and large breasted female characters.
Here’s a quote from the wikipedia article on the series:
This is like a politician saying that he is going to withdraw from a campaign because he wants to spend more time with his family: Utter bullshit, he is withdrawing because he is losing. It’s partially true, of course, sales were indeed low. But the relevant question is why were sales low? That would be because of the aforementioned rape, BDSM and big tit fetishes which this author absolutely cannot help but insert onto the vast majority of his works.
Especially avoid the Looking Glass series which is complete and utter garbage, and anything after about book 4 of the Posleen War series. And if you like to finish a series once you’ve started it, just avoid this author altogether.
Unless, of course, you enjoy books where the author uses his authorial abilities to write about how much he enjoys rape, bondage and female characters with improbably large breasts, or creates characters who are obviously author inserts, down to sharing the same hobbies and interests of Ringo himself.
I find the majority of his works to be little more than author-insertion fetish fantasies with little more reading value than any random work of fan fiction. Avoid like the plague, there is so much science fiction out there with actual value that wasting your time on anything by Ringo is just a shame.
Honor Harrington-verse Spoilers Ahead! Do Not Read if you are not past At All Costs in the timeline.
Honor was scheduled to die at the Battle of Manticore in At All Costs. There would then have been a timeskip and things would have picked back up with Katherine and Raoul Alexander/Alexander-Harrington twenty-ish years later. One would have gone the regular Fleet route, the other would have gone into Intelligence. That plan got shot down when Eric Flint did his From the Highlands short story in the Changer of Worlds Anthology, which accelerated David Weber’s timeline for the confrontation with the League. Thus Honor got to stay alive, and Alastair McKeon and Admiral Kuzak died – in other words, 3rd Fleet died instead of 8th Fleet.
Or, at least, that’s the version of things I gathered from the forums and Weber’s various statements on the matter.
NOOO!. Spoiler tags failed to work.
Not to worry, your written warning was sufficient. And appreciated. I love the series, have not been able to afford to buy a single book, of any sort, for over eight years, but, ‘when my ship comes in’, I intend to catch up on all of the authors I enjoyed reading.
As regards the tags, perhaps it is the inverse of the problem that our other reader was having? If so, then using the tag with angled brackets, would not work. But enclosing ‘spoiler’ in square brackets and ending with the same but ‘/spoiler’ should work.
Test:
Angled brackets
Square brackets
Either way though, I just find it easier to copy and paste, from the list that appears underneath the ‘Submit Comments’ box.
Dat third panel tho.
But seriously, can we take a moment to consider that it may be the single most sexy Syndey panel we’re ever going to get/ for a long time. It kind of feels out of place, jokes aside.
I was totally thinking something like that too. Halo’s always got that cool tomboy vibe going on so mentally I’d file her under “awesome to hang out with/one of the lads/someone you could greet with a ‘Bro or Dude’.” But that reflection with the hair up like that moved her to the “hot/perdy” groupings as well.
Anyone else get the same vibe as the girls from GoT who had that one side shaved kinda hairstyle a while back? Or that tall blonde from Vikings. She’s also got her hair like that. Halo could totally pull that look off I think.
(admittedly I like that kind of punk-esk style mostly cause I’m really into post apocalyptic stuff and its a pretty common look in most post apocalypses.
The “side cut” as I think it’s called is hands down my favorite punk girl hairstyle. It’s weird I didn’t give it to Harem’s Punk dupe now that I think about it.
That look can also result from a person with a mohawk just combing it to one side rather than putting it up.
Panel 3 = crazy hot Sydney.
Clearly if she wore contacts and her hair like that, she’d be taking one to the babymaker more often, she’d have help doing it, and itt would actually help the cramps.
Oh yes, that does Help the Cramps.
Completely agree
yep, Halo certainly has an (heretofore unseen) delightfully attractive feminine side. Hope we get to see more of it myself, could be comedy gold if Dabbler starts trying to give her makeovers :D
Not sexy so much as weapons-grade cute, but anyone else remember this fan pic by Armando Valenzuela of Atomic Laundromat? I choose to take it as evidence that Sydney can look utterly adorable if she so chooses.
Dang, that is a good piece of fan-art. I agree with Dave’s “perfectly adorkable”. I shall have to try and figure out what my D.A. password is, so I can leave an appropriate comment.
You can also leave a comment on Armando’s blog.
Doesn’t require anything more to post there than what it does to post here.
Duly done, thanks. Although it is in moderation at the moment. Maybe ‘hug-me’ fell under the catch catchment of ‘bite-me’ filters? ;-)
Could be. There is also a setting to moderate all first time commenters.
Yea, I assumed as much, despite my quip. It would be a useful, if time-consuming, anti-spam/ troll feature.
I’m glad I’m not the only one to think that! There’s faint echoes of Maxima to it too.
Straight shot, right to the babymaker!
ENGAGE: Uterus Uppercut!
If it weren’t for the specific target here, one might say that Sydney just “cold-cocked” herself…
…then again, one might not.
I actually have done that in the past, and it actually helps for the minute or two when you’re focusing on that instead of your uterus trying to rip itself into pieces.
I had a teacher with very bad ADD who kept a binder-clip around two of his fingers at all times so the pain would help him focus.
I somehow doubt the pain would compare equally.
I too have punched, and do so regularly. Great when waiting for the ibuprofen to kick in. Now, punching HARD, or knocking myself over… not so much.
I have too, though it’s usually the meaty side of my fist rather than knuckles-first. Never gone ass over teakettle, however…
Hah, I wouldn’t have guessed that. I assumed the equivalent would be a guy taking one to the jewels, then trying to “punch the pain away.” It would definitely not help.
I was a bug fan of slamming the abdomen down onto the back of the couch. The pressure tended to help any cramps to the front. Back cramps; on the other hand, did not respond to distraction treatment.
The weird looks you get when watching TV that way is only icing on the cake I assure you.
It’s always funny when men assume it hurts just as much for a woman to be punched down there. Like we have a secret advantage.
Lets hope the dumbest thing she does next doesn’t involve the PPO
Well if she could set the PPO low enough it’d be a quick, easy, and painless way of shaving. Might be a tad smelly but then again, curlers give off the smell of burnt ass I mean hair as well.
You mean just how Superman shaves with a mirror and heat vision? :P
https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/0/40/2500401-supermanshaving.jpeg
That’s not a mirror, that’s a bent piece of Kryptionian metal. An ordinary mirror warps, bends and melts. (Just check Superman III).
Her ovaries sit unusally high. Any other person has nothing but bowels at the height of the waistline.
They usually do not have fist-fights, with each other. Or dragons. I suspect that the panel was not intended to be anatomically accurate.
You noticed that “here be dragons” notice too, eh?
Don’t worry, I will not ignore you!
*hugs the un-the_ignored
And yea, that is a funny detail. I particularly like the allusion to Wyrms. Given where the arrow is pointing, that is quite an explicit, if well concealed, double entendre. Albeit one that is not, currently, applicable for our shy heroine.
You linked to a bunch of unrelated links so I’m not ashamed to say I’m not sure of why you linked to that page full of links?
Oh, sorry, it was the top item. Trouble is, if you click on it, you get taken to an item which does not headline with the pertinent detail. So there was no point in linking that. And it is somewhat of a stretched point, so it is understandable that my intent was not clear.
A dragon is also known as a Wyrm. Whilst an European dragon (especially in modern art) has a different imaginary, using the term Wyrm (especially with it’s homonym, ‘worm’) conjures up a much more phallic likeness. I left the more graphic conclusion unspoken.
Of interest though, there is another route, to a similar destination, which does not go through word play. The sacrifice of virgin girls* was often described as being the way to appease a dragon. Whilst eating them is the obvious implication, of a ferocious predator, there is another way that it could be taken that they might consummate** the situation. Especially if one wonders as to requirement that the girls be virgins.
* Casting no aspersions on Sydney, one way or the other, although, as a shy girl she may well be one. Especially if she holds to traditional values.
** To borrow MidnightDStroyer‘s excellent wordplay from the other day.
Ooooh, GOOD. To both this and your unknown territory/virginity one below. Cause for a second there I thought you were saying that her vagina was a mighty dragon that ate knights lances for breakfast, lunch, & supper and used a rather nasty breath weapon 1x per month. (Blood Dragon?) I was about to start having “Dragon Lady” nightmares there for a bit.
I like your ideas MUCH better. fweeewh…
With all the perils of being a virgin, from dragons to minotaurs to evil princes to witches to being a drug addled oracle* to volcanoes/ritual sacrifice* to unicorns (although at least that last one isn’t storied to be a particularly bad bit of special attention for the unbroken hymen), one might presume that girls in a fantasy setting would have all kinds of incentives to put out early and often. Just to be safe from all those ways to go to a horrible death without even having had the chance to have a bit of fun first.
* And these two don’t even require a fantasy setting to be a peril for the poor virgin girls!
An argument that I am sure more than one, disreputable, wandering minstrel will have played upon.
Just to avoid folks thinking that was the only destination that could be found, using DaveB‘s drawing, I hasten to point out the most traditional one. “Here be Dragons” was the standardised legend, used on European maps, to indicate “Terra Incognita”, which is to say “unknown territory”. It avoided having a blank area on the map, with no explanation.
Read that way, Dave is simply saying that we do not know what goes on, in that direction of Sydney’s anatomy. Or one could choose to draw a conclusion that it is an allusion to virginity, but that would be down to the reader’s decision.
well, let’s HOPE that it’s “Toothless” that would be pretty strange it it wasn’t… then again, history would be REALLY different if it wasn’t… there was a scene in one of the “Saga of Pliocene Exile” where this come into play, i THINK it was in book 3, “The Nonborn King” but it’s been a while since i read it I’m not sure anymore.
I think they’re having a duel to see who gets to deal with the dragon…
Heh, I see we had similar interpretations.
Well, I actually meant that she threatens her ovaries, but then punches her stomach. I just imagine her ovaries sitting about halfway between her belt and the lower end laughing since she aimed far off.
Please tell Santa that we would like to see Grrl Power, book one, in the shops by Christmas. Or, even better, in our stockings.
Dear Santa
Please put Grrl Power, book one, in the shops by Christmas.
Or, even better, in our stockings.
Ooh, he is a fan too?
*waves to Santa*
Say hi to Rudolph for me. And sorry about the cherry incident. He will know what I mean.
Well, they are fighting in Japan having another one of their world tournaments, so I imagine there’d be a bit of movement here and there. =3
For someone who is not pregnant anyway.
The fact that her ovaries apparently talk to each other and have fist fights, makes mere location seem a rather minor issue.
Artistic license, perhaps?
I did actually google “visible woman” and the like, but weirdly it seemed the best pictures I found for internal lady anatomy were hentai X-ray smut. With those however, they tend to be full of, you know, tentacles and stuff so they’re a bit distended in a lot of those picture. Otherwise, some of them seem really pretty accurate – and some of them are just “here’s a picture of a penis surrounded by red goo”
Seems like medical pictures do a good job?
https://www.uchospitals.edu/images/nci/CDR0000609921.jpg
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OPjb86kRlwg/T66DtdKSO1I/AAAAAAAAAP0/HWj2R-9Mj3o/s1600/female-reproductive-system-labeled.jpg
https://www.uchospitals.edu/images/nci/CDR0000618018.jpg
This one looks like an alien about to burst!
https://cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/157376177-uterus-in-3d-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=3G2Bf0EEhnWShrjJo5cK%2FD3NAKZvt49JGVvkR6gIgiWo%2FznpmK7UrcLl0iV%2FfnAR
That’s just a tiny sample of what I found in seconds. Imagine if I applied myself. If you need an amateur researcher (google black belt) I could be convinced to work for free access to those Patreon rewards… ;)
That is…. that is… some “deep” research you did there.
How many videos did you watch before you started drawing?
No wait… don’t answer that. Don’t answer any of this.
It does not exist.
She hit herself so hard she knocked her socks off. :)
Aw man, poor Sydney; female plumbing is the worst. Thank Crom the most I have to worry about is having my genitalia on the outside.
Well, that and the possibility of prostate cancer down the track…
Don’t be so dismissive of Testicular Cancer
Yeah, the lady who does Rain just had her second surgery for testicular cancer this AM.
The reason why testicles are hanging down on the outside of the pelvis has to do with blood circulation & internal body heat. It’s a high enough temperature to kill the sperm.
So if you’re playing in a cyberpunk (or any other)-type of game that allows for surgically performing the ‘ol “testicle tuck,” make sure your surgeon understands that your blood vessels in that area are re-routed dolphin-style, or you’ll just bake your own spunk.
O.o
…I’m conflicted about this…
It’s funny, to me at least [looks sheepish to his feet] but I have to many friends that cramps knock them out…
Yes, more than one of them would like to do the same and worse, by their own admission.
If they would find this panel amusing, I have my doubts…
Silly girl, you cannot Falcon Punch your period pain away.
There are times that it is worth trying, however.
Quota from unknown source “If violence is not answer to your problem, you are not using enough of it” :P
https://schlockmercenary.wikia.com/wiki/The_Seventy_Maxims_of_Maximally_Effective_Mercenaries
#6 maybe?
Ahahahaha! I’ve been reading that comic forever and had read several of the maxims used over the comic, but never saw a complete list of them altogether. Thanks for the link!
OMG, that list needs a warning posted, before the link! There is a severe risk of death by laughter!
What…? They’re just practical, like #12 for instance.
I’ve read something similar, in a comic book from way back…When the internet was still running with Prodigy & Compuserve (yes, I’m THAT old): When reason fails, force prevails.
Prodigy & Compuserve
Jez, your as old as me, next you’ll be going on about acoustic coupler’s, having to load games of tape, and computer’s with 1K of memory
Remember when the commodore 64 was top-of-the-line?
Yep, that’s me.
But who can forget their ZX81?
10 RUN Nostalgia
20 GOTO 10
with the old membrane keyboard
must be getting old Yogi Berra has a point “Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.”
Heh! That reminds me of when Wal-Marts were selling C64’s & always had at least one up & running for display purposes. I’d type in about 6 or 7 lines of code & use Poke statements to turn the screen & background black, then set the text to white. Then I used a couple of For/Next loops as timers so that it would display my text, flashing on & off: Help! I’m trapped in an infinite loop!
C-Basic…those were the days.
brass band starts playing “symphony for a new world” in the background
I would post a link to youtube, but I cant find the bit I’m after (the bit they used for the Hovis ad with the kid pushing the bike up hill)
Ahh this will do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mq59ykPnAE
Strange how that had me looking for face-huggers and chest-exploders.
Ahh, those were the days, my friend.
If you want Sinclair nostalgia, you could do worse than this.
Sweet memories of (virtually unloadable) added software – I remember spending hours getting a game included with a Shakin’ Stevens song to load.
Looking back, that was probably a small craze for about six months or so – but it seemed so great at the time.
*sigh*
Yep, telephone-cradled modem (I had a separate phone phone line, just for that), cassette tape program input (before the 1541 disk drive came out for the 5-1/4″ floppy disks), used an old TV set for the monitor, the main CPU & other computer data busing all built into the keyboard…
About as “old school” as it got, without relying on vacuum tube technology.
My mum had to use program cards, with holes punched in them. And her adding machine was operated with a hand crank.
In her earliest jobs, I hasten to add, for fear that she will clip my ear, when she is next in close proximity.
I heard that as “If violence isn’t the answer you’re not doing it right.”
Do what my wife does – punch other people.
Are you the other?
Not these days, thankfully. ;)
Ummm…Sydney’s alone right now.
Which makes me pity anyone who irritates her after she gets out of the house. Normally, Sydney’s not dangerous to those who don’t get aggressive on her first, but now…
O.o
I can confirm that I have never Falcon Punched my ovaries hard enough to make myself do a flip.
But you have tried though, right?
The “hard enough to make myself do a flip” qualifier – instead of a full stop – is reply enough :)
I happen to like my ovaries too much to ever punch them – falcon or otherwise
Even Max would have a hard time punching Sydney *there* hard enough to cause her to flip before hitting something (like the floor, or a wall, or two walls because she went through the first one)…
Because a punch in that location would impart very little spin relative to the amount of directional movement.
Yes, but Maxima has not practised comedy physics. Whereas Sydney is a black belt in Tongue-Fu, and is a mistress of the esoteric arts.
It’s not the impact of the punch the creates the spin, it’s the motion to delver the upper cute pun to it on yourself.
Panel four… I know I’ve seen that dialogue between the ovaries somewhere before…
I think… Freefall?
You are correct.
This strip to be exact
https://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1100/fv01071.htm
link didn’t work for some reason
I basically came into the comments to see if someone’d pointed that out yet.
Thanks for saving me the effort of figuring out the code to post the link myself.
If you want to any time, just locate the page of interest, by calling it up on your browser. Then copy the web address from the box in your browser, and paste it into the comment.
Or, if you want to get fancy, you can check out this site.
Noticed that myself but you beat me to pointing it out. Congratulations, well spotted.
The joke is a lot older than that. I first saw it in “The Cowboy Wally Show”, an off-beat graphic novel by Kyle Baker from 1988. Here’s a link (I hope):
https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=186347
And, since you can never have too much “Cowboy Wally Show”, here’s (hopefully) the first few pages of the chapter in which film “Hamlet”. From jail. In one night.
https://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/481364.html?thread=12227156
Ah! I’d assumed that joke would have been used somewhere before after I thought of it. I started with the one from the Simpsons where Homer and Bart I think walk into some bar and some guy looks at another and says “Hey you, let’s fight!” to which the response is “Them’s fightin’ words!” It’s funny, but they really aren’t actually fighting words, so my thought process led me to use actual fighting words. I suppose it’s slightly obvious.
Obvious, but still funny!
+1
Obvious, to a clever enough mind, of course. Not everyone would have made that connection. Even if it has been done before.
Sounds like that time they went to Ireland
Let us (the readers) hope that isn’t the dumbest thing she does all day. We need the laughs.
…I’m sure that, at some point, Sydney’s ovaries will be giving her plenty of motivation to top this as a dumb stunt…
Yay, no jumping out of the flashback. We actually get to see what Joel’s reaction is. Whoot!
to her not coming from the bank or her becoming a superhero?
Both?
Everything!
Although these last three pages are quite possibly the fastest time-progression in the comic to date. (The average rate up to the page of Sydney getting home was about 3.4 hours per calendar year, and now I’m pretty sure we’ve gone at least six hours in one week.)
New book, new rules.
Hmmmm. Is that a verbatim reference to Freefall I see there? (Them’s fighting words!)
Still! Hard to believe that the past few hundred pages have all occurred within a single day. It’s going to be another long one for Sydney, I bet…
4th panel: “Sanguine humor” = double entendre.
A many-levelled pun. One layer of which would read:
Crimson temper.
Then again, sanguine also refers to the color of blood…And right now, that’s probably the most likely “entendre” being applied here.
Yea, I was taking a more subtle layer than that, which had two implications running off it. The one you stated and the other being fiery. Given her anger, both are highly applicable, in this situation.
Whenever I hear double entendre now, my mind instantly jumps to this:
https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=545
Mmm, it has been a while since I added something to my ‘read list’. Thanks for the link.
Haven’t met QC so far?…
Enjoy the archive binge! 2900 comics and counting.
And updating nearly every day…
Enjoy!
;)
wow, taking a peek at that strip and comparing it to what current ones really show how the artwork has evolved.
I have always been more into sci-fi and fantasy novels. When I broke into web-comics, I concentrated mainly on those plus super-heroes. The latter of which, was my only comic interest, as a kid, outside of the former.
DaveB has been doing a good job of broadening my tastes.
The art does improve
If the artwork doesn’t improve over time, the artist ain’t learnin’ nothin’
;)
It was more a case of “if you don’t like the art, it does change”
Some don’t change (or change much), even after a couple thousand updates, because the style they started with was the style they wanted
Is it just me, or does Sydney, without her glasses and her top-knot, look extra cute, nay, beautiful, on this page?
You mean panel 3?
I think she looks too much like the other heroines in this panel. That she was drawn differently (like in panels 1and 2 wwas, I assumed, a reference to the fact that she is different to all the others (and I liked it like that).
I don’t deny that she looks really nice in that panel, but it doesn’t feel like the Sydney we know and love.
Panel 4 Sydney reminds me of another character/comic but I can’t place it right now.
I could not agree more. There are a lot of other pictures of her that I find way more attractive. It tempts me to make up a wallpaper montage, of my favourite ones, from book one.
Was actually thinking panels four and seven more than three
And no, to me she does not look like any of the other Heroines
As a cisgendered female, I will fully admit that I’ve been incredibly tempted to do exactly what Sydney just did. I’ve given a few light punches, too, but never a haymaker so hard I knocked my own socks off.
It does help a little, though.
Scientifically/Psychologically/Medically speaking, causing a bit of pain in method A should mildly relieve pain from source B. On the other hand, just swearing will relieve pain without adding additional pain/damage. (Well, vocal chords perhaps).
“Ow. Ow. Ow.” works too.
Swearing works better though
Mm. Quite.
It’s SCIENCE!
Alternatively, curling up in bed and whining.
It could be worse, just imagine the whining if men had periods
We play it up enough if we have a paper cut, or a touch of the sniffles. I dread to think how much whining there would be with that. Let alone the prospect of childbirth.
Mind you, it is much like the possibility of being born French. I am glad that did not happen to me, because I cannot speak the language.
Childbirth wouldn’t be a problem, just fund research an artificial womb
I think if men had periods, we would have had a cure to periods about 40 years ago. Also if men had breasts, bras would be so goddamn high tech, and probably have pockets in them. Utilibras.
Nah, guys wouldn’t need pockets for their bras…We already keep our tools in our pants.
pun intended
Heh. Now my afternoon is complete.
If men had breasts science would not rest until they could have another pair of arms grafted on to fondle them/hold them up all day instead of bras.
Actually, some men DO have breasts. Most of them, however, are so obese that their belly doubles as a bra. For others, the breasts are A-cup, at best, and don’t need one.
As for men having periods…. GAH!
Oddly enough practically all men are even capable of lactating, given the right balance of hormones. Although only a few actually do. Much to our relief, as it does cause embarrassment, for those who suffer from it socially. There are very clear evolutionary advantages to that capability though, even if it is mostly latent in modern human males.
The majority of men would have to have breasts in order for my scenario to make sense or else those with breasts would just hide them or pretend they didn’t exist for the most part…
there are “cures” for periods – basically oral and patch based hormonal contraceptives, usually involving progestogen. It’s not 100% effective
Bras are goddamn high tech! The winner of the contract to build the early space suits for the early space program was a division of the company that manufactured Playtex bras and girdles. They had employees with the necessary seamstress skills to make tight enough stitches to be air tight, and also knew how to make a garment which had the flexibility needed for the freedom of movement required to actually turn a wrench or push a button or flip a switch.
All the “big boy” military contractors who competed for the same contract failed utterly, most because they designed a hard shelled suit which enforced a very limited field of movement on the astronauts, as well as being impracticable in other ways such as space requirements and weight.
Or forcing yourself to stand up and putting Mid-Eastern drums on. I learned to belly-dance ages ago, and the muscle isolation counteracts the cramps, as well as getting your mind off them as you focus on the beat.
I’m still trying to convince my doctor to let me get rid of the whole thing. You’d think having cysts inside would mean they need to come out.
You might thank your doctor someday, assuming a competent assessment of the health risks. If you meet your true love, and you want to have children.
Sorry, it is the incurable romantic in me, forcing me to speak up.
Well, get the eggs harvested first if you have a decent amount left? I hear they go for lots of cashy money!
We must NEVER allow Dabbler/Xuriel to see Sydney without glasses. The poor girl would be eaten alive.
she kinda did in the last panel of https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/655.
You make that sound like it would be a bad thing (for Sydney and the viewers)
I’m so very confused by this page.
I must admit, when I first glanced at the page (before reading it, just seeing the overall layout), I assumed that it would be her stomach rumbling, because of having had insufficient food yesterday. But something else took priority, namely the time of the month.
We already know Sydney has her ovaries on The List. She is just showing them who is boss.
She may have overdone it, partly because of her period-induced hormones.
Probably Double-Listed
Considering the monthly disturbance…i’d say her ovaries are probably at the top of their own list.
“Hurting while chatting to cute guy”
“Hurting me while working”
“Hurting me while watching movie”
“Hurting me while getting a massage”
…you get the idea…
First glance had me thinking bladder but going that doesn’t quite fit.
I used be house-mates with a couple that were both getting a degree in physical therapy. The woman swore by getting a massage over the affected area, unfortunately this can be fairly, ahem, stimulating. According to her, this ‘treatment’ has been used since at least the Victorian era, and was the original purpose behind having a fainting couch.
My wife liked the massage method…Until she got a total hysterectomy, which sort of took that edge off her.
My wife likes to have her belly rubbed during the days when she has painful cramps. And by belly I mean the area between her belly button and her privates. And as long as my hand doesn’t stray, and it doesn’t because while she is enduring painful cramps there’s really no chance to have any fun, there is nothing at all stimulating about it for her. Just soothing.
It seems like that would make her need to pee. That’s prime bladder real estate.
While not female, I can embarrassingly say that I have Falcon Punched my own stomach in hopes that the instant pain of exterior trauma would counter the lingering pain of interior discomfort. It did not. However, I can only speak from the male perspective. I would not know if the female reproductive system would react the same or differently. But I can say that regardless, its not a fun time.
I can tell you that, as a female, I’ve been tempted to perform a self-hysterectomy and just rip that bad girl right the hell out.
Amen, Maggie. I think you’re in the majority here.
I’m a male so I realize that I might be completely off-base with this question, but I’m not sure how that would work…wouldn’t that be something like pulling a glove off your hand from the inside of the glove?
O.o
As a man who has actually done the glove thing, I have to mention it’s possible.
Stupid, time-consuming and nonsensical, but possible.
Did the orbs come out of sleep mode without her needing to touch them?
Yes
I don’t know how to react to most of this page but, panel 3, liking that (admittedly) style change for Sydney…
*admittedly temporary
Syd looks surprisingly cute in panel 3 (as numerous others have said). She looks totally different without her glasses on.
But between panels 8 and 9, her shirt goes from being untucked to tucked in. And then back to untucked in panel 10. Little odd.
Easter Egg!
tempting fate as always….
also, Bowder and Gaston? why name them?
That’s Bowler (based on the hat). And why not?
I prefer Bowler, but the smart money’s on Gaston.
I dunno, they look pretty evenly matched to me; Even though Sydney is right-handed, I doubt if her ovaries are also likewise share a “dominance” trait, except when they team up to dominate Sydney.
Gaston’s got a little bit of an early edge, with that shot to Bowler’s eye that did only a little bit more damage though.
There is more letter there in that “L”. I think it really is Bowder.
No, if you look close enough, you will see there is no ‘top’ to the ‘L’
It would explain the odd coloration of it but it has the right shape for the top.
Eh, but I’ve since seen the author not saying any different so that’s good enough for me.
Looking pretty goon in panel 3, bruise notwithstanding.
FALCON PUNCH!
Well, Max (silently) complained about her own boobs getting in the way: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/320 (Panel 2)
Max & Anvil made a joke out of a visit to the ovary-doctor: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/864 (Panel 2).
And here we have spaz-meister Sydney, showing us her own “first aid treatment.” Dave, what kind of a monster have you unleashed upon our delicate sensitivities?
Heh!…Hmmph!…
Bwah-ha-ha-ha!
“delicate sensitivities”…right…
Seriously though…Most slipping accidents usually happen inside the shower, don’t they? Sydney didn’t even get in there yet.
He he…Sorry ’bout that Dave…Carry on.
(snicker)
:D
Doesn’t sydney get an upgrade to her powers after the fight?
Yeah, she should. She did take out the boss after all! I wonder if he dropped any loot.
Well eh dropped all of his clothes but they were all damaged to one degree or another even before left in the middle of a super battleground. And a couple of teeth. Probably need a locator spell to find any of them for a trophy. I suppose the teeth might be useful for a spell. If components are important to spells in this world.
Oooh, if she found his ripped pants his wallet probably had a decent wad of money in it.
Probably not…At least not this soon. She got an upgrade at the end of the press demonstration, but she had also been secretly experimenting with them for an unknown amount of time before Max discovered anything. Plus, there was a little bit of usage in Archon HQ & some more testing before the press got out to the testing-field.
Her heaviest usage since then has been during one super-fight & considering the sheer numbers of villains involved, it didn’t really last that long & Sydney wasn’t trying to use them in ways she’d never used them before.
I dunno, she was using several of them and in unusual ways. Like crotch shotting nega-man, she used her lighthook a LOT for everything from grabbing anvil and sending her feet first into vehemence, tripping vehemence, body slamming the human torch, deflecting attacks from breakpoint, choking the big bad, etc. She also used her sensor orb for new things, like seeing the agro aura, and of course, did a lot of shielding. She put in a lot of effort in that fight, I admit to being surprised she didnt get to level up. As for practicing earlier, yeah, she did do some, but she didnt do a lot due to her fear of government sponsored vivisectionists. Until the day comes we get to learn the true story behind these orbs, I think it will remain a mystery when she gets to level up.
Of course, its equally possible she will go to the training range and level up when she tests out an orb there the first time. It would give us a chance to see archon try to get together and puzzle out the tech tree and see what they can think of. I mean, the debate could be interesting. Should she pick an orphaned node or empty tree and perhaps unlock a new power for that orb? Should she pick one of the half filled trees and maybe make one of her current abilities stronger? Will having their tech and wizardry teams on hand mean they have a chance to decipher the tree a bit? Dabbler couldnt, but she was not given much time to try before sydney accidentally picked an orb to upgrade. Plus the press was there, they didnt exactly have privacy for a full scan.
You forgot the co-joined nodes, halfway between two of the orbs. Perhaps that would unlock a joint power used only when both are held, maybe the ability to borrow something from the other orb when one is held, who knows.
i’d like to see what the combined PPO and Lighthook power looks like…maybe a laser whip that has an explosive tip?
PPO and shield are linked, and the link is filled. I’ll leave it to you what to make of THAT.
My guess is that Sydney has tried shooting through it, in her testing, and has succeeded. It certainly would be one of the first things I would have experimented with, in her shoes. Very very carefully.
It could also explain why she made the mistake with the Tentacle Orb, when her plan called for her to use it on the inside of the force field. If she knew that she could do that with the PPO, then she may have expected the same from the Lighthook. Forgetting that she had not actually tried that combination yet.
That is all assuming that the tree refers to computer-game-like experience. Whereas, in actuality, it probably just shows the unlocking/discovery of the new power options. The various things you listed are just variations on things she has already used prior to her last level-up. For instance punching Math with an orb. Or using the lighthook, to flip an object or to make visual images.
The exception being use of the new function on the truesight orb. I would be interested to see if her skill tree has changed, since we last saw it. If I remember right, she did not use the new feature that she had unlocked, to do that, but just pushed a previously unused sigil.
If my theory is right, that could have updated her skill tree unseen. It is not some feature that has to be picked, because she stumbled across it, by experimentation.
She has unlocked sub sub-functions on the true-sight orb using glyphs.
I think pressing glyphs on the shield orb might be the safest one to begin testing with. If I were designing ad-ons to the basic mode I would start with a ‘turn opaque from outside’ option to hide my actions within. Another useful one would be to up the equal-and-opposite force function that stops impacts to make it a ‘rebound’ option that sends a hurled object directly back along its original trajectory. (also known as the ‘stop hitting yourself’ option)
Dave said during the V fight comments that the ‘project shield remotely’ option is too overpowered.
Yeah Yorp, but she leveled up doing nothing new either. She had already used her shield, she knew she had an “embiggener” option for it, so there is that. She has flown before, though not that fast, used her ppo, etc etc etc. So what was it that got her the level up THEN but not the level up now? About the only new thing she discovered was her truesight ability connected to her yellow com orb, but even then, she didnt level up after that, she leveled up way later after using her orbs a significant amount.
The going theory (kudos to whoever started it), is that it was the act of trying to use the PPO, whilst flying. That combination may up the PPO from being a mere fire-starter, to being a tank-melter. But requiring the use of both Fly-ball and PPO.
However there could be other reasons too. For instance, I doubt if she has tested the force field against a nuclear level attack before. That could simply have passed a threshold, or called upon a protection that was not used in prior testing (such as thermal), or required it to slot a higher capacity.
The timing simply being down to when there was no potential risk from displaying the ‘skill’ tree. However that may be determined (monitoring adrenalin levels being one possible way).
Whatever triggered it, it could have unlocked features that need to be picked. As they would be unlikely to be discovered by random experimentation, for example.
Maybe its more like one of those games that is supposed to exercise your brain, measure its age. or whatever. Like if Sydney shows a certain level of mental dexterity, willpower, discipline, etc… while using her current powers the orbs decide she is ready to learn more complex mental tasks. I mean she controls them with her mind and maybe it takes mental training to work the higher “level” powers. (not necessarily stronger powers just more difficult to mentally control.
I still believe the “skill tree” is inherent to the orbs and not to Sydney as a individual. IOW, the available skills/options/powers were all unlocked/discovered/earned by a previous user. All except the one she got after the demonstration.
This would explain why she hasn’t encountered any user guide or user training wizard, as a previous user has gone through the basic training and would know how to call up a user guide or activate a training wizard.
It would also mean that Sydney probably has access to a lot of abilities that she’s still to discover, so it might take a while before she’s able to unlock any more abilities.
But hey, this is just guessing…
That is fine by me, we all have our own pet theories for these. And I have espoused more than a few, myself. Which get modified as we learn more. And yours is as likely to be the right one, as any other (well probably more likely than some of my more exotic concepts, admittedly).
Until they have some hypothesis to test toward the goal of figuring out what the power-ups will do *before* selecting one, I’d put in one vote for the available power-up with the most connections to not-available power-ups. On the theory that it will provide the most new data.
Once they have at least one hypothesis to test, of course, they should choose on that basis.
And if they get to “one of these three upgrades should provide this sort of really neat power that we see an immediate use for”… because, naturally, any upgrade will actually see use fairly soon.
(Aside: for those who are into collectible card games, the best rendition ever of two permission decks.)
Even before Sydney used the orbs as a weapon on shadow Boxer, she had already used 1 of them as a weapon (& all of them as a defense) against Math, back at Archon HQ…So nope, it was not an original use on Shadow boxer.
She’s been using & experimenting with the Lighthook for some time before she ever ran into Archon, so lifting, grabbing & throwing things was probably done while she was learning about it. Even “on-screen,” Sydney displayed how much control & dexterity she’s developed with it…Her advertisement of the comic store while at the press conference being the best example.
Seeing through illusions & invisible things was all done prior to the actual fight: Again, back at HQ, she saw right through Dabbler’s Glamour & saw through Agent X’s invisibility.
All of these things were done before the press conference, when Sydney gained the new “point” that she put into her Comm Orb. Sydney hasn’t really been doing anything “new” at all, since she “leveled up” at the press conference.
One other example, of the tentacle lifting things. Albeit not a very impressive one.
I fully endorse this statement. In fact I’ve said the exact same thing at least twice previously when speculations about her leveling up have been raised.
i would guess, NO… the reason is that she didn’t DO anything that she hasn’t already done before, therefore didn’t LEARN anything NEW… yes, she used the orbs to play whack-a-mole with Nega-Knuckles, but that was just her moving the orbs, and he happened to be in their way, oopsy!… she used the Hentacle to whack stuff in mid air, and to pick people up off the ground. again, uses she’s ALREADY done, and she tried the comm-ball before she used it at the interview, because she told them she did, and since no-one around her was using an illusion during those earlier tests, obviously her as yet unknown-to-her-at-the-time attempt at using True-sight function showed what was truly there… nothing that was using an illusion… therefore when she ACTUALLY saw thru one to the real Dabbler beneath, it was NOT “learning something new about THE ORBS”, yes she learned something new about DABBLER, but not the orbs themselves, she already knew HOW to do it, she just kept getting negative results until then. as for the Level Upgrade after the Demo, i think it was when she was trying to use the PPO, and had her epiphany about WHY it was “harder to use” (the safety switch, or it’s mental equivalent)… because THAT’S when she LEARNED something NEW about the ORBS… therefore she Leveled Up. the fight, nope… nothing new was learned, no level up…
The role playing game Call of Cthulhu had an interesting, if arbitrary, way of simulating that. The skills were checked by using dice to generate a number from 1 to 100. And skills were based on that. The higher the number, the more skilled the individual.
Using the (realistic) knowledge that it is easier for a beginner to make fast progress, at learning a new skill, than it is for an expert to make a similar leap in knowledge, in a given time, the designers came up with a clever way of simulating that.
Every skill that got used in a gaming session received a check mark. At the end of the session, you rolled to see if you learnt something new from that. Unlike the normal check though, where you needed to roll under your skill (meaning a beginner usually failed at a task and an expert would usually succeed), you needed to roll higher than your skill.
Thus the novice would likely learn something, and thereby become more skilled. Whereas, for the expert, who probably will not progress, it is simply ‘yet another day at the job’. Which, albeit an arbitrary mechanic, is a clever way of simulating reality.
I’ve never been introduced to CoC game, but I do understand that concept for using skills. The Star Trek RPG approached skill-learning & skill-using in a similar fashion…Using d% as a measure of skills already known & practiced. The higher the skill, the more likely you could succeed, but the less likely that you would learn anything new by using it.
Even so, a character could always find a new source of training that could potentially put a skill rating above 100%…This would represent a high-order skill of expertise that could offset penalties that might occur to a specific situation, such as having to do a task very quickly or in less-than-ideal conditions. Even so, rolling 00% was always a failure because there’s no amount of expertise that would completely eliminate the chance of failure.
Conversely, rolling 01% was always a success because, no matter how bad the situation is, sometimes everything just seems to click into place perfectly…And you can learn something new that way because you’re likely to try practicing or duplicating what you did as exactly as possible to make that task easier later on.
Runequest used that exact same skill progression. Which had some interesting effects on character actions, because any (successfully? I don’t recall. Perhaps just simply) used skill allowed the player to mark it for improvement after the adventure ended. And advancing to some of the higher ranking “classes” required that the player fulfill prerequisites which included having a certain number of skills above a certain level. So you’d see the warrior with an excellent skill with a sword put it away during a fight and start swinging the mace he wasn’t terribly good with. Or even throwing a rock, which was an actual skill.
Most games have mechanics which can cause illogical behaviour, when compared to real-world circumstances. It is why I favour the more realistic systems, when they a viable option. Most improvement should be through study and practice, when at entry level. Which will be honed by practical use, when past the basics.
We know that a well-trained soldier is not as highly valued as a similar one, who has actually set foot on the battlefield. And the more battles they have survived, the more highly respected their skills are. For good reason.
But, if a realistic system is not available, you can find ways to justify the mechanics. Enough to not be too bothered, anyhow. So, in the circumstances you quoted, the implication would be that the warrior does a lot of practice, in his spare time, but felt the need to try out his mace, in a real fight.
Hopefully picking his moment for when he was facing a suitably inept opponent, where his own practising would not put him at too bad a disadvantage. But, if he gets the call wrong, he will be killed. So that much is realistic, anyhow!
So women can just punch the menstruation away? You learn something new everyday!
I think the point was that they actually couldn’t, but kept trying anyway
I think it might have something to do with inducing a kind of shock to the nervous system in a localized area, hopefully to “stun” them into insensibility. In other words, get those nerves so “punch drunk” that they go numb.
…I can’t confirm this as fact or fancy though, since I lack the same configuration of the nerves involved…
YES! This is the type of comic I started following Grrlpower for! Funny is way better than action.
Proportions of both leaning toward slice of life and funny would be nice too. A smidge of invasion by the other genres keeps things fresh and gives more layers to the jokes.
That said, YES, I have been very much looking forward to this for a loooong time.
Don’t worry, Sydney. It won’t be.
“…the comic would wind up being flashbacks to Sydney going through basic training…”
The way I see it is that you wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time in flashbacks either way. When you get back to the present, it would only take the occasional flashback to Sydney’s training to slide that humor in during the appropriate time in the present. The frequency of flashbacks would be most effected by the pace you set during the present.
Uh-oh, the page is hacked again, fortunately in a dumb way. Some script on the top of the image.
Yeah I fix it as soon as I see it but I don’t know how it’s getting hacked.
go to your web-host’s help site, they’ll probably have words of wisdom that help with that. one of the things that should be obvious… change your passwords to the sites admin features. i just went thru the rigamarole of loosing access to my main email and getting locked out due to spammer activity. one of the things they said to do was to trash any backup copies of the site and recode from scratch, because you will probably just replace the virus or hacked code FROM that backup copy and be no better off than you are now.
And the gibberish at the top is back.
Yeah, its been there for several days I think.
Naa, it has been cured, during that time. It is just persistent and keeps coming back.
Dave has mentioned that he knows how to clean it out, but is still trying to learn how to keep it from coming back…I bet he sort of feels like the maid: “I just cleaned up this mess. Can we try to keep it clean, for like 10 minutes maybe?”
Yeah, I was just channeling a bit of Mr. Incredible there for a moment…
:)
Its probably something to do with how the ads work. Seems like everything these days is caused by those stupid things…
nah, it’s being caused by the ad server company not adequately policing their content for harmful crap and instead just accepting the fee for them to be the ones distributing a clients advert and sending it out with all the rest of their ads, to the detriment of US the readers that get screwed. well, that and the ACTUAL virus writers that get their jollies by screwing up stuff for fun…
Right, what I said, ads fault. *nods*
We are entering an age, of genetic engineering,* which is like the early days of computing. Where kits are being rolled out to schools for kids to experiment with.** And libraries of useful code are being assembled, and made publicly accessible to all.
As the cost-point drops and the accessibility becomes more practical, due to market forces, driving innovation and making hardware more versatile, it will enter the home. Which is when the real magic will occur. Children will learn, wonderful new applications will be discovered, hackers will hack and virus makers will … well have a guess.
We are living in interesting times.
* And nano-technology, which, I believe although evolving in parallel, and probably at different paces, will feed back into each other, and computing, and medicine. Blurring the distinctions. All of them.
** e.g. making beer flavoured fruit. And luminous living things, of all sorts.