Grrl Power #296 – Morning routing
It’s weird seeing Sydney in a different colored shirt, but this ain’t no Hanna Barbara cartoon. If you’re wondering where the orbs are in the first few panels, she stuffed them back in the tube.
I’d like to draw Sydney with different hairstyles every now and then, but braids are much more time consuming to draw and color than ponytails, and French Braids are a straight up pain in the ass. I got distracted with the braid step by step (there’s even an additional panel of that sequence I penciled but cut before I started inking) and meant to show Sydney covering up her bruise with cosplay supplies. Obviously her makeup box would be inadequate for the task. The only things in it are chapstick, which Sydney considers to be makeup, probably a light shade of lipstick, and only because it has sunblock built in, an eyeliner pencil that she used once but stabbed herself in the eye, and a bunch of different colored hair ties.
The disadvantage of working at 600 dpi is it’s sometimes hard to gauge how legible little details will be at web size, so here’s a closeup of the package on the counter.
If I was a girl and had a choice of birth control, I would definitely go with the one with the funny name. BTW this doesn’t imply Sydney has a boyfriend at the moment, a lot of women use the pill to moderate their symptoms and even control when they get their period to some degree.
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Poor Joel all of this is just dropping into his lap right about now.
She did mention her shop’s name and web page at yesterday’s media event. Reporters have probably been camped on his sidewalk since then.
I’m just thinking about how she initially told him she’d be back in an hour
Yeah well…who really can predict the future anyway? Especially any future that might involve Sydney?
;)
Predicting Sydney’s future isn’t all that difficult.
I predict her future will be unpredictable.
Predicting her future is quite easy: War, Pestilence, Famine, and Chaos.
They see her and run for the hills.
And then Sydney has her own Apacolypse ponies.
Her future is compiled in the List.
Me, once, but only in real life. Sydney? Naa, bag full of kittens, being thrown like a curve-ball. Something we guess might overlap the results, but there will always be some unexpectedness.
And there is always the totally unexpected kitten strike.
“Unexpected” kitten strike? The ninjas should be jealous.
They come in the middle of the night when kittens mistake body parts for mice.
Since Sydney “Always. Expects. Ninjas.” then it just might be that a kitten attack might even catch her off guard…
I hope Dave shows us something like that some time in the future…It would be hilarious!
Yea, they go crazy if you dangle a ball of wool in front of their eyes. Halo will probably find she is like a merry-go-round, for cats!
I am assuming that Arianna had a little PR talk with Sydney last night, during the debrief, especially after Sydney’s interview after the bank incident.
Yea just to warn her. No doubt
DaveB mentioned there was one, just before the press conference, but which he skipped drawing. Which is wise, being too mundane, time-consuming, and had not having anything interesting, that would apply to the super individual, which would not to anybody in society. I can well see that a reminder would have been raised in their car-park de-briefing too.
I’m sure she had the talk, How closely Sydney listened, however, is entirely different.
This is why we love you, Sydney.
You did an AWESOME job of drawing the “attempt to plait a french braid!” scene! You captured EXACTLY how I feel about it when I try to do it, too!
(Even when I do it visually right, that’s the way how the end product usually feels to me. *sigh*)
Also, yes, please! Please get it out into the public conscious that birth control pills are NOT just for contraception. They can be vital in helping adult maintain good health, plus variations thereof can be used to help trans people feel more like themselves in their own bodies.
I’m surprised se doesn’t go with a birth control that doesn’t require a precise daily task. Like IUDs or the nueva ring. If she got a hormone based IUD she might not even get a period!
Also, when you take the pill you generally stop taking it for a period of time to have your menses.
I thought there was a week worth of pills without hormones that stimulate the ‘not taking the pill for a week’ without putting on the risk that you forget to start taking it again after a week?
Actually, most versions of “the Pill” that require taking it daily include a pill to take during your period, it’s just a straight sugar pill – does nothing. Why include it then? So you don’t break your habit of taking a pill every day. In fact, most (but not all) versions of the pill are different each week you take them – with differing amounts of hormones based on how close or far you are from your last/next period.
I’m a dude, but I’m married. Unless you’re a wimp, you get over the squick factor programmed into little boys fairly quick, at least on the basic stuff. These days, when my wife asks me if I can pick up some supplies for her for “that time of the month” (her wording not mine), my usual response is, “Which kind do you need right now?”
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
Robert A. Heinlein
Win. :)
Woof!
I’m on an IUD because even though I’m ADD and took my meds, I still would forget to do the pill perfectly and because I took my meds I’d not realize I’d skipped the pill.
Also, with the IUD I get NO CRAMPS. Seriously awesome. Just soooo much better than pills.
But to be fair, I haven’t taken pills in a very long time so I didn’t know that they had made the sugar pill universal.
Women end up using whatever protection works for them best not based on name but based on how their bodies react to the hormones. Everyone is a little different so they require different hormons.
But IUD’s are still the best. No muss, no fuss. No diapers once a month (though I’d probably use a Moon Cup at this point, now that such convienances are available. )
Even before I got married, I learned very quickly that if her answer to the question was “maximum strength,” it was time to turn my own “tolerance factor dial” to maximum.
;)
If she wasn’t already in the habit of taking her adderal every day, then I could see her with a technique that was less prone to being skipped.
I could also see her changing her method if she was actually dating, when the window for perfect protection is often “same hour every day”. As she’s likely just regulating her heath and trying to make her body KILL her less every month…
…
Wonder if dabbler has any spells for that.
I concur that she probably just adds it to her existing batch of morning pills.
As for Dabbler… She probably has spells to go both ways.
Of course she does…
She’s even got spells that work both ways at the same time.
Odd ‘The List’ didn’t make a showing.
Making an entry in the List is a way of demonstrating her feelings. She showed another way that she expresses them here too though.
I bet the next time we get a look in the List, that paparazzi will have been entered on it though.
Now, if each individual “vulture” was entered by name, it might serve as “setting an example”, to dissuade the others…?
Disadvantage: Public Identity. 10 points.
Yeah, but she’s a power gamer. She’ll find a way to negate it in her build or turn it into an advantage.
In GURPS terms, any disadvantage that doesn’t at least inconvenience a character is worth NO points at all.
Well, she wouldn’t be much of a power gamer if she couldn’t make a disadvantage that she negated still look like a disadvantage, now, would she?
Then she’s got the wrong DM. It’s up to the DM to make those bonus points from Disads do their job.
Reputation (-2): Batshit Insane (known worldwide, recognized by pretty much everyone)
But she still has to pay for her Hug-me aura ™ . 10 points for +2 Charisma. 5 points for Pitiable. No limitations, as it is always on and affects everybody, regardless of gender, or being a psychopath.
Of course, the reputation may go to countering it. But do not forget that the -2 becomes a +2 amongst gamers, nerds and everyone counter-culture.
that sounds like gurps to me. Dang you! Now i wanna play gurps this weekend. grr
GRRPS, even?
*sunglasses*
YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAH
Or maybe even GRRL?
Heh! GURPS is a game system that could easily accommodate DaveB’s campaign style.
;)
GURPS is a great system, but I think the DC Heroes/Blood of Heroes MEGS would work better for modeling all of the Grrlpower characters.
Also, why hasn’t someone done that yet?
The great thing about GURPs is they actively seek out popular material to make world source books. GURPs Blue Planet, GURPs Humanx (based on the works of Alan Dean Foster) and various products from Vampire the Masquerade, as examples.
Very popular though Dave is, ours is still a relatively small pond, so I am not sure if there would be sufficient public recognition for them to be interested. Yet. We must keep our eyes open for opportunities to plug the comic, and break him out into the mainstream.
Then comes the role-playing tie-ins and Hollywood will be banging on Dave’s door, shortly after that. RP companies are a bit more hip, and will be ahead of the PR curve.
There is no Doowylloh curve, so Hollywood cannot try to mirror them.
Oh, I’m a huge fan of GURPS, I was one of the tech-heads who loved 3rd Edition’s construction rules for everything. But it doesn’t model very well, particularly high-powered ones, although I did like their IST setting and the Wild Cards sourcebooks. MEGS works a lot better for including everyone from Peggy to Maxima in power levels while allowing them to work together. Which it should, since it was designed to be able to play people like Batman and Superman in the same game.
Yep, I grant you that. Not that you would have any problem modelling Maxima. She simply has a hell of a lot of character points for being able to nuke things, and operate at that level. Find out how much tonnage any hero can throw (tanks being the rule of thumb) and you can get a precise strength rating.
But it is a lot simpler for a system geared specifically towards top end heroes. Whereas GURPs starts from the normal person as the basis. So the extremes are not as well catered for.
There is one advantage GURPs always has though. The super genre loves drawing in stuff from every other genre. And that really is the forte of GURPs. Be it horror, sci fi, fantasy, cyberpunk, wild west, oriental, time travel, ancient Greece, Aztec or whatever. It is right there, at your finger tips.
And no need to adapt things, they all use the same mechanics. But, dedicated systems do have their advantages, if you intend to stay within the genre, true enough.
Doesn’t model *supers* very well I meant to say. . .
thats what supers and pwerers 1 are for
with work you can mimic virtually anyone granted superhero campains are easly in the 700+ point catagory. simlest character to mimic would be hulk with super strenght and injury tolerance and with that point cost he could be made in theroy to shrug off all but cosmic power (physical at least)
For the Hulk, some of the cost of his strength would be mitigated by “Requires Transformation” that needs to be Activated…If Bruce Banner were in a relatively calm mood when an emergency occurs, he’d have to Activate the Transformation on something like a Will roll.
Which takes time…
+1 point…
…For pointing that out.
The one amazing advantage (some) publicly known superheroes have when dealing with the press: they can simply FLY AWAY.
(You know, I accidentally wrote “FLAY AWAY” the first time… yeah. Ever see “Deep Impact”? “I know you’re just a reporter, but you used to be a person, right?” Best. Line. EVER.)
Actually, your “FLAY AWAY” beats it, big time.
That’s a method that I think Dr. Revenge would use to “dissuade” such unwanted attention….
It does have it’s merits .
Especially if I am needing new lamp shades or such.
Flay Away sounds like Logan’s way of dealing with the press.
“How did you know the was a pool down there??”
“I didn’t.”
The earliest instance of this trope that I’ve seen was when “Plenty O’Toole” got thrown off a balcony in “Diamonds Are Forever”
To me, “Flay Away” sounds like your “Freudian Slip” is showing…
…unless you’re a student of Carl Jung…
…in which case, this is merely a “Myth-take”.
:P
Oh, God – I think I hurt myself.
(…would this be considered “rimshot”-worthy?)
Stop being a wuss & walk off that pain…It’s nothing compared to the linguist that keeps dangling his participles in public.
;)
Sydney, I will have to say I am disappointed with you. You are a cosplayer, who is an actual superhero, who can FLY, and you didn’t even bother to wear a CAPE?! Shame on you.
At least tell me that while wearing the TNG color scheme shirt, you are wearing the Trek bra under it.
https://tinyurl.com/l5nsnnf
RobK, if you hadn’t linked it, I would have. :)
That’s what I hoped that link was going to be. Awesome :)
I was hoping it would be the video clip…but this works :-D
Masterfully done.
+1
See, for my City of Heroes characters, since their capes were generally held on by little brooches on the costume, I always assumed the clasps would simply let go if more than a threshold force was applied to them. Thus invalidating all of the “No Capes!” scenarios (but possibly getting expensive in terms of replacing lost capes due to, say, flying in inclement weather). As one of my characters put it:
Skylancer: Sure, it gets expensive replacing your cape every time you lose one, but it beats the heck out of having someone use you to try out for the Olympic hammer throw.
In the Watchmen comic the first Nite Owl bitches about how capes are just a bad idea and to prove the point which is show in the movie Dollar Bill is shot while trying to go through a revolving door when his cap gets caught in it. That aside if you weight your cape it doesn’t flutter in the wind or get caught like that and makes for a nice attack. You can do this with scarves as well and it is easier to hid and use.
Cop: “So what did you hit him with?”
Hero: “My scarf.”
Cop: “You caved in his head?”
Hero: “Yeah four pounds of lead shot will do that.”
sounds like something ww2 soldiers were know to do using large coins and their cover. a couple bucks in large denomination coins sewn into your hat makes great emergency money as well as a handy weapon if someone tries to mug you.
There used to be a toy that was a cloth frisbee that used small ball bearings to keep it taut in flight. The weights were sawn into the edge and if spun it fast enough it stayed flat and stiff. They probably banned them because of the balls that could work loose.
The Thugees of ancient India beat you all to the punch by several centuries. After using their weighted kerchiefs to strangle you to death (or break your neck if a Master Thugee) they would then use hammers and the forerunner to the modern entrenching tool to break up the major bones in your body to bury you in a hole 2 feet square or less. They were religious zealots and thieves, btw. Worshipped Kali, if memory serves (which it sometimes doesn’t, these days…)
I seem to recall Sherlock Holmes borrowed the trick himself. As a precaution. The weighted scarves version, anyhow. But he is learned enough to have read of the original masters.
And, yep, Kali worshippers. Unless our memories share common urban myths. Not to be confused with the Ḥashshāshīn mind, who did not use such techniques.
Although stuff like that has doubtless been going on since humanity figured out how to turn a pelt into a way of keeping warm. Stick a few rocks into a suitable fold, and you have a nice concealed weapon.
Try a sock filled with powdered soap.
Ok, you’re the doctor.
I forget the name, but remember seeing an old prison movie where someone bought a few sodas from a vending machine, slid them into a tube sock, and then beat another inmate to death with the weighted sock.
Even a single bar of soap in a sock will do, in a pinch.
This is also one of several places where a creative use of ice might help a criminal’s career.
(But ice shatters easily, so it does need a container – or sawdust. Lots of sawdust in the ice and it won’t shatter nearly so easily. And when it melts you get a pile of wet sawdust, which eventually dries out.)
Doust thou mean Pycrete?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pykrete
I like the idea of using money to beat of muggers
Have tried that: sowed a length of chain into the hem of a light jacket, did absolutely nothing to stop it getting blown around in the wind, in fact made it more dangerous
No idea how the laws in the Shire cover it. But be wary of falling foul of the law, when doing things like that. It may not be easy to prove your innocent intent, if prosecutors claim you intended to make a concealed weapon. Non-metallic weights maybe. But say ‘chain’ to a jury, and half his job is done.
Not that I expect it to be an issue. I cannot imagine you putting up with the inconvenience of a chain rattling around, or feeling uncomfortable, when you sat down. Not if it was unfit for the purpose you modified it for. So only mention it as a point of interest.
not in the “chain-hem” catagory, but I used to have a greatcoat that I’d cut a Motocross chestpiece into a couple pieces and attached them to the lining. Turns out it’s a handy way to have a guy break his knuckles in a fight.
It’s a “What Would Spiderman Do?” baseball shirt, or possibly regular tee pulled over a long-sleeved tee.
That’s Deadpool, not Spider-Man. The implications of that are somewhat terrifying.
With Sydney??? nahhhh…. (oh god yes please give her a WWDD moment!!!)
Ah. Looked like Spidey to me. I wasn’t into Deadpool.
How about Dabbler? And where were you, last night?Nope, zooming in on your avatar enough, I see that your hand would clearly not match the one in question. And you seem far too distinguished, for such shenanigans.
Spidey was my firm favourite too. Deadpool was familiar by name but, if I ever did know more, it has long since been lost to the passage of time. However, recently seeing the trailer, put the movie on my ‘to watch’ list.
He share some characteristics with Sydney:
* Language – check. Not as inventive, but nobody can be perfect.
* Artistic skills – check. Spot on match.
* Banter(/art) as a free action – check. Watch the clip. That is the best bit.
“No capes!”
~Edna Mode
Someone want to tell me the benefit of the flight pose she took? I mean, it looks like she took a leap into the air and just kept going, but I would imagine looking cool isnt on her mind atm.
She’s probably still developing her specific flight style
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1034
I bet looking cool is on her mind.
Bear in mind it must also be disconcerting for her. Not just the doing this in public thing, nor the fact that she could only practice flying (as opposed to indoors hovering) infrequently. But she does not fly.
By tweaking gravity, it will not feel like she is moving, when she lifts off. Her body will be telling her that ‘I am standing still’.
It is only when the speed builds up enough, that her visual input override that and her brain resolves the conflict with ‘WHEEEEEEEEEEE!’
It will take practice to strike a flying pose, whilst you feel like you are standing on the ground. Let alone the need to watch the playback and make sure you don’t just end up looking like a twat.
And she’s not even going to feel the wind in her face with the shield up
She could always do the vertical flight thing. Where she stands there, arms folded, trying to look imposing as she flies while standing totally upright. With her shield around her its not like the aerodynamics would matter.
She will have a hard time beating Maxima’s performance, along those lines.
Oh thats right, I forgot maxima does the arm folded floating down thing. Dang. Ok, NEW POSE! She constantly acts like she is swimming as she flies! Freestyle, or possibly the hilarious butterfly stroke!
He he. Yea, now that I can see. Nobody does undignified better than Sydney.
Doggie paddling through the clouds. Maxima starts feeling the need for Excedrin.
“I’ve got a headache this big & it’s got Sydney written all over it.”
;)
As a woman who deals with cramps and stuff, I would totally take a Birth Control named that. Thumbs up for creativity.
Likewise for your … evocative … name. And, unusually contrasting, avatar.
d-(^_^)-b
Please feel free to copy/paste that whenever you wish to use it…That’s what I did.
;)
Now that you mention it, I also find it disturbingly hilarious. Thumbs up to your vigilance, Yorp old chap.
Aww, I hope Angelbutt is not feeling embarrassed, due to my comment.
ButHowever, I see the potential for far worse embarrassment, if this were a sit-com. Please be aware that a gravatar image is associated with the email address linked with it. The name is irrelevant, and can be changed, on a whim.On the other paw though, if the image is changed, then that propagates everywhere the email address has ever been used with a gravatar. Even if on another site, say with the user name: ParentTeacherAssociationChairperson.
Yep… and that’s true even if you commented with that email address before signing up to Gravatar.
I looked back at a couple of old comments on other sites (pre-Gravatar), and sure enough: blue orbs!
Yes that is true. I change my Avatar from time to time and every place that uses Gavatar changes so some comments seem strange now. Hmmm might be time to change it again.
Erm—is the heading for this update supposed to be “Morning Routing” rather than “Morning Routine”? If there’s a joke there it’s so far over my head that I can use it for GPS…
Assuming she doesn’t normally fly to work that can’t be her normal routine. She had to change the route at the last minute, hence the title.
Yep…Sydney’s break of “routine” has also gone over the reporters’ heads too.
:D
You suspected it, so all credit to you. Whereas others will never even realise that they are missing the
.
Thanks for fixing the RSS it started working again yesterday.
Yay.
Although, I guess we may not see our cute chipmonk again, for quite a while. :’-(
Nice to know that you are still following the comic mind, given that you are one of the earliest commentators.
Routing can also refer to soundly defeating someone.
+1
Sydney eats paps for breakfast.
Then she eats a nuclear-powered snack to get the taste out of her mouth.
;)
But somehow, I seem to get a strange mental image when you use the word “paps” in conjunction with “eats”…Anyone who knows something about a common OB/GYN procedure will understand.
It’s almost enough for me to grab some Brain Bleach™
:/
Called it. I just knew she would wake up to find reporters outside.
Not exactly a difficult call to make.
Also where did you get the name Nephandus, I have seen it before and wondering if you got it from the same universe
World of Darkness at first, was also the name of my necromancer back when I played EQ.
There was some doubt the reporters would find her residence that fast, but after that fight last night…
Ashley’s probably referring to the Whateley Universe, where there is a teen supervillain who probably got his name the same way you did.
Indeed I was. Need to get back into that, only got halfway through the backlog.
What is the black stripe on her palm in panel 6?
It’s her Arc-Swat Pip-boy thing.
Shown again in the second-to last panel. Note the subtly different way her sleeves hang due to it. One crumples naturally. The other is smoothed, to the contours of the pip-boy. A very cleverly done touch, in the art.
And we have the shirt reveal for the next five years! Woo hoo!
Heh, yea.
But, shifting from the spirit of the reply, to the practicality, probably not. Assuming each book takes the same time to produce (and ignoring the change in updates per week), we are likely to see quite a few changes. Because Dave mentioned that the next book will probably cover several weeks of basic training, within it.
So there will be numerous outfit changes, during that time. Although many of them will be whatever she is issued in basic training. And, even if they change daily, they will likely look the same, as a result. But, like now, there are bound to also be times she is in civilian wear. So we will get a variety of tops. Probably super-hero themed. Although, you never know, she might get a sponsor.*
* Maybe even a real-world one, if some canny marketing man can make DaveB a deal. Of course, the fact that he has patrons would influence anything like that. But it is very reminiscent of my thoughts about City of Heroes. I always found it strange that the setting had a lot of advertising hoardings in it, all with made-up logos on it. To make it feel like a real city. Yet they did not get around to incorporating sponsorship, with real adverts, until very late in the game. Too late.
I certainly would have been happy to fly around and see the odd McDonald’s sign, in that setting. Or, in this comic, a plug for the latest movie coming out. With all apologies to Dave, if I have underestimated him, and there is a Deadpool sponsorship deal, that he cannot mention just yet.
I love that she poses while flying.
Profanity Girl! Dragon Chuffer, [EXPLETIVE DELETED] and AWAaaaay!
Yea, likewise. Albeit that an earlier commentator was not too impressed by the pose. I thought Dave depicted it very well. That is a cleverly done panel, with the forest of microphones, begging for a reply.
I took that last panel as “a forest of microphones, broadcasting whatever Sydney had to say that morning, for millions to hear live. Cue: Arianna’s mental breakdown.”
Heh. Very much one of the implications I was alluding to, in an earlier post. Although I think Arianna would probably have anticipated this, and not actually be bothered. But I also covered that in yet another post, so will not reiterate it here.
Every time we see Sydney in front of cameras & microphones, I think back to https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/939 & appreciate how much of a forward-thinker General Faulk really is…He had only a short time talking with Sydney at that point, yet he already knew where to put his sympathies.
An earlier commenter? Is THAT all I am to you?! /sniffs /looks tearful
Aww, sorry! I have a problem with names, unless I can see it close by. And it is hard to look up one comment amongst all the others, when a distinguishing keyword did not spring to mind. But you are a valued member of the community!
*offers a hug*
Yay! More free hugs.
*Hugs Yorp and Traab*
The Thirteen Circles thank you for you Mana. Have a nice day.
*hugs back*
You too!
Wah? That’s a classic pose. But even if it wasn’t the simple fact that she is trying to pose for people she is miffed at is funny. Comic imagery is in her blood.
Well, we’ll just ignore that random, unknown commentor from now on. They’re weird…. ( ;-P )
Love those details. And, heh, I’d love to see what the news is doing with this new breed of celebrity… I wonder what Fox News would say? Or TCM? Exploring the impact that this is all having on culture would be interesting. Does Sydney care about who plays her in the movie? How she’s depicted in the inevitable generation of fan art and fiction? Being a celebrity might be a more arduous transformation than being a superhero.
I love all these questions. And Movie. OhGods a Movie. YesPlease.
Bad idea. Schlock didn’t appreciate what happened when TV got its paws on his character. TV Schlock can change color; real Schlock cannot. This led to unrealistic expectations.
JK Rowling retained veto power, so it can work. DaveB has patrons behind him, so he can hold out for a good deal, where he can ensure that his artistic integrity, and vision, is respected. No nude shower scenes, no matter how much the studio begs for it!
JK Rowling was a hugely best-selling author when the books were made into films. Writers with that kind of power can manage to hire lawyer firepower sufficient to retain a level of control. Everybody else is up $#!^ Creek.
But, do not forget that she was a complete unknown, who had been turned down by twenty publishing houses, until she found one who both recognised the quality of her work and who would give her the terms she wanted.
Which is why she is now one of the richest women in the world. Dave is actually ahead of the curve. They both have talent, but Dave has supporters. Whereas JKR was an unknown and unpublished. And, if I remember right, a single mum. So did not even have a spouse’s support.
Unless such a shower scene includes the outside view of an opaque shower curtain. Or if they have Dabbler in the shower…
I think Joe was talking about a movie being made as an in-comic story arc- “Does Sydney care about who plays her…”
I was just responding to Windscion‘s comment. Although I was somewhat in the blind, not being familiar with the situation being quoted. So just had to work with the facts as presented.
That said though, I think you picked out an interesting point of joe england‘s comment which has not been addressed yet. Sydney is younger and trendier than me though, and I do not even watch TV anymore, so she would probably pick someone I had never even heard of.
If I were to pick one myself, off the top of my head, I would go for the actress who plays Dawn, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I do not know whether she would be a broad enough actor to handle the role mind. But she was capable in that role, anyhow. And has a fresh-faced innocent look, which would emulate the cute anime features that Dave imbues Sydney with.
I would be interested to know the opinions of those in a better position to guess than myself though. If only as a pointer to upcoming talent. If folks seriously consider someone to be good enough to play Sydney, then she is worth keeping an eye out for.
“Don’t camp my spawn.” I love it.
Dave a lot of unmarried women use birth control as an anti-rape measure. It can’t prevent the rape but it can prevent the “blessed event” that sometimes comes from rape.
This is also what the morning after pill was designed to do.
There are several reason to be on the pill beside birth control actually more than I can pop off the top of my head because I don’t know them all.
Totally love the spear phalanx on the bcp package. Squinting at the small image, I thought they were scarab beetles or some such.
That’d probably actually cause it to sell like hotcakes.
It doth protect the vessel from the pestle? It is the brew that is true?
So, now that Sydney is flying everywhere, where did she leave her car at?
Is it still parked at the bank?
Probably. Mind you, Sydney could have picked it up, on the way home.
Ome benefit of not having to hide your superpowers, the amount you save on gas.
And the ability to get primo parking spots!
(Reference to Boffo Laff’s “ultraguy and Joe Power”)
https://www.atlantagamefest.com/UGJP/VA.html
The Orbs were packed up in Tubey when she came out of her apartment, so her car is probably in the carpark
Wait, did I see a comment about Sidney cosplaying as Halo?
Did that actually happen? Or just get joked about?
When? Where?
It happened as a vote insentive. Here it is on DaveB’s Deviant Art page. https://davebarrack.deviantart.com/art/Halo-Lookalike-Contest-431780929
thanks cookie
Hooray! Foul-mouth Sydney makes a comeback.
Sydney does have one neat way of dealing with people in her way I’m sure we’ll see sooner or later. Say a swarm of reporters is blocking her from getting into her car – project an energy tentacle along the edge of the area she wants clear, then slooooowly push back with it. As long is she is careful not to push too fast the crowd *has* to move because the tentacle is a lot stronger than the crowd.
even better, she can just put up her force field and walk forward and it will push them out of the way for her. if they try to get inside the range of the force field before she puts it up she can use the light hook to keep em out of range. i doubt she will be using the car all that often though now that she can fly. the car will be more for cargo capacity than commuting now.
She wouldn’t be able to open the car door with the field up. Tentacle is adaptable enough she could do stuff like that without dropping the pushback.
Clicketh not, on the link below, if you have not seen Guardians of the Galaxy.
Spoilers!
Haha, the tiny box of regular makeup and the giant box of cosplay makeup is pretty much the setup I’ve got in my house too.
Shows how awake I am, since I didn’t even notice the larger box said “cosplay” on it until you mentioned it.
On the subject of the box…
The wife and I went to see the traveling “Magic of Harry Potter” exhibit when it came to Chicago’s Museum of Science & Industry. One thing they stressed was that all those boxes of candy and scraps fo paper and so on are made to look as authentic as possible, with nutrition and ingredient labels, for instance, even though you’ll never actually be able to look closely enough to read them. The reason for this is that the box just looks different without it–your brain has an expectation of what a packaged food product looks like, and it expects there to be writing on the side, in fine print.
So, even though you can’t read the box of B/C pills in the regular strip, DaveB, doing it this way seriously does add to immersion and verisimilitude. Good job! (And yes, thank you for spreading the word about B/C and alternate uses.)
+1
Ok, I went on an archive binge…
back at 428 … the scan on the tube showed nothing, TOO MUCH nothing.
… makes me wonder, now that the orbs are awake, would the scan still show a big nothing?
oh, right dabbler did a better scan with them active…
DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRP
Better scan, but a different scan
Would be interesting to see Gwen re-scan them while they are active
actually, Dabbler never scanned the orbs, she got distracted by Syd trying to bean her with a chair.
t would be awesome if the insults were on a t-shirt and if a celeb wore it on tv or something
It would take at least an XXXXXXL size T-shirt to print THAT much insult on it…
did I see suzy News there, or is it some one with the same color and style of hair? Third column from the left second person from the bottom
It can’t possibly be her. Suzy News is a nice, clean girl. She would not wear the same clothes, live on air, to boot, two days running. And, nice clean girls do not hang out with bottom-feeders. Nope, refuse to believe it. Not our Suzy!
+1
“Hi! I’m Sydney Scoville. Many of you may recognize me as the ARCHON Operative Halo. I wish to speak to you today about ‘Midol Super’…”
Pay the little lady!
See, now that is the right response, for a corporation seeing their product being promoted.
And, seriously, if an employee of that company is amongst the readership, I would place money on an item appearing in Midol’s in-house magazine, in their next issue, at the very least. Either linking to this page, or even seeking permission from DaveB to replicate the panel, for reporting purposes.
Companies love to boost staff morale with stuff like that. Even if Sydney’s language (or just the nerdy image of comic culture) might put them off from an open association. Although I think that would be missing an opportunity, on their behalf.
Oh yeah congrats Sydney on coming out of the phone-booth.
Dave, birth control works by making your body think it’s pregnant. This stops the period. As such, if she’s on birth control, she shouldn’t be having menstrual cramps, unless she’s forgotten to take the stuff for a sufficient length of time.
This is first hand experience talking. I haven’t had a period in a very long time because I take birth control pills. I’m not even sexually active, I just like not having to worry about a period.
Ummmm, no. It sounds as though you are extremely fortunate; I’ve never heard of anyone experiencing this set of circumstances. I’ve been on the pill for nine years and I still have a regular cycle. The cramps are also still there, but the pill makes them manageable rather than debilitating. Everyone is a little different, but you are unbelievably lucky if that’s how yours works.
Miscellaneous comment: I would cheerfully give my left ovary for a BC called “Impregnable.” Fantastic name. (Disclaimer: To be fair, I would also cheerfully give both my ovaries for just about anything. Hell, I’d give them up for a taco. I don’t want kids and the damn things have caused me nothing but pain.)
when mine came i just looked down and said “really i thought we had a deal”
Yeah, my first girlfriend used the pill for that reason (initially anyway). While it mitigated some of the more severe pain issues, she never actually stopped her period.
Actually just asked about 25 women I work with if any of them actually stopped completely if they were on the pill. Of the 14 who said they were on the pill, none stopped completely. A few actually said that is something they would ask their Dr. about, as their packaging says it should NOT stop completely.
(I work at a hotline that deals with serious and graphic content all day long, so we’re used to asking each other strange questions).
The ones I take are just straight progesterone, and they stop my cycle completely, or completely enough for me to not notice. If I come off of the pill, within a month, I get everything back.
My ex- was on the shot, and then on the implant; both of which did stop her periods… mostly (in 2 years, she had 3 light periods). I would not call that circumstance “fortunate” – the regular purchase of pregnancy tests, and increased stress, completely overshadowed the avoided discomfort and moodiness.
Ah, fair point. Pregnancy is a non-issue for me, so I was only thinking of it in terms of avoiding shark week. I can see how that might inspire some paranoia in her case.
That’s YOUR first hand experience talking. People aren’t all the same.
Our elder daughter never once complained of menstrual cramps until started on birth control pills and moved in with her then-boyfriend. Then she got menstrual cramps so bad her boyfriend called in paramedics on at least two separate occasions. Stopped taking birth control pills (did something else for contraception, I didn’t ask for details) and the cramps stopped.
In other words Sydney is not TV friendly
How so? None of the words she used are words they cannot let onto TV. Sydney might be a level 90 Cursefiend, but her vocabulary when cursing, while extensive, is still very tame.
I wonder in the 8th(?) panel if Sydney meant to say, “Don’t camp on my lawn, you….” but got distracted and just went straight into cursing mode.
The girl was considering raiding, when she was too exhausted to even stand up a minute longer!
Theory rejected.
Ah, I never heard of “spawn camping” before this. Then again, first person shooters aren’t my thing.
That can happen in first person shooters, true. Or many kinds of multi-player PVP game. I recall a friend complaining about that in Planet Side. A particular battle where the enemy could get to a location where they could kill them, at their re-spawn point, before they could even start to act.
Mind you, they got their own back. Likewise unsportingly, but hilariously, non-the-less. And they stopped, when the other side got the message, that fire can be fought with fire.
I understand that game had a feature like an ambulance, which could be positioned as a mobile re-spawn point. So my friends had one of their number log on, as one of the opposing side. Pick up a mobile re-spawn vehicle, and park it so that the re-spawn spot was immediately above a nice deep pit. Said pit being surrounded by well-armed troops, in a mood where ‘shooting fish in a barrel’ was deemed fair game!
Although, I did have, in mind that raid-type massively multiplayer online games often also have monsters with valuable loot, which can spawn rarely. And players can object if somebody else starts camping the same spawn that they are already waiting for.
So the “stop camping my spawn” would apply equally well for either situation. Albeit referring to very different circumstances.
Quick question, Is Sydney’s car still at the bank or did someone pick it up for her?
I kinda hope its still there and got a ticket, I really want to see her reaction to that.
Probably. Super Hiro could have. Or Sydney herself, as the Lighthook is strong enough to pick up a car.
Likewise. :)
How dare those jerk reporters attempt to gather information that the public would be interested in knowing! Clearly if they were DECENT people they would stay in the office and publish the press releases that the government puts out without attempting to interview anyone or otherwise investigate the situation for themselves. Look at the terrible way they stood well clear of Syndey’s house and only attempted to talk to her once she entered a public area! Scum!
No, but seriously, these reporters don’t seem to be doing anything particularly unethical. Syndey isn’t obligated to answer their questions, but neither are they obligated not to ask questions.
The unethical thing is that they know full well that Sydney has a press officer. They were speaking to her just yesterday. Further, they know that Sydney will be under orders not to speak to the press. So, if they do trick a raw recruit into speaking, they will only be getting her into trouble. That is creating news, not reporting it.
Further, we know they had an information pack yesterday, it was specifically referenced, in comic. Containing more than enough information to cover legitimate reporting issues, at this stage. Plus it will, doubtless, have included the offer to provide interviews with Archon personnel, in a way that will not intrude in their private lives. So that personal interest angles can be fleshed out, over and above the bare facts.
To top it all off, they have clearly offended Sydney badly, as they probably would anybody who values their privacy. Which, given the scarcity of supers is actually a really stupid thing to do. If they alienate her, or any of the heroes, enough that they quit Archon, then the media have caused an irreplaceable loss. To the very public they purport to represent. Totally down to their own insensitive behaviour.
So, I have to disagree, they are being unethical.
You keep talking about information packs and press officers and arranged interviews. Are you under the impression it’s the job of reports to uncritically regurgitate the information the government provides. You might notice that one of the questions is if Dabbler is actually a demon. Well… She is! And Sydney knows she is, but you can bet that information is not public.
We’ve already seen Archon blatantly lie to the public once with their fake bank robbery. They do have dirty secrets and journalists should be trying to sniff those secrets out, even if it means ambushing newbies with questions.
As for your second post, Sydney is hardly a grieving victim and is not in mourning or distress. There is no reason to treat her as emotionally fragile.
Investigative journalism is a valuable and respected profession. Which is not furthered by camping on the doorstep of someone, who you can gain access to by legitimate means. Sydney is not off limits. They were even able to ask her questions yesterday. They will be able to again. And she very clearly speaks her mind, regardless of what her press officer tells her.
Had they approached her in a manner that does not cause alarm, then they may well have gotten the newbie to talk. And that may have had a valuable investigative result, as you correctly pointed out. But, doing the same, live on air, via an ambush, could have damaged national security. The man with his finger over the bleep button cannot be expected to make such a critical call, in the few seconds he has before it is transmitted to the world.
Get it wrong, and the nation could loose the services of two super heroes. One through being dishonourably discharged, for breaking orders. The other hounded out due to racial stereotyping. Plus potentially alienate an alien species, with vastly superior technology.
Would that result be a good day for journalism?
Your opinion is not an unreasonable stance to take. But I am very happy with the the one I stand in. It is a more morally defensible, high ground, when you balance the needs of the individual, as well as society. Without giving the press carte blanche to do what they like, in the hopes of finding something to justify it.
When you see police being hauled over the coals for an illegal search, and their evidence being thrown out of court, as a result, the principle is the same. The ends do not justify the means. The professions have legal (for the police analogy) and ethical ways they can get the same results. They should use them.
I disagree. She had been the victim of a bank robbery the day before. And went through a major battle the night before. They have no way of knowing if she is in shock, or suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. And did not care.
At the very least, she is going through a critical life change, so is vulnerable. And she was very clearly distressed at the press-pack ambush. QED.
I did not, however, claim she was in mourning, I was pointing it out as one real life example amongst a host. Many of which were more modest complaints, such as celebrities, being hounded, in a very similar fashion to here. They too had press representatives, lawyers or other intermediates officially appointed, yet the paparazzi felt they had the right to intrude, despite having legitimate routes to make an appointment.
And there were weeks and months worth of similar testimony. From normal members of the public, up to world famous celebrities. None of them were given consideration or human decency. And, although it was not covered in that enquiry, do not forget the most famous example. The Princess of Wales, who was, quite literally driven to her death by such hounding!
Furthermore, they’re asking questions that in no way justify this ambush technique:
– romance details
– opinions regarding her higher-ups
– speculations about Dabbler
– opinions that second-guess the strategy of last night’s battle
The closest any question got to being “legit” (for this ambush-style behavior) was the “assassin”-question, & even that would be better directed to Adrianna, rather than to a “newbie” who has spent less than 1 full day in the ranks of Archon. They’ve no excuse for treating her as though she was a member of long standing – they were explicitly told otherwise at the conference.
Incidentally, the issue is not just limited to super heroes. The UK had a long running investigation into press misconduct. And the complaints about behaviour like this were extremely numerous and heartfelt. Like a mum who’s daughter had been died, complaining that she could not step out of her front door, without this kind of behaviour.
A simple note through the door can get the offer across, without badgering the person. Or speaking to a relative, or friend, and asking them to pass on a request, if they deem it to not cause too much distress.
The press deal with people going through life-changing experiences all the time. It is like members of the clergy and doctors.. They are the people who’s job entails dealing with people in crisis. Part of their professional training and codes of conduct (be they legally enforced, professional guidelines or simply personal decency) should ensure that they deal with such manners in a tactful way.
Failing in that is unethical. They bring their profession into disrepute.
‘Reporters’ such as these that wait to ambush someone outside their home or place of business to shotgun a subject with questions, hoping for a mis-statement or slip that can be used to fuel the 24/7 news cycle, are as McDonalds is to real food, when called investigative reporters.
That said, it is the right, and duty of a free press, to not be satisfied with information packets, arranged interviews, and tame ‘reporters’ that do nothing more than put a veneer of independent journalism on releases coming out of Ari’s office.
Would some of the revelations be harmful to ARC? Seeing ‘behind the scenes’ as we can, I think its not stretching to say yes. Magic use? A mistranslation (or intentional editing) sets the stage for ‘you shall not suffer a witch to live’ for bible-thumpers, and they fare little better on non Christian dominated continents. Demons? Yeah, well.. demons. So we can see why, and empathize with, ARC keeping some secrets for reasons far less weighty than ‘national security’
Agreed.
Disagree with the first-paragraph comparison. McDonald’s stuff is not very good food, but it is in fact food. (And actually it’s more nutritious and less prone to various sorts of contamination than what most of humanity could *rely* on getting on a regular basis over the past ten thousand or so years. On that basis I’m not the least embarrassed to recognize it as food.)
The beings under discussion there are not news reporters and any real reporters or people who work with real reporters should be offended by attempts to equate them.
I want that shirt. Why is that not a real shirt?
So you can be tormented.
What better method of birth control, then IMPREGNABLE! By SPARTAN INC. What better to counter the fallibility of…the TROJAN! Hehehehhehe!
And like a thousand times better than INVULNERABLE brand condoms by ACHILLES INC.
Yeah, I wouldn’t advise those. I hear they have a weak spot.
That really is not the place to be wearing them. And it is pushing the envelope of ‘safe-sex’ to the extreme.
Trying to where them there for sex would make you come across as acting like a real “heel.”
Playing “Footsies,” anyone?
On the plus side you could be swimming in the stuff and remain unimpregnated as long you keep your heel dry. (there’s a not foot play warning on the containers small print!)
No warning.. that you can see. But the back of the package is left to the viewers imagination.