Grrl Power #315 – The eyes have it
I guess Maxima made her save, which means she’s only 50% affected. It was the double whammy of the puppy dog eyes combined with Sydney asking if she got Max in trouble instead of being defensive or even contrite. Sydney will eventually bring the comic book day issue up again, but right now she’s got that feeling like just scrambled on to the boat after a shark she didn’t know was there brushed against her leg.
The answer to the question I posed under the previous page as to whether you’re a private on the first day of boot camp or the last was a resounding “it depends on what branch you’re in” So I think for Archon, Sydney will remain a recruit until she’s finished basic. Seeing characters advance is always fun.
If you missed it, Maxima makes a cameo in Superbitch. I guess in case the whole Archon thing doesn’t work out.
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so can we calculate max’s wisdom from the fact she made a partial save with an 8? :)
She still had one round of stun or possibly staggered, so it was a partial save at best. Call it half damage with a followup save to shake it off completely.
Maxima gets a -1 malus, because deep down (not so deep) she likes Sydney. Partial save only.
There are more annoying people in the building. At least with Sydney she does it accidentally
… And non-maliciously.
Tell that to Harem’s sore nose & Math’s orb-impacted cheek…
;)
At least Sydney’s forced-mental reset seems to be holding up well, even under the conditions in last night’s superfight.
… Both of which came from defensive reactions to unexpected provocation, not malice.
Sydney’s reaction to Harem’s appearance in the comic shop, perhaps only an hour or two ago relative to the current comic, was relatively restrained and non-violent. I therefore agree that the reset seems to be working.
I like to think that the dice actually hitting her head knocked that little bit of bonus sense into her. +1% improved resistance to puppy dog eyes?
You guys are a bunch of nerds ^3^~♥
That is Herd of Nerds, or box of Nerds [yummy] or LAN of Nerds.
Also there is the Gaggle of Geeks not to be confused with a Fraternity or Sorority which is a a Gaggle of Greeks.
I prefer the rarely used, “Nipple of Nerds”.
Nerds are related to crows, and thus, we are a Murder of nerds
Oh please, you guys are at most an Accidental Manslaughter of nerds.
Say! That! With! Pride!
+1
Way back (well, it was only yesterday in the comic), Max admitted to having some “nerd” history herself…I’d guess that it’s also a factor in Max getting only a partial-success on her saving roll.
Is that an 8 or a 1? It depends on where you think the table is in that fantasy-bubble…
Since it appears that Max’s head is the “table surface” & the arc of the die being thrown, it looks to me like it’s an 8 on top. However the d20 is still bouncing, so it may come up with a different number entirely.
assuming the dice has stopped rolling
damn it, i should read the entire comment…
Right. The arrow path behind the die extends beyond it as well, indicating that it has yet to complete it’s roll.
The die is still in a moving arc, so it’s not a concrete 8 as the die is still in motion.
Noting, about the save roll, that much depends on what system is being used. There are RPGs besides the various incarnations of D&D, after all, and not all of them necessraily use saving rolls the same way.
But noting Maxima’s earlier mention of ioun stones, I’m willing to bet it’s some incarnation of D&D.
Quite probably.
Poor Sydney, you probably missed the days, weeks and seemingly endlessness of pain those few short words “We’ll work on that.” will entail.
Those eyes!
Clearly Max has high stats. I would have failed that roll,
Well she has STR DEX and CON maxed out so I think her WIS is her dump stat. She can’t be that dumb because of her position in the military.
it’s obviously CHA. Remember that she uses Intimidate as diplomacy.
But Max’s Intimidate, under certain circumstances, can be countered with Sydney’s Fast Talk skill. Sydney’s got nearly superhuman levels of it, by my reckoning.
so when you dump CHA so low, you turn orange?
gold, and pretty sure no.
you know you can intimidate with STR right?
exactly my point
Most likely since she didn’t dump PB [Physical Beauty] …..Paladium System ^_^
Appearance (app) chaosium
Or she bought positive levels of Appearance (GURPS).
I had a character in Hero system with a 42 in COM. Even inside a helmet with one-way tinting on the visor I was constantly having to fight off people falling in love with my character, out of costume was even worse. I had the Flaw, Cursed With Beauty. (In that system 30 COM is max human, 35 is God-Like, and 40 is Make a Straight Guy Gay, so you can imagine the fun I had with that character). My GF in-game was blind and only knew me from before the event that made the character a super.
i once used Intimidate as a seduction attempt. Poor bastard didn’t only had to take me to the ball, i also had him buy jewelry and dresses for my char, and if the castle hadn’t burned down, i would have intimidated my way into marrying a high noble.
My char was the girlfriend from hell that he feared to much to break up with. (and never even once did she actually threaten him, she just allowed and supported him to do stuff, whether he wanted to or not)
but SHE LOOKS SO CUTE
and btw dave HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU hehe
Thanks!
Wait… so DaveB‘s birthday is on Star Wars day?
I… I… don’t even know what to think of that.
Happy Birthday
I sense that the 4th is strong with this one, most interesting…
Somehow, I’m under the impression that Dave has gone well past his 4th birthday already.
;)
fourth and force you idjit^^
You didn’t notice the “wink” I included? Humor/sidestepping/going on a tangent…and you didn’t recognize it?
Stay on target.
But I wasn’t aiming at any exhaust vent…I was running interference on the surface towers.
and given that today is Cinco de Mayo, does that mean tomorrow’s hangover will be the Revenge of the Fifth?
Use the 4th the party hard and then the revenge of the 5th would come ’cause the next day you’re just gonna feel 6th.
I didn’t realize its your birthday, happy birthday, I’ll be having mine on the 10th. Congrats on being another year older.
not mine’s dave’s hehe
Happy Birthday Dave!!!
And May the Fourth be with you!
“Thiess room” would imply Sydney is getting a side- or under-boob uniform.
Some readers may be over excited after the power girl tshirt fakeout, but this can only end in tears,
What room? o_O
The same one Maxima mentioned
Thanks for explaining what the heck it refers to, very helpful
Yeah, very helpful :/ Now, someone please, what does “Theiss” mean? I’ve googled it and all I get are first or last names of people, places, and things names after people or places. Very helpful, not.
Probably the costume design room after Bill Theiss, renown costume designer for the big and small screen.
Most of us know his work on Star Trek and Next Gen.
Once again a place named after a person. I got a lot of those from my google, what I want is the actual meaning of “theiss” if there is one.
dedicated use rooms and wings of buildings are frequently named after people. That includes both government/military and civilian facilities.
Theiss doesn’t have to be an actual word with any meaning in and of itself.
As several of us (myself included) have already mentioned, it is most likely a room named for Bill Theiss and is related to Sydney getting her official uniform/costume.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ware_Theiss and https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheissTitillationTheory
Sorry guys, my obtuse nerd joke confused everybody.
William Ware Theiss was_ the_ epic costumer for ST and Next Gen, and his garment designs would attain near-legendary status. He designed the starfleet uniforms (so that would likely be a good reason for his name being used as a reference here)…
but more importantly, he also coined a rule in Hollywood that he called the ‘Theiss Titillation Theory’: “the degree to which a costume is considered sexy is directly dependent upon how accident-prone it appears to be.”
He was a master of the underboob and sideboob dress, as well as clothing that was held on merely by its’ weight or the flowing train attached to it. I can only imagine what such a costume would look like on Sydney, but it would without a doubt look better on a… more meta member of ARC.
Thank you
No, we got the joke – and moved on to what interests us. For me it’s whether or not the word “theiss” means anything beyond the reference to Bill.
Is it just me or does ‘Theiss’ referring to some costume designer on Star Trek seem decidedly ‘unmilitary?’ I guess I’ve been assuming there was some bigger meaning to it than it happening to be named after someone from a TV show production, which …. honestly doesnt make sense for a military facility, nor do I understand why so many people are just casually saying ‘oh of course, it’s based on some costume designer’
If someone told you to ‘go to the Theiss room’…. wouldnt ‘What is a Theiss room’ be the first thing you would say? Instead of just nodding your head knowingly, since apparently everyone knows who this Wiliam Theiss person is? Except no one knows who he is without using wikipedia apparently?
…because they got the reference, and you didn’t? It happens quite a lot here. I’m sure a lot of people end up scanning the comments for hints & help.
Maxima gave Sydney the name & general location of the room. If you think of it as a named building (such as on a campus, named after a notable person), that would be sufficient, no? I doubt she would take the time to explain its nomenclature.
+1
(see Theiss Titillation Theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ware_Theiss)
Well, a Theiss room can also be a mental health testing facility or a program set to test the faculties of a person in various situations. An example would be an after battle checkup room. Since they did have that massive battle it would make sense if this was the case to find out how she is reacting to the new stress of sudden fame. The stress of the fight, how she is dealing with having hurt certain people or seeing friends hurt. This can also be used to create a profile on her personality and or check medication levels, redistribute such medications at new levels or even change medications to another suitable form. I dated a girl who worked in such a place which is the only reason I even know about it.
Thank you
… how is a costume designer in any way related to a mental health facility?
And why wouldnt they just call it a Clinic room or Examination room or something? Or Room 104-A or something :)
To be honest, at first I thought Max said “Thesis room”
What kind of room would that have been, and what would Sydney do in there?
Theiss room?
Thesis room. For you to present your defense in a military court.
I know that one of self-punishment. She knows she done bad, so she puts herself in the corner, rather than waiting for others to tell her. Done versions of that myself.
I guess it works really well in combination with puppy eyes to avoid bad things
I hear ya. And Sydney does it so well, too…as evident by the orange juice on my monitor now instead of down my throat. >_<
Her body posture screams "I'm bad and have done a bad thing." I love it.
Do you have your Grrlpower screen wipes handy?
Did you not hear my earlier lecture about not trying to consume food nor drink when reading GrrlPower? It is a lot less messy and less expensive in computer repairs/replacement. It was also suggested that reading this comic during class or at work is also a bad idea; people will look at you funny for suddenly bursting out in laughter.
I hear yah. The only thing that could make that face more devastating would be a trembling lower lip. I know I would have failed either way! Wisdom is my dump stat.
So, as a non native English speaker I have to ask: What is a Theiss Room? From the context it seems like some kind of dressing room or shower (cause she really has to knock). But what exactly is it?
And yes, I dont have the patience to wait till thursday for this ;)
“Theiss Titillation Syndrome” – All those sexy outfits from Star Trek:TNG were from William Ware Theiss, so apparently Max is going to give Sydney the punishment of skin tight spandex…
Don’t forget that one of the higher ups has a She-Hulk fetish (https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/660). So it’s not far-fetched that someone akin to him named that room as such as a personal pun he/she didn’t expect anyone would get. Similarly, another member could have jokingly nicknamed the room that and it stuck (said person again being a Star Trek nerd).
That’s not She-Hulk, that’s an Orion Slave Girl.
… Which, interestingly, takes us right back around to Mr Theiss.
First thing a new recruit gets is uniform issue. And fitting a Sydney-sized character in a universe of 6′ average height heroes is gonna be fun… for us.
With her build, I think she will be shopping from the Kitty Pryde line of super suits.
Hopefully this one from the ’80s: https://static.flickr.com/36/83037598_eef346c334_o.jpg
I remember that outfit! I nearly went blind when I saw it. I also remember Storm giving Nightcrawler a discreet “zap” when he nearly told the truth about how awful it was. What really made it a howler were those roller skates. What the heck were those supposed to do? What if she had to go up and down stairs?
Yeah I remember that too. Kitty’s poor fashion sense was quite the running gag.
It was the 80’s, what are you gonna do /shrug
That’s horrible. But what does Sydney have to show off in a skin tight suit?
Same as any other girl, illegal nipples.
Flag on the play, illegal nipples, ten yard penalty, opposing team gets the ball.
You’re right on the money there: https://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/William_Ware_Theiss
Can you picture Sydney wearing something like https://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Angelique_Pettyjohn ??
No, I absolutely cannot – the late Ms Pettyjohn had a natural physique that modern models & actresses try to emulate with surgery (and still seldom achieve)… not unlike the supers… Sydney (or just about any other mere mortal) couldn’t hope to carry off her look
Yeah, you got that right. I just can’t picture Sydney being capable of filling her…shoes…very well.
I just saw that episode last night on MeTV.
I met the actress at a con back in the 90s. She was selling autographed posters of herself. One of her wearing the costume, and one of her wearing parts of the costume. I bought both, but have since lost them.
To be honest I think Sidney would rather do the push-ups then wear that!
Theiss room?
Thesis room. For you to present your defense in a military court.
I thought Theiss worked on Star Trek: The Original Series, not the Next Generation…
He did TOS and season 1 of TNG, but I think he’s listed in the TNG credits for most of the series even if he wasn’t directly involved. Probably because of Counselor Troi’s bunny suit.
Which she hated, by the way. When she finally got a proper Starfleet uniform, Mirina Sirtis said, “Finally! I can do things like wear a bra, and breathe properly!”
The only more-hated costume was Seven of Nine’s catsuit. As I recall, Jeri Ryan was asked, “now that the show’s over, what do you want to do with the costume?” Her reply was something along the lines of “I was hoping for a bonfire.”
Yeah, physical fitness is a major part of basic training, even if you are in great shape already, like Maxima or Anvil. Generally, you get pushed physically until you can’t go any further, to be able to see how good you are already; some people come in just a little bit more able than others. It stands to reason that is part of the reason that everybody, male or female, appears to be in such great shape. Stalwart and Hiro have powers that put them in great shape, but all the others are in great shape too. The wonders of a military work-out program.
And sueprhero genes.
Even without superhero genes, a person doing the constant physical activity of your average comic super being would have a good physique, even without super powers.
Look at the non-powered characters from Marvel and DC. Black Widow, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Batman (and pretty much everyone in the Bat family) the list goes on.
Even the ones with powers could be included.
Clark Kent is built the way he is not because of his powers but because he grew up on a farm doing physical labor. Wonder Woman was born and raised into a warrior culture and spent her days training in weapons and martial techniques. Cyclops, Iceman, Jean Grey, Cables, etc physiques have no relation to their abilities. They are the result of constant physical training and combat.
It’s like I told a female friend of mine when she asked why there are no “normal” looking women in comics.
“If you are spending every day fighting gangs of bad guys, plugging volcanoes with multi-ton boulders, holding up collapsing buildings, stopping and throwing cars, and getting into fist fights with other super-powered beings as strong or stronger than your are, you’re going to be freaking chiseled like a Greek statue.”
Also keep in mind that as Clark, before he became superman he had some power, but not a lot of power and grew into his powers as he also grew up. In some comics he always had powers, in some he didn’t, but back to the original subject. In the ones where his powers grew as he grew it was absorbing sunlight which was giving him his powers. Until he reached a certain level of absorption his powers began to manifest. But before the manifestation of his powers he was relatively normal earth compatible in things. This means his environment in turn shaped his physical alterations. The muscles, etc. Growing up on the farm, working, growing, changing as his powers developed. Sure his genetics played a big part in things also but under different conditions, no exercise, no training regime, reformatting as a couch potato, would superman really look so super? Nobody I can recall ever played with that idea but instead look at say, the Blob… Could that figure be a match for a couch potato superman? The mind boggles at the concept, truly boggles.
Yes but Kara doesn’t have the same physique as WW despite having a Kryptonian power set. Even for super powered beings, physical activity makes a big difference.
The physiques that the supers have though, is more a “modern idealised” physique than one due to actual hard work. Its a bodybuilder rather than stongman development where the intent is more to look good than actually be capable of extreme physical feats.
As to whether the super look is actually dependent upon time and place, have there been any actual supers who have different physiques? Archon’s doctor for example, has healing powers, but doesn’t seem to be as tall or have the same build as the usual female super physique.
Might be that her powers are from a source that means the isn’t a full super. Might be that she is built to a different ideal. Might be that her clothes just disguise it.
Even puny Peter Parker, who was never very physical, eventually developed a decent set of muscles after he spent a few years web-slinging. The movie had it wrong with the comic…The spider bite didn’t give him the muscles.
Actually he did get a strength boost from the change.
Though it was a minor one at the time.
You’re right…At the time, his muscles got stronger because of the spider bite, but it was a change on the molecular level. He had to do quite a bit of hero-work before getting the outward appearance.
In many of his earliest comics, there were a lot of people who discovered that the hard way. “How can such a skinny runt be so blasted strong” was a pretty common quote back then.
Pete’s not the best example since his actual genetic structure was altered when he got his powers.
Though as mentioned above, his physique improved exponentially after all the years of constant physical activity (daily web slinging and constant battles).
The average super (hero, villain and anti-hero) is going to be in shape simply due to the levels of physical activity they go through in an average day, every day. Any boost from powers is just that a boost to an already impressive physique.
Don’t forget that they all have powers. Part of having powers in this universe is that they all look like idolized humans, including being fit.
I doubt they could get fat even if they wanted to
Which makes me wonder- if this took place in a different time-period with a different definition of “ideal”, would the super-people look different?
If you are spending every day fighting gangs of bad guys, plugging volcanoes with multi-ton boulders, holding up collapsing buildings, stopping and throwing cars, and getting into fist fights with other super-powered beings as strong or stronger than your are, you’re going to be freaking chiseled like a Greek statue.
Even if they existed in different times, they’d still have great bodies just from their high levels of physical activity.
That is a good question, and the way to answer that would be to look at ancient statuary and iconography, working your way up through the centuries. It would make and interesting study piece.
So that would strongly imply that Sydney herself has no powers at all. That she is just the current bearer of the orbs, which are just very powerful items.
Rather than being a super-human herself, instead she’s a cut-rate (yeah! I said it!) Ultra-Boy, with Green Lantern powers instead of Superboy’s.
Hm. Wonder how long it’s going to be before someone figures out how to turn the obs off, take them over, or they decide the enact their plan of world domination?
Well they’d have to kill Sydney first. The orbs are “bound” to her and her to them. That means there’s a very very strong force at work that is keeping the orbs connected to Sydney. A force like that is usually only ended by death of one of the two parties.
There have been numerous stories in the comics about villains who figured out the exact nature by which a hero’s external-but-bound powers are linked…And then subverting that link towards their own ends. Just because nobody knows how the orbs are linked to Sydney now doesn’t mean that somebody else won’t figure it out later.
just bind Sydney’s hands in closed fists, and she can’t use her powers.
Even so, if they can’t separate Sydney from the orbs (without killing her first), she still has mental control over how they move; as Mr. Shadow Boxer found out. Even if blindfolded, Sydney could make the orbs fly about her in a whirlwind, even if blinded, to act as some form of defense.
Well yes. She was just another avarage comic shop owning ADHD spazz until she went diving and found the balls. We went over that in comic :P
The first person that has any chance to ‘steal them’ at all would be Dabbler, because she’s actually able to study them, and they are clearly to advanced for humans to understand.
And based on what we know are Dabblers preliminairy findings, she does not understand them either
Maybe it just takes time for “superhero physique” to kick in. Maybe if enough time passes since she found the orbs, Sydney will grow into the generic superhero shape.
Oh yes, and even if you’re supposedly in great shape when you hit basic (in the Army and Marines at least), you’ll quickly find out that you’re not in “military shape.” There’s a difference between “working out at the gym and jogging a few miles” and “gear up, and let’s go on a nice little 15 mile tactical hike!” “Gear up” means lugging about 75 pounds of gear, and a “tactical hike” is not “take your time with lots of breaks.”
True, But I ran cross country in HS, my run time dropped during BT. But my push ups and such rose, so I guess a better balance.
When I went through boot for the Navy. We had a guy in my company who was so muscular that he had to have a waiver for standing at attention because he couldn’t get his arms down to his sides. He ended up getting tossed out because he was so musclebound he couldn’t move freely.
So muscular he couldn’t get his arms down to his sides… I’m trying to picture arms that big and can’t. Jeez, did he need to get help wiping his ass?
IIRC, not being able to do that would be a result of over-developed lats (Lattissimus Dorsi), not arms. Both, maybe? Humungous triceps butting up against the lats sure wouldn’t help.
I used to be that muscular many years ago it really doesn’t take much to pump the lats enough to create a “gorilla stance”. In my case it was 6 months of swinging a sledgehammer 3 hours a day every day (which also entailed 30-50 “reps” of lifting a 10-15kg weight from knee height to a bit above waist height) and for the other 5-6 hours lifting and shifting large castings in a foundry.
I have a similar problem even now from delivering pizza (don’t laugh). I was driving a FWD car with quick-ratio power steering, and the power steering pump was DOA. I averaged 100 miles a night, and hit 200 mile regularly. My neck went from a puny 18 inches to 22 during that job.
Amen. I distinctly remember being woken up at 4am for a “10-mile hike”.
A little while later, the Drill Instructor came up with this gem:
“Recruits! I have good news, and better news! The good news is that we’ve come almost 5 miles already! The better news is that we’re almost at the starting point!” (It was closer to a 15 or 20-mile hike when we were done.)
Here’s the reply for a question asked about what it’s like to be a companion of Dr. Who.
“And lots & lots of running.”
It also applies in Boot Camp…
Is there really any point in making Sydney do physical training? I mean, that’s totally not the point at all. She should be focusing all her time on developing her abilities with the Orb, their capacities, even just her telekinetic control of them, are far better than anything she’s going to be able to do herself.
She’d better shape up & learn in-close fighting, sooner rather than later…Remember how Shadow Boxer was inside her shield?!
Yeah. I remember. I remember how she creamed him with her orbs. What if she had had more training with them? Maybe she can hit harder, faster than she thinks she can.
Indeed, if Sydney is trained with some form of martial arts that also includes better tactical use of her orbs in conjunction with trained skills…
It’s a good thing her & Math are getting along so well, even after the unfortunate incident of their first meeting.
:D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaUsvc9wReU
Also, someone may, for example break her fingers, so she won’t be able to hold the orbs. Or disable them via magic/superscience/powers. Or she may have to maintain some other orb effects (e.g. fighting an invisible guy while flying)
Sydney is so far under any height and weight limit they would never have looked twice if she didn’t have the orbs. Her physical program is going to have to be carefully tailored not to kill her trying to keep up with even Peggy.
Don’t you get to stop after you puke and do another two sets?
You don’t actually get much stronger from going on till you pass out.
If you want progress, you have to stop before your limit (not to far before offcourse). Going over it will just damage yourself
hence the term “Muscle Bound”. it’s actually a bad thing. working out without proper stretching and such actually causes you to become inflexible and a lot slower than you could be. basically, not stretching and working out other parts of your body will make you into a Mighty Glacier, when you could have easily become a Lightning Bruiser.
There is nothing wrong with being a Mighty Glacier, just ask Anvil
She’s not a Mighty Glacier. She’s also pritty fast relative to her size.
Mighty Glacier might not be bad, but if you could instead be a that strong and fast, simply by doing proper stretches, it is bad
Yeah, Glaciers may be slow, but once they have you, you ain’t going anywhere fast either, and they have all the strength of a Glacier to slowly grind you into a smear on the ground (or the nearest solid surface)
My understanding of the “push yourself until you pass out” had a different purpose than getting stronger. It was to (1) test your willpower, and (2) break you down so they can build you back up the way they want.
That is exactly the point. The PT is norse for getting your body in to a resemblance of what may be required for your military career. (If things go horriblly awry you will get a rifle and become infantry. “but my MOS is NetSecurity!” Too bad you let arty take out the Net uplink. grab a weapon and fall in)
But its primary purpose is to stress out a recruit as much as they can so the recruit will be used to such things in combat .
Added bonus: one can do a bit of behaviorial modifications as well. After all “the whole point of the training is the leashing”
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/684
I wouldnt say “even peggy” she IS a highly experience soldier with potentially years of combat experience. Im pretty sure she would run sydney into the ground before she even breaks a light sweat. You dont have to be as cut as a super to be in pretty insane condition. In fact, the muscley guys seem to have the least endurance in my experience.
I was always the slender, not very defined fellow in basic, but I could run forever doing laps around half the training flight (I was air force, our physical conditioning was admittedly easier) I bet if you tried to poke peggys arms or her good leg, you would feel like you were poking a brick wall they are so solid. I sure as hell was like that. No visible abs, no dancing pecs, no bulging biceps, but my muscle groups had about as much give as concrete.
As explained in Kinich, worlds strongest disciple [I think that was the name of the series], “Red’ muscle tissue is more for power but builds up lactic acid fast so lacks endurance, while “white” is very efficient and gives amazing endurance but lacks the quick power of red.
The way I have heard it explained is ‘slow twitch’ and ‘fast twitch’ muscle fibers.
https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/06/09/fast-twitch-vs-slow-twitch-what-kind-of-muscles-do-you-want/
They are also described as type I (endurance) and IIb (power). Some people have more of one type over another. So your performance will depend on whether you are IIb or not IIb.
… ow, careful, puns can kill.
I don’t know whether to applaud you, or gather an angry mob.
Gather a mob, lead them in a round of applause. Then pass out the flashlights and weed whackers.
If the mob consists entirely of mimes, O.B. will never hear any applause…
Don’t forget the ice cream!
Great, now I need to roll 1d20 to see how much damage that pun did to me.
O.B. Juan, you need to roll 1d20 as well, to see how much damage you take from the koosh ball I’m about to throw at you. ;-)
(Back in the day when I was really into tabletop roleplaying games, we kept a bowl of koosh balls specifically for that purpose. If someone made a really bad pun, someone else would throw a koosh ball at him.)
And for those who don’t know what Koosh balls are, here you go:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koosh_ball
Along time ago in a university far far away we had a weekend D&D group. One time our party was exploring the dungeon du jour. We had just cleared out an area filled with ghouls and upon opening another door we were beset by a group of demons. I made the comment “I’m not surprised that this room has demons in it based on where we just were.” People looked at me and asked how I came to that conclusion. I replied “Everyone knows that demons are a ghoul’s best friend. Thank you, you may now throw things.” They did.
P.S. I just rolled a 16. OW! What was in that koosh ball?
I remember a dungeon where it was populated with Monster Coins. They each had a breath weapon of 1hp damage. There were a LOT of coins there.
Talk about getting “nickel & dimed to death.”
It wasn’t what was in the koosh ball that mattered. I decided to have my friend (a former collegiate baseball player with an incredible fastball) throw it instead.
I’ve been on the receiving end of his throwing arm. I don’t remember the pun that caused it, but I have a permanent koosh ball dent in my forehead because of him.
The pun involved might have been related to “getting beaned,” perhaps?
Actually, this does bring up a thought. Max failed her roll on the save v. puppy-dog eyes. How do we know this? If she hadn’t, Max would have had a much more sadistic grin when talking about training – and Dave would have drawn the last panel far differently.
Sydney is smirking up a storm in the save vs puppy dog eyes panel
Doesn’t look like a smirk to me. She seems confused. Or at least wonders why Max turned her head away and is making a fist.
On a completely unrelated topic, how long would it take for harem to write a book?
Dedicating herself to it? I suspect 1/5 the time writing and researching. The usual amount of time for actually coming up with the right words to type.
Depends on the book, but as a NaNoWriMo veteran my first thought was “One month”
Harem says she has a hard time when two (or more) of her bodies are doing similar things. So I think the actual typing would be a one-body-at-a-time job.
On the other hand, if there are several different things she needs to research for different parts of the book, as soon as one chunk of the research is done she can start writing that section and concurrently continue with at least one other part of the research.
(I also think she should [i]work on[/i] that weakness. Just as Dabbler should be getting more training in sword-work, Maxima should be practicing making [i]very small[/i] fires or explosions because sometimes it’s better to scare the bejeesus out of one guy than to destroy the building, and pretty much everyone on the crew should be stretching their genre savvy – Sydney can help on that. I’m sure we could come up with other individual drills for the rest of the crew.)
Dang it, DaveB! I really don’t like how you shift the bangs to hang right in front of Sydney’s face, in that last panel. Always makes that viewing angle of her head look weird. Fix it, or, by golly, the next time I may just use two exclamation points when I curse you out. Do you really want to go there, bucko? I don’t think so. HARUMPH!
Sydney gets a -2 modifier on her roll for surprise due to her lack of peripheral vision. This is partially cancelled out by her +1 modifier due to her hyperactivity bonus.
Her hair is a mystery even to me. I should try to build her head in 3D to see if it’s even possible.
Or you could just use the problem as a convenient excuse to keep the Barberian around to give her a new do.
Besides, with that many women and metro/high visibility guys, ARCHON is going to need someone able to cut and style the hair of people with varying levels of invulnerability.
A super strong professional hair stylist seems like the perfect fit. I sure Dabbler wouldn’t complain either ;)
It’s not. Not without insane amounts of product to effectively make her “bangs” into immovable plastic that holds that position permanently. I always attributed it Syd being the only Anime character is a Western-styled comic.
Well, her and Dabbler, the Dragonball Z/Naruto/Phil Foglio fanfic character.
Heeeey… is that Synd’s *real* power? She’s an Anime character, playing by Anime axioms? Since everyone else is playing by Western axioms, that’s why she gets away with the crap she does! She an Anime protagonist, so she can get away with literally anything, so long as it’s funny!
I have built a 3D model of Sydney. And no, her hair as drawn is not possible. I even commented on this a couple of strips ago. Let me see if I can find it.
Ah, I wrote it last week. I’ll just block-and-copy.
—————————
I find DaveB’s commentary on making sure the hair bun was right completely hilarious considering that Sydney’s bangs do not only defy gravity, they also defy geometry.
I started a 3D model of Sydney (which I really must finish one day) and I carefully tried to match the model up to the canon images from the comic. I could do this with all of Sydney except two parts: The glasses and the hair.
The glasses I could cheat by going back to the earlier pages when they were actually drawn to be a functional appliance instead of a stylized face doodle. They still sit oddly low and the earpieces are still miles long, but they look acceptable from all 360 degrees.
The hair though! First is the ponytail. It sits lower on her head in profile than it does in a face-on view. This was fairly easy to cheat, as in 3D animation, it would be bobbing up and down enough tto be anywhere it needs to be for any given still frame. But the bangs are nonsensical.
When viewed from the front, the bangs are parted slightly so that they obscure the outer cheeks and ears, and hang far enough forward that they sit in front of her glasses and all of her facial features. When viewed from the side, the bangs are parted widely so that hang down the sides of the head, covering the back of the cheeks and ears, and hang far enough back that they sit behind all her facial features. The only way to model this is give her bangs two default states and have the hair reshape itself as she turns toward or away from the camera.
(The orbs’ orientation is also reactive to the camera. No matter where the camera is in the scene, the orbs always show the same hemisphere to it, with their up and down relative to camera-up and camera-down.)
tl:dr — Anime bangs do not exist in Euclidean space.
Have you done this kind of analysis of Mickey Mouse’s ears? :) I’ve wondered how Disney’s animators handle them now that they’re doing it with CGI rather than traditional animation.
The answer to that is at this link: https://youtu.be/4-MnhFSHTxU
Seems they just did the same thing as in 2D animation. The ears wander around Mickey’s head, always facing the camera. It looks normal if you don’t know about it, but damned peculiar once you start watching it.
I find myself thinking that Sydney’s hair has been affected by the orbs somehow, to keep it out of their way. This would deal with multiple issues with one explanation.
I totally called for pushups!
If you look at the under-the-page joke, I mentioned potato peeling in last comic’s comments…
;)
Peeling potatoes consist of tossing them into the machine that peels them for you. That or opening the box of instant KP duty is just washing dishes lots of dishes. Which I had prior experience down as a civilian so I had it down tight.
No, peeling potatoes as KP duty (as opposed to regular Catering Staff duty) is using a dull knife while Catering Staff use the machine or powder (they don’t actually use the Punishment Spuds)
I got that duty for my one time on K.P. in basic training. It wouldn’t have been bad, except the Spec4 in charge of keeping an eye on me kept insisting that I use the highest water temp possible. After about an hour, the Sergeant in Charge came around, and asked me how I was doing. I showed him my hands and forearms, which were showing obvious signs of first-degree burns, without saying a word. He asked me if I was new at doing dishes, to which I pointed out that I had spent several years of my youth washing dishes in our family restaurant. The sergeant then put his hand in the water, grimaced, and quickly withdrew it. I got sent to doc, and was treated for the burns. The Spec4 got in lots of trouble. I’m guessing that he had a cruel streak that the Army didn’t like, because he received one of those “Bad Conduct” discharge thingies. On the up side, I never had to do K.P. ever again. Of course, that may have been more due to the couple of idiots in my platoon that constantly mouthed off and screwed up, thus getting K.P. duty on a nearly daily basis. Funny. They made it through Basic, but not AIT. DI’s are so delightfully evil.
In the military, if they tell you to peel potatoes by hand, then by God, you’ll be peeling them by hand. They use the machines for those who normally work with the food, not those put there for punishment.
If Sydney had to do push ups every time she got in trouble she would end up so ripped. Who’s the strongest member on the team? Max? Anvil? Hiro maybe? NO! It’s Halo! She just kept getting into trouble. Now she can toss a building into space!
Actually Stalwart is the strongest after Max…. For now
They havent really gauged the Lighthook’s strength cap, if it has one.
That’s not the same as physical strenght though.
That’s basicly a different power (tentacle)
If you look at the cast page, you see super strenght listed as a flexed arm. Sydney doesn’t have that. But she does have a ‘lifting ton weight’ icon, which is probably the lighthook. So not really superstrenght, but she can lift alot of weight
She’s gonna peel potatoes for the next forever. While doing pushups.
All the way through this forever & the next three incarnations of the Universe.
Loving Sydney’s face in panel seven :D
Love the fact that the ‘1’ is facing the camera for the save…and that bleh die colour is just about perfect for the dice that came back with the old D&D Blue Book boxed sets. ^_^
I’ve seen the greyish-pink dice before, but mine were a putty/tan color (still have 2 of them left – d8 & d10)
Mine were pale blue. Just saying.
Mine looked like solid puke.
Eww.
Yeah, my buddy had one of the puke-dice – d20, in fact.
Mine (in the first set) came in yellow, dark red, and white. Still have the red d4 and d12, and the yellow d20 (remains my favourite).
The imaginary D20 hitting max’s head cracked me up XD I love those geeky little touches you sprinkle throughout the comic.
Not sure if it just me, but getting an error when attempting to vote
Same here, but at least I also got to leave a message at TWC to notify them of the error.
Yeah, looks like it is a problem with TWC as got the same error attempting to vote for “By The Book”
AH!
Can anyone here not access the Top Webcomics site at all? I enter the URL and it auto-redirects me to a Time Warner Cable page. It has been doing this for at least 4 weeks. Anyone else have this problem?
Maxima is holding her arms wrong. She’s Air Force right? We don’t hold our arms that high up behind our back.
Max was Air Force. Now she’s Archon. Official transfer.
True but Air Force training is still relevant.
Considering that Max can fly supersonic, her origins are still intact.
;)
But it’s not accurate to say the she is Air Force any more.
Correct. As my old AFJRTOC AASI Master Sergeant Lawton woult tell us, “This is the Air Force not the Army, no windows!” The hand rest, relatively comfortably, at the small of your back.
If you look at her upper arms and her elbows, her lower arms are folded at perfect 90degree angle, it’s not her fault her arms aren’t longer
She’s not at Parade-Rest – she’s in judgmental overlord mode, and thus has her hands cross-holding her forearms, Morpheus-style
I want to meet the drill-sergeant who has to teach all the new recruits how to pose menacingly.
You are thinking of officer training. :)
Disclaimer: Never been to any boot camp, officer track or otherwise.
The Drill Sargent that does drill training IE how to march stand and move as a unit is the same one that teaches you how to shoot. There are three means by which to stand attention, parade rest and rest. Attention is feet together knees unlocked and you hands at your side fingers cuffed slightly in front of the seam line of your pants. Parade is you feet shoulder width apart knees unlocked with your hands behind your back clasped above your belt line in the small of your back. Rest you just need to keep your right foot firmly planted to the ground.
Max is in a normal parade rest it is habit forming took me a couple years to get out of it once I was out of the service. The pose looks fine for army air force or navy the marines may have issue with it but they are tight asses when it comes to that.
Back being an Air Training Cadet, Parade Rest was clasping one thumb and resting the hand on your butt slash in-line with your belt, not above the belt
One thing those years taught me, was how to stand relatively still without fidgeting
Huh, it didn’t occur to me to research that.
Just remember, having your hands in your pockets, unless you are retrieving or placing an item, is a definite NO GO in the military. An alternate to parade rest, is to have your hands resting on your sides at the waist, feet spread shoulder width apart. This is a good stance while monitoring active recruits as it keeps the hands ready for anything, and with recruits “anything” is definitely what can happen.
BTW, Math had better get control of that habit, unless he has received dispensation to help him keep his hands from wandering when amongst the ladies.
Math is listed as a Civilian Specialist so all those wonderful rules on how to stand, walk and so on DO NOT apply to him.
Well then, not a problem. Carry on! …er, please.
Maxima “used to be sort of a nerd”. There’s no “used” there.. embrace it, Max!
Sydney is dredging up Max’s own history & her ancient & nearly forgotten nerdiness has resurrected. At this rate, it won’t be long before Max joins Sydney & friends in the comic shop for a game…
I’m not feeling so well about doing this and it also proves me being a perv, but……….
I had a very NSFW impression on first sight of panel 8… *megablush*
That might explain Sydney’s face in panel eight :P
…. O_o that chair..
dat chair
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one.
That’s a relief. A HUGE one!
Ew. What did I say…
._.
I think you just put on your Freudian slip.
I cannot unsee it.
That was a reply to RockB’s panel 8 comment.
Nope, cannot.
More to the point. Is there a reason to want to unsee it? /perv
*throws down smoke bomb and dashes away*
Panel three. Reaffirms my view of Sydney as being the sexiest superheroine in Arcswat
Dat butt?
Das arsch.
Der Arsch
for some reason I read that as “sexist”
In all practicality, anyone who isn’t at least slightly sexist is either asexual by choice/attitude, or they want to see the human race go extinct by not having any babies.
“Sydneys trainign session. Lesson Nr. 1. Knock before you enter, rectuit!”
“Lesson 1a: Knocking implies actually waiting for be asked in.”
You mean ‘week 1 – 3’
Does anyone else think the chair in panel 8 looks off? The side profile of it gives off the immediate look of something very…phallic. Maybe its just me, but I think that having it a bit less profile or a lot less dark leather looking might help with that…or showing a bit more of the chair’s arms or the desk…jus something so the initial pass on it looks less like…well, a penis.
Not just you, and no, it looks fine as it is
Well I didn’t notice it before but now that you mentioned it I can’t unsee it. Thanks for ruining everything forever!
(and I think a few other people where discussing how it looks in another comment)
Sydney obviously has high CHA, despite not having the Most Common Superpower, given her at-times devastatingly high level of adorability.
Remember charisma is not looks but force of ‘personality’ Comliness was created for looks.
Charisma was rebrand with “force of personality” in the RPG sense because people (adolescent males) kept mistaking purely physical attractiveness for it.
Appearance and charm are the two associative words in the dictionary definition. It becomes important because you have real life people who are gorgeous, until they open their mouths and sounds come out. On the flip side many radio personalities were never able to transition to television because their physical appearance didn’t hold up to their voices.
How well would Puppy Dog Eyes work on military folk or as I’m picturing it… Drill Sergeants? They are trained to resist and destroy snickering, smirking, whining, laziness, the inability to focus, arrogance, weirdness, stupidity (or rather changing stupidity into a useful kind if stupidity), daydreaming, individuality, crying for ones mommy (grandmothers also acceptable), pansosity (the state of being a pansy), begging, pleading, bribery and many many more things….. but how often do they come up against Puppy Dog Eyes?
(And yeah I have been picturing the guy from Full Metal Jacket R Lee Ermey AKA Gunnery Sergeant Heartman… pretty sure Puppy Dog Eyes would just piss him off… also… is there anything that wouldn’t piss him off?)
It is really hard to stay a hardass all the time though.
Puppy eyes might be enough to break through. Atleast for a short moment
I wouldn’t make it through the first day of basic before getting booted. I’d be snickering at all the macho shouting and name calling.
Oh no. Don’t under-estimate the effectiveness of the Front-Lean-and-Rest position. It helped me to control my amusement. Good DI’s are freaking improvisational comedians that specialize in demeaning insults (without swearing) and your mother. I loved Basic Training. It was very entertaining.
as for me i beleive i would end up assaulting the drill officer,,,i easely cooperate with authorities,, as long as they dont opress or are beeing to forcefull,, but when they do,, i get cross,,, and since i have rage blackouts,, and from what my doctors said,, overproductive surenal glands,,,i prefer to avoid it:)
i once almost assaulted a cop just because he was beeing an ass to a friends as he was giving her a ticket,,and yet i have no trouble with cops/military,, as long as they conduct themselves respectfully and professionaly,
If you’re having that much trouble with punctuation, I think you need a new keyboard. ;)
You should get lots of professional help to control that rage, or there is a good chance that you will end up an episode on “Cops” some day. I really hope that you don’t drink or do any other drugs, except marijuana (you could use a prescription of that). “Rage blackouts”. Not good.
DI’s only oppress those who have agreed verbally, and in writing, to be oppressed. Once you get to know your fellow recruits, and you see them on the rifle range for the first time, you realize that the DI isn’t being oppressive, he’s saving lives. Most of my platoon in Army Basic was definitely below that average IQ mark, and had little or no common sense. Heck, my DI caught me reading comics at night, under my covers with a flashlight, and all he said to me was that it was okay as long as my performance didn’t lag, which it never did.
Oh, no, DaveB. They wouldn’t boot you… they’d just treat you as a boot until you learned to control your snickering. There’s a difference. ;-)
“treat you as a boot” … my mind translates that as “is there’s a hole in you we’ll put a foot in it”
*laughs* Not quite. Combat boots are made mostly out of toughened leather, although many combat boots now incorporate many civilian technologies such as Gore-Tex nylon side panels, which improve ventilation and comfort.
Point is, the boots are extra-tough, so “treat you as a boot” means they’re going to assign you extra-tough duty, even moreso than the usual “extra training” normally given as punishment. After all, a boot would be tough enough to handle longer hikes or extra push-ups…
DI’s keep an eye out for the innocents. They have a special way of handling them, without coddling them, which usually includes pairing them up with a good-natured, but more mature recruit as buddies. Sometimes, the DI’s do have to give the innocents a second chance, say, if they start crying in front of the platoon (This happens pretty regularly). This usually earns the recruit a transfer to a different training platoon, far away, so that he/she can start afresh.
I almost made a marine DI’s head explode because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get a rise out of me.
Just stood there with a blank expression on my face and let the tirade go in 1 ear and out the other.
Pissed him off to no end.
Actually, you probably made his day. DI’s love a recruit that can show such discipline. Probably left you alone more than the rest, unless you found other ways to F-Up.
No he was Pissed because he knew I was ignoring his tirade.
I know this because he pulled me into the office and asked how I was able to do it.
And I told him I grew up being scolded a lot and I learned to tune out the b.s.
But was aware enough to respond when needed.
And also while I was in boot there was a lot of collateral “punishment” passed out.
I.E. if someone near you screwed up you could get caught in the area of effect.
Yes – the Marines are pretty infamous for collateral punishment – all in the name of turning individuals into a team
Yeah, I quickly learned that when four Drill Sgt. are all yelling at you that they don’t actually want answers to their many questions. Just go to parade rest, fix your eyes on the horizon and let them yell until they are yelled out…
Welp I definitely rolled nat1 on my save. Who can ever be mad at Syd!
Since no one else has mentioned it yet, let me be the one to say May the 4th be with you!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Day
https://www.starwars.com/may-the-4th
…and also with you
Peal ALL the potatoes \o !!!!
Wow I’m a moron…. *peel*
The use of vegetables as musical instruments. Very Interesting. The original research on this was done in the ’70s by Mike Oldfield on his record “Tubular Bell Peppers”.
Yay another Oldfield fan!!
+1 to referencing
I sorta wonder what kind of music you could get from a kumquat?
…
…
Interpret that in any ‘ol way your personal perversions lead…
Looks like the combination of time since she screwed up, obvious contrition, being worried about getting max in trouble, has de-escalated the level of butt chewing she will get. Im honestly hoping for SOMETHING though. Honestly, for the military types out there, how much trouble would YOU have been in had you booted down the door to a private high ranking meeting, and chewed out a lieutenant colonel in front of a general and the president AND several other world leaders? Im pretty sure they would need a new tier of insubordination to cover how far past the line that went. I know there are extenuating circumstances but even so, I would expect SOME sort of real trouble over this, even if it is just being forced to run till she wants to die, followed by pushups till she feels nice and rested in order to start running again.
Thers a defense roll against puppu-dog eye. I so need that
Is it me or does Sydney have a really nice butt in panel 2. Ive never notice till now.
Yes. Yes, she does.
I hate to nitpick, but shouldn’t it be ‘for god’s sake’ and not ‘for god sake’?
The first one is grammatically correct but people say it either way I think. Maybe she’s talking about the sort of Japanese wine that god drinks.
Certain people would do a lot for god sake.
The Stone Monkey of the Mountain preferred his wine made from peaches…
There’s a lot to love about this page, but let me say that my favorite part is that in panel 3…
…you can tell Sydney still brought The List to her first day of training (back, right pocket).
15 bucks says that it’ll be confiscated by the end of the day.
20 says whoever tries will be hospitalized.
Well now I want to see Mulan’s “Be a Man” using all the characters (and personalities) found here.
One point, DaveB. You’ve been extremely respectful of military standards, going WAY out of your way to learn to make stuff appropriate where you can. Thank you for that.
Looking over her ribbon rack, it appears to have (from bottom to top:)
Basic Training Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Expeditionary Service Award, Presidential Unit Citation, Combat Action Medal, Joint Commendation Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Silver Star, Distinguished Service Medal, and some unidentified medal above the DSM… possibly an ARC medal?
All good so far, but based on her known history, she should also have the following:
Air Force Longevity Service Award (with 3 oak leaf clusters), GWoT Expeditionary Medal, Iraq/Afghanistan/Kosovo/SWA Service Medals, National Defense Service Medal, Probable AF Organizational Excellence Awards and/or AF Outstanding Unit Awards, Probable Meritorious Service Medal and/or Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and Purple Heart.
I do realize this is nitpicking, but based on your commitment to accuracy when possible, I thought it was better to give you my nerdrant here than later when retconning would become more painful.
Thanks, I have put some time into researching the ribbons, and I know Maxima’s are a little inaccurate. From what I’ve been told by a friend who was in the… I want to say Army, I should probably find out, obviously you can’t wear medals/ribbons you haven’t earned but you don’t have to wear medals that you have, which is why among other things she’s not wearing her purple heart. It’s not a pride thing for her, admitting she’s gotten hurt in the past, it’s more of not wanting to advertise that the most powerful super and the leader of Arc-SWAT can be hurt.
Part of my problem is not really understanding what each and every ribbon is for. Some are pretty self explanatory, some take a bit of research. I assume if you’ve achieved a Long Service ribbon, you don’t wear the short service one as well for instance.
Something that’s definitely missing from her board is some sort of dedicated Archon ribbon. She’d have something from jumping branches and she’d want to display that. I didn’t think to design it as I was making her board. I’m totally amenable to updating her ribbons, but I didn’t want to load her up with so much stuff that she looked like a general from a 3rd world dictatorship. You know, the guys who instead of looking like they’re an accomplished military leader just look like they’re wearing armor made out of lego and that they’ve also mugged a girl scout.
One thing I’m not sure on is if they would get ribbons from superhero battles. Getting one from Desert Storm I understand, but a 45 minute battle in a parking lot? No matter the stakes that doesn’t seem like it would qualify for its own medal.
You get campaign ribbons, like the Southwest Asia Service Medal (Desert Storm) for whole wars. And they generally give them to everybody involved all at once, they aren’t individually awarded to people. For instance I’m eligible for the SASM even though I never left Nevada.
What somebody might get for the Battle of the Parking Lot is some sort of meritorious award medal. I’m trying to think of the one that’s just below the Bronze Star.
Since it was at a steak restaurant, the award would be the ‘Lone Star’.
[insert eyeroll]
Why do you want a roll put in your eye?
They are better put to use soaking up the juices from the steak.
Perhaps it is a roll made from an eye.
That could be the Meritorious Service Medal. (Or the Defense Meritorious Service Medal if in a multi-service unit.)
The most common recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal are field-grade officers in pay grades O-4 thru O-6 (Major thru Colonel… except in the Navy, where O-4 thru O-6 is Lt. Commander thru Captain), senior Chief Warrant Officers between W-3 and W-5, and senior non-commissioned officers between E-7 to E-9.
So, it’s more likely that it would be either a Commendation Medal or an Achievement Medal, depending on rank. Achievement Medals are only given to officers of pay grade O-4 or lower, and enlisted personnel of pay grade E-7 or lower. Everyone of higher rank (O-5 and up, or E-8 and up) would get a Commendation Medal.
I figured the badge was from ARC.
Fact of military life: a combat veteran with multiple deployments will have a substantial number of ribbons/medals.
If you’d like, I’d be happy to build a mock-up for you with explanations and justifications for each ribbon. It’s necessarily be in a low-tech format (e.g. .ppt), but I’m sure you can convert it easily from there.
Yeah that’d be cool if you did. I can’t open .PPT unless there’s a google app that can do it.
She’d need at least one Archon ribbon for jumping to the new branch, (which I can design) but probably not a lot else Archon specific since they’ve only been around for a little while.
Google Docs/Drive should be able to covert, as long as it isn’t super fancy formatting. Another option would be LibreOffice which I use in place of MSOffice myself. Again super fancy formatting can be an issue, but it tends to handle most PPT(X) files decently.
https://www.viewdocsonline.com/
If all you want is to look at a .ppt file, then Microsoft has a stand alone viewer that runs under XP or above. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13
Okay, I shot a draft rack to you in .docx format, which should be readable by just about any current word processor. It might be a little work-intensive to move stuff around, so if you want to send me a reply with your decisions on changes, I’ll mod it for you
The discussion about medals (specifically, Maxima’s Purple Heart) reminds me about the military medals in the Traveller RPG. The Vilani have an equivalent called the “Ghikikaze” (pronounced sort of like geeky-kazy).
Starts out with Bronze, but for every ten wounds, it gets upgraded to Silver and then Gold. Being wounded in combat is something to be proud of… at least until you get wounded often enough to get the Gold Ghikikaze, which is also called the “Professional Pop-Up Target Award”. xD
Also known more informally as “meat shield.”
it’s dangerous to look that closely at Maxima’s rack.
I has binoculars.
Back during last night’s fight, when Vehemence ripped out of his pants, Peggy must’ve gotten an eyeful through her rifle scope…Literally an eyeful, because she only had the magnification for ONE eye at the time.
Just remember Shaun was using binoculars to.
TWO eyefuls for him, which probably explains his reaction. ;)