Grrl Power #360 – Chalking up
Sydney leveraging possibly one of the most common tropes in sci-fi and fantasy writing – If the hero doesn’t know who one or more of their parents are, it’s bound to be a plot device. Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Luke Skywalker, Peter Quill, Raven (of Azarath), Jupiter… Ascending… I could google her last name but I don’t care and you guys know who I’m talking about.
The usual exception to this rule is Disney movies. Not Pixar or Marvel ones, Disney Princess movies. Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, and Pocahontas all have dead mothers, Cinderella and Snow White are orphans (so are the Frozen sisters, but they knew their parents). Tiana (of the Princess and the Frog) has a dead dad, but he lived long enough for her to know him. The rest have both parents living but that’s a weird track record for a company that makes family movies. I know most of those movies are based on fairy tales so you can kind of blame the source material but it’s not like they don’t make changes to the stories and characters, so maybe Walt had a boner for dead moms.
This page was supposed to start with a panel of Sydney and the recruits looking down from the cheap seats at Max, Arianna and Zeph on stage wondering what was taking so long and then Harem tells her that “hurry up and wait” is the real motto of the military, but there wasn’t space so just imagine that exchange happened as a way of subtlety poking fun at my own pacing.
This was an interesting page to draw in that it has nearly every major member of the the team that’s been introduced so far, Arc-SWAT, LIGHT, and SPARQ, and a few that haven’t. The notable exception being the General, who I guess is in DC today.
I tried googling Xtapolapocetl, as well as Ixtapalapacetl, Xtapolapacoatl and some other variants, and I came across one of those situations where google utterly fails, which is I found a jillion twitter, facebook and other social media references to the names, but nearly nothing substantial that wasn’t just a reference to the Simpsons episode where it first entered the public consciousness. One search gave me a spartan reference to a Mayan god, but I couldn’t tell if the article was retrofitting the Simpsons reference into an existing pantheon, so while it may be relatively trivial for someone to dig up some real information about the guy, I’m going with the idea that Varia is in the same boat as me, which is the 10 minutes she spent googling it were inconclusive. (If you’re unfamiliar with the reference, here’s a wiki link. I admit it’s kind of obscure considering it was in the episode for all of 20 seconds, plus a few “hey this thing is still in the basement” cameos in a half dozen other episodes, but for some reason I still remember the name 20 years later.)
Here’s the link to the new comments highlighter for chrome, and the GitHub link which you can use to install on FireFox via Greasemonkey.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
At first I was wondering why Sydney’s hair was moving in panel #2, then I realized that while her fly orb had localitzed gravity, it probably didn’t do anything against motion from wind and forward/backward motion (unless her shield is also up). :)
What you’re thinking of is inertia
I would say more wind then inertia, I think her flight orb might provide some inertia protection to help with speed up/slow down. But I don’t know one way or the other for sure.
How are you having wind in an enclosed indoor space? Unless someone’s farted in her face at that precise moment in time…
It’s the effective wind generated by her moving through air that wasn’t moving.
At the moment, it’s not intense enough to be considered a potential hazard, so the fly-orb doesn’t need to generate a field to protect her against the wind or potentially wind-blown bugs/dust/debris.
Dave has said that the shield orb specifically protects against harmful intensities of energy or force, so it can be inferred that the shielding function of the fly-orb has the same sort of energy conserving feature.
Well argued, and fully credible.
The last being possible, but not necessary. If something is not harmful it simply does not bother the orbs. The countermeasures simply do not activate. Especially if it is beneficial. And wind whistling gently through the hair is a pleasant experience, so no need to stop that.
Probably not inertia. DaveB already said the fly orb protects against that under 150-200mph
More like aerodynamic drag. Her orbs generally protect her from harmful side effects of their use, beyond a certain threshold. She has a mini shield for air speeds the require it. But, zipping across the room at a speed barely faster then a brisk jog doesn’t.
Doesn’t the blonde guy in the front row look a lot like Duke Nukem ?
That IS Duke Nukem.
Actually, it’s Goose. >.> He appears briefly here: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1295
That is Goose. All we know about him so far is that he dont say much, he looks a lot like Duke and he possibly got some mad skills since he held his own against Mach the Knife while under the influence of the rage field.
i’m waiting for the moment when he try to throw some cash on Max “shake it baby”
They would never find the body. Or the charred, pulverize, unrecognizable remains thereof, at least.
LOL
Daniel here. Loved Duke Nukem growing up, new game took too long coming out to be valid… :(
That said, I’d love to hear (read I guess) him say something like “Hail to the King, baby…” or any of Duke Nukem’s other lines…
Have you tryed looking at Encyclopedia Mythica? Or Godchecker.com?
When Suddenly! Permanent marker. Because Bets have been placed.
Permanent marker isn’t. Simply apply rubbing alcohol.
or re-draw over it with the same marker and wipe it off before it dries out.
*Daniel has a mental flash back to Dumbing Of Age’s Whiteboard Dingdong Bandit…*
The head appears a lot in the Simpson comics
As funny as this page is, this is really uncool and kind of a dick move.
Not an unreasonable view to take. But Varia opened the gates when she started teasing Sydney in the shower. The door swings both ways. Plus they are soldiers in an elite military unit. They need to be able to handle banter. If they can’t they are not up to the job. As they will need to face far far worse, in the line of their duty.
But, yea, it is an insensitive kind of thing to do.
Sydney is a mixed package though. You get plenty of rough with the smooth. At least she is open and honest about it. The rest of us might just think what she thought (if not necessarily getting there quite as quickly as she did). Or perhaps vocalising it, in a more discreet fashion.
Sydney at least has the virtue of not going behind peoples backs or beating around a bush.
I was of the opinion that, while not unforgivable, it was kinda a jerk move.
If the below-comic is canon, however, I’m fine with it. It kinda depends how Varia feels about it. Below comic kinda has the mood go from “what?” -> “cmon guys” -> “fine, I’ll roll with it.”
I work in a field where mildly cruel harassing of each other is frequently part of the work culture, not unlike the same tradition in the military. Harassment = liked/accepted by the group = you are solid enough on your own merits that insults from others don’t actually damage you standing within the group.
note: getting upset by the insults does damage your standing within the group.
Upon further thought: How a person takes some harassment is a makeshift indicator of how reliable a person will be under long hours, pressure, and scrutiny.
There is a huge gaping difference between friendly banter(despite how nasty it may seem to an outsider) and harassment.
I work in a similar environment, and while some subjects will get a rise out of someone, and so long as your don’t go too far, it’s alright, there is also some subjects(depending on the person) which you simply don’t touch… outside of that anything and everything is fair game…
As another commentator points out, elsewhere, the key part is if the victim is offended. Everybody else’s opinions are totally irrelevant (unless it is causing a generally oppressive atmosphere that is making other individuals victims by association).
Whilst, in each case, Varia has initially responded negatively, such was only temporary and therefore can be taken as being part of the banter. On the grounds that, after her initial reaction, she clearly is not bothered by it. A case in point being the mini-comic above. Carrying that point clearly, for the current comic.
What makes Sydney’s actions so audacious is that she has gone for it whole hog. I can be similarly cheeky, but I carefully sound out somebody’s character and subtly probe their reactions before making an outrageous joke.
For instance I do have a small selection of blonde jokes. Which I am perfectly happy to relay in the company of group of blondes. Provided I am satisfied that they are (without exception) clever, self-confident and in possession of a good sense of humour. The fact that I am audacious enough to tell such to a blonde audience makes them laugh all the louder.
Fortunately, due to my precautions, I have never failed to raise a hearty response, nor have I caused offence or provoked a complaint.
Sydney’s talent is that she has evaluated Varia well. She is a good judge of character, in this and other matters. To the degree of bordering on it being a psychic ability. But that is fine for this genre. I am ok with ‘she is so clever she is almost super’. It is no different to Math’s forte, in that regard.
Which is what tips the balance for me, and allows me to enjoy the humour myself. I cannot stand any humour that only works at the expense of causing emotional harm to someone.
The Heatwave teasing (voices from the phone) was borderline. But, as I do not consider her to be dumb (just slow to ‘get it’), I think she probably realised what was going on. Some time after the incident.
Depending on her character, she may have just taken it on the chin, and had a laugh at her own gullibility. And/or she may be itching for payback. So Sydney might get her comeuppance, in kind.
Alternatively she may be badly hurt by the incident. In which case Sydney will have called it wrong, and, should she find out, she would need to make major amends. As with the above incident, Sydney risked hurting their feelings in front of all their colleges. Which can cause serious psychological repercussions, in the vulnerable.
Err… this is a comic and then not real life, also you made the concerns clear later, but anyway I feel the need to remark that “Varia has initially responded negatively” is key in situations like this. In such a potentially sensitive topic Syd should have stopped when Varia first reacted bad.
And I don’t think “but she enjoyed/will enjoy it eventually” is a good argument.
Something that we lack here is the tone of voice. Which we can only infer. We could get actors to play the above lines with different inflections. One would play as friendly banter (including raised-voice mock-outraged responses by Varia). The other would play with the harassed replies you are implying.
Without that, each reader can, of course, bring their own interpretation to the scene. The clincher to determining how this actually played out though is the conclusion in the mini-comic. So it is very relevant.
Not to mention that long-term consequences, grudges, hurt feelings and the like have a great deal of baring in such matters. So, if they remain friends, with a good working relationship, then, even if there was a momentary spat, there is no lasting harm done.
Note that would be Varia’s call to make, not yours, nor mine. And she is evidently fine with it.
Yorp, please, you said “Varia has initially responded negatively”, I’m saying that if someone responded negatively to something you are doing you must immediately stop. Hope you agree on that.
I do not. Because it depends on things we can only judge by being in the room. Pure transcript alone does not carry the tone. But even doing that, the bulk of Varia’s response is her going along with the gag.
“The Simpsons made him up… I think” – joke
“Don’t cross the streams” – joke
“You guys suck” – here the scene ends, but if she carries on in the vein of her previous two responses she is probably laughing at that point.
It is a negative response, but a jocular one.
Hence your demand that she immediately stop would be overly politically correct nonsense that I would not agree with.
The tone you overlay on the scene makes a vast difference in what response is, or is not, called for.
If the tone was offended outrage, then, I absolutely agree with you. Sydney should immediately stop. And, for that matter, Maxima (their superior officer) and Arianna (the person instructing them on ethical and legal behaviour) should intervene too.
But, as I specified before, Varias chilled response in the mini-comic makes it clear she was rolling with the fun in a good-natured way. Without that the comic is all too easy to interpret the way you fear. With it, we can chill because Varia was having fun.
I confess that I will not read your early posts again :) but at the moment I understood your “Varia has initially responded negatively” as referring to panel five, which was my own take as well. That’s previous to her (maybe joke-ish) verbal reaction in panel six.
Anyway my intent was to go further that the comic itself.
In my opinion timeline is everything, events past the moment a person show a bad reaction don’t matter, to them to happen you need to ignore that bad reaction and keep going. That’s the moment when the inappropriate behavior occurs.
Again that’s a general opinion outside this strip.
I’m done :)
Doing it in the shower is one thing, doing it in front of EVERYONE is something else. Sydney is getting a bit carried away at Varia’s expense.
No argument.
It is an essential part of her character though. She does outrageous things, which other folks would hesitate to do or, more accurately, cringe at the thought of.
The unexpected nature of that making her funny. Albeit also a politically incorrect minefield.
…Which is precisely why Arianna demands that Syd attend this meeting.
I rather like the [apparent] fact that Varia seems bothered not by the creation of this betting pool but rather some of the suggestions. She gives a nice glare in panel five, yes, but the first thing out of her mouth is arguing a Simpsons reference, then a Ghostbusters reference, and I’m assuming the “You guys suck” is in particular response to the suggestions that she might be an android. She didn’t complain at all at the existence of the betting pool, so I’m assuming she’s at least mostly cool with it unless I see solid proof otherwise.
Also, IIRC, I believe DaveB stated in one or more of his blog/news posts that the mini-comics below the main ones are indeed cannon, so unless I’m mistaken then Varia has at least decided to make the best she can out of the situation. Kinda like how the Captain (I forget his name, Tom Hanks’ character) in “Saving Private Ryan” doesn’t seem to mind a similar pool his men are running on what he did for a living before the war; the only time he even acknowledges it is when it looks like they might all die and he decides to give them the answer. What I would find REALLY amusing is, since she (apparently) has no idea about the true answer herself, if Varia places a bet in the pool on her own parentage. In her situation, I would totally place a bet.
Technically the default for the mini-comics is that they are not canon. It allows Dave to play with some of the more scandalous scenarios that pop into his head. But, that said, he does often run out of room or time to put some things in the main comic. As such he will use the mini-comic to complete the scene.
There are a few outrageous sketches which clearly must be taken as totally fictitious (Halo using people as clay-pigeons, for instance). But, barring those, the vast majority of the mini-comics play perfectly well as canon. Some of which prove to be absolutely essential to carry a plot or moral point.* And I certainly would take the above as being such.
* Bear in mind that Dave is a decent moral person, who has a wicked sense of humour. If something seems shocking just take it tongue-in-cheek, as it is intended.
“You Guys Suck!” might also be a reference to the “Dry Cleaner’s Scene”, from the Cameron Diaz film, “The Sweetest Thing” (2002)
Speaking of wild set of powers, when is Sydney going to learn magic?
I can’t help but imagine that her Mage-sight gives her a huge advantage there.
Probably never. Maybe a neophyte level cantrip or two, but, I’ll bet actual money Dave won’t give her anything of any real magical power. Her orbs are already Arthur C. Clark level techno-magic already. Giving her real magic on top of that starts causing balance issues.
Yup. The hammerspace incidents, with Dabbler, make it very clear that she will try her damnedest to learn it mind. However no sane oculist would allow Halo anywhere near real or powerful magic. And already fear the consequences, should that ever happen.
I refer you to the bottom-left corner of Pg.94, as the basis of my opinion that Syd will most likely lack the focus needed to learn any spells, no matter how trivial. She’ll doubtless have Hammerspace-envy all her life.
Possibly watered down by panel 3, of the same page. But regardless of the specifics of how it is withheld from her, I agree that she is unlikely to become a mage. Simply because that is Dabbler’s thing. She is the one who has a little bit of everything, not Halo.
Yes, Sydney has a vast, and expandable set of powers. And will doubtless make full use of every other bit of kit she can get her hands on (such as using the pip-boy to co-ordinate the counter-attacks in the Battle at the Steak House Car Park). But if she neglects her core capabilities too much, in the effort to gain yet more powers, she will not advance.
So, ultimately, I think it is Sydney herself who will be the regulator in this regard. She will realise that her mastery will not be gained by a music-filled montage. Much practice and hard work will be required to unlock her powers.
Should she slip, in this regard, Math for one will be sure to remind her that his capabilities did not come without such. The orbs may have given Halo a higher starting point than others, but if she wants to make the most of them she will need dedication and, for the issue in question, focus.
“…Maybe a neophyte level cantrip or two..”
“…no sane oculist would allow Halo anywhere near real or powerful magic. And already fear the consequences…”
It’s my opinion that Sydney could become very dangerous, even with a few minor cantrips…
O.o
Queue maniacal laughter
so… Vance is going with dads a wizard… but still made a point of offering up the odds on dads an aztec god…. somethings fishy there…
No, that was Sydney, note how Vance is not on “Who’s Who” sidebar
He he. Loved that Varia got into it, in the end, and negotiated her slice of the action.
Her Father is the “TESTER” his job was to test humans for Superpowers, quantify them, spark a surge to see the effectiveness of the changes in these humans. Categorize them and file that info…for whom is the question, or for what.
When testing Varia’s mother, the woman caused major uncontrollable Lust in him and herself…Varia was the result.
Fearing for the safety of his life, and the poor human woman’s he disappeared (here look at this -FLASH-) Then he ran away.
Varia inherited the power testing, only problem is that it is projected on herself versus making the Super express their powers in a visible way.
Her dad could page through a super’s powers, Varia gets the shotgun approach as to what is expressed in herself.
Her dad is now buried in tons of accounting and spreadsheet forms filing his reports on Human Supers and profit/loss, benefit/Danger potentials there in.
What’s really keeping him is filing the unlicensed contact paperwork and insurance claims…
— GRIN—
Convoluted, but just as likely, neh?
Also Varia might be a way of gathering said information. Think about it she touches people to see what powers they give her and DNA and other information is gathered perhaps to be “downloaded” later or sent in some way to a central location to be used in whatever way the “people” gathering the data want.
So Varia is a pokedex?
I’m -SO- sorry, but “pokedex” just sounds like some kinda cheesy “Pokemon”-themed porn.
So, you’ve never read the reference in the 1st Edition Champions RPG book that discusses “The Joys of DEX?”
;)
Sorry, no…
…I shamefacedly confess that I’m culturally depraved…
…DEPRIVED!
I MEANT DEPRIVED!!!
I’ve got nothing against a little depravity among friends…As long as there’s mutual consent & a clearly defined safe-word.
I hope this doesn’t get Sydney into deeper hot water……
Any more and she will be a lobster :p
Maybe she will be in the doghouse, instead. I expect Yorp would make room for her.
*shuffles over, and arranges duvet invitingly*
Oh Yorp, for shame…Just for a chance with Sydney, you’d forsake your current mistress?
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/147
:P
Shh!
*whispers* She is my Arc-Bark partner, not my mistress. I am on detached duty, from the Yard. We are on a covert surveillance mission. All very hush-hush. Can’t say any more.
nudge-nudge!
wink-wink!
saynomore-saynomore-saynomore!
Then stop howling you stupid mutt.
You think too hot might shrink her?
And with the phrase “Walt had a boner,” I’m officially going to stop reading the text after the comic.
Really the thought that Disney might be a normal guy causes you problems? Check out the real guy. He thought eugenics was a good idea. He was Anti-union and somewhat anti-Semitic. He was not a “nice guy” in a lot of ways.
Considering that jews took over his company I guess he couldn’t have been that anti semitic
I feel if he WAS anti-semetic. Jews taking over his company is just irony or karma. Whichever you prefer.
Maybe because eugenics _is_ a good idea, views of mr. Disney notwithstanding?
Get your points straight – eugenics as a scientific discipline and religious nonsense nazi (mr. Disney included) try to pass as “eugenics” are birds of very different feathers.
Also, Frideric Handel fully embraced the sin of gluttony, Victor Hugo was not a stranger to incest, and J-J Rousseau just plainly despised all humans as a species.
You only have to look at pure breed dogs to see how easy it is to mess up a genome. Also eugenics demands that some large percentage of people are not allowed to have children. I feel this is both cruel and impossible to enforce without creating a police state.
Disney wasn’t a Nazi; He was uncomfortable with hate, so much so that he made a biography of a Nazi to show that they are just humans brought up in a screwed up manner of thinking. WW II was not the appropriate time for this documentary tho. Also Naris are racist bastards and should all die (Oscar Shindler excluded, may he live forever.)
According to Wikipedia, Xtapolapocetl is purely Simpsons-derived. Usually they have SOMEthing if it’s a real thing. Therefore, it would appear not.
Rebuttal
My left thumb isn’t on Wikipedia….
Do you bite your thumb at us?
Varia has her ‘origin story’ a little mixed up. What her mother actually told her was that she was conceived in the back of a Pontiac Aztek. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Aztek
Here is a picture her mom keeps of her dad with the vehicle. Varia’s two-tone hairstyle is an homage to the car. https://ericpetersautos.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Aztek-yogo.jpg
Since, according to your wiki article, the first Pontiac Aztek was marketed in 2001. That would make Varia 14 or 15 years old max. She looks a little older than that. Early bloomer effects not withstanding.
Amusing idea though. ;-)
5 years difference means nothing in Superhero terms. I mean, really. Peter Parker has been in high school for decades now.
Also, never rule out the Time Traveling factor. Maybe her dad was a time traveler, and decided he wanted more trunk space than a Delorean could offer.
that’s why you go for a “Pullman” and a hover-train…
she could go all Heinlien and go back in time and be her father. Wouldn’t that beat the odds?
For that matter, Parker’s been graduated from college for a couple of decades & has been an on-again/off-again graduate student since then…
And yet, almost every time Gwen Stacy falls, he misjudges the rescue and breaks her back! You would think he would have learnt after the first time.
Not his fault he can’t remember. Marvel keeps restarting their universe. Every time she falls its like a first time. ;p
As far as the dead mothers thing goes for Walt Disney (someone might already have posted this), after he had become successful in California he had a house built so that his parents could move there. It was at the height of his success. Just a few days after they moved in there was a gas leak in the house which killed his mother (and, I think, his father? It’s been awhile so I don’t remember for sure). It hit him really hard and that’s one of the theories as to why the mother (or both parents) are almost always dead in a lot of Disney movies.
The evil step-mother trope has a real world basis.
The fact is until modern medicine lots of women died in childbirth, and lots of women had lots of children, children who mostly died young.
Old stories, fairy tales which Disney dramatized, can’t help but be heavily influenced by the harsh realities of the old world.
The role of a parent is to prevent “plot” therefore the parents in good stories (stories with lots of plot) must be incompetent and/or dead.
I got 3:1 odds Varia’s dad and Halo’s Orbs are conected
Ooh, you think Math is her dad?
We saw Halo’s orb connect with him.
Yes lets make light of the issue that your new colleague, who you met today, doesn’t know her father…
its cute sometimes, but Sydney sure can be an inconsiderate ass.
The girl could do with attending an ‘Ethics in Contemporary Society’ course…
… oh wait!
Ethical Training (of) Heroes In Contemporary Society
fine, I can’t think of a way to make it spell out ‘Ethics’
He he.
Ethically
Training
Heroes
for
Interaction
with
Civilian
Society
You’re right, a LOT of these types of things don’t take words like of, with, for, or, in, as part of the title. You get a Kudo.
What the odds of going back to Area 51 and impregnate your own grandmother…?
If you are female? Not good odds :P
Well, turkey basters do have an alternate use. But she’d still have to find a male donor before using it that way…
I would have thought someone else would have pointed out by now that Harry Potter knew exactly who his parents were!
Of course. Right up until he discovered that his parents were both wizards, therefore he himself is a wizard, also that his parents were murdered by one of the most despicable wizards in history, who very nearly killed Harry himself when he was a baby.
Yep. He knew his parents all right.
Missing parents? That is easy, old Walt was just an early fan of Anime.
It’s totally just because he blamed himself for his mother’s death.
And then he got bitten by a radioactive mouse like Spider-man did.
Hmmm…
As far as I can remember quetzalcoatl was the god of wind, some kind of crops, a past variation of the sun, literally the sun(?), knowledge and priests. You could spin the knowledge aspect as contributing to Varia’s ability to absorb powers off people but it seems a pretty big stretch.
If Varia’s powers do come from divine Mayan or Aztec heritage I would guess Black Tezcatlipoca, tricky son of of a protogenoi would be exactly the kind of deity to father a demigod with weird tricky powers for poorly understood reasons.
Heh. I just picked up the BBC on a significant astronomical error, in one of their articles. The last time I did that, they corrected it within ten minutes. I wonder if they will be as quick this time?
The previous one would have placed the nearest galaxy closer to us than our closest stellar neighbour. The current one is a lot more modest as it merely indicates that Pluto’s atmosphere is larger (or denser) than Earths. Albeit that both stemmed from simple typos, rather than the basic facts being wrong.
Good, they corrected it. Although I was not paying attention as to when.
It does tickle me when a single typo completely reverses the meaning of a sentence mind.
I pay very close attention to these things since I got close to dying from something similar.
MOM: Can you see any cars coming?
ME (eyes blinded by the sun): No…
[car pulls out before sentence can be finished]
… I can’t see a thing. EEEEK!
(Hate to be a critic, but…)
Aren’t the recruits (other than Sydney) not supposed to know that Dabbler is really a demon? Maxima made a big deal out of not letting the recruits overhear her and Sydney talk about guns being a universal threat…
I suppose Sydney could be holding the Trusight orb, but context tells me she’s still holding the flight ball.
Am I just being an idiot?
There is a thread already covering this. But I agree with one of the replies there, namely that Dabbler’s ‘battleform’ is a matter of public record. Given that, and as a shapeshifting hero, she can opt to use whichever form she wishes to. So there is no reason for her not to use her multi-limbed form, if she finds that more convenient.
The fact that it is her natural form does not need to be raised. And Archon have little control over what Dabbler chooses to do. Their dog-whistle was about the limit of their capabilities, and Dabbler ignored that. She feels more comfortable appearing in her birthday suit and she will do as she pleases.
Archon and the US government’s wishes on the matter and their ability to enforce them are not the same. Due to the risk of an interstellar incident, with a powerful alien race,* if they offend Dabbler too much.
* Or possibly several alien races. And maybe even ticking off the Princes of Hell.
It’s also possible that they allow it so that new recruits get used to seeing her ‘battleform’, since they could definitely expect to see it in a combat situation. Last thing anyone would want is for someone to reflexively shoot Dabbler because they mistook her for a non-human enemy.
I think the only firm rules regarding Dabbler is that she maintains a glamour when out in public, excluding combat situations. Imagine the kind of mess that would occur if people in general found out that demons were actually real.
There is another thing that Dabbler would have to be careful about while around those not in the know about her. She should be careful not to fall into a pool or other body of water while supposedly in her ‘human’ form. Since the change is visual and not physical, she would show hollow places around her in the water shaped oddly like another set of arms.
Hey Dave: If she walks across muddy ground in her human form, what do the footprints look like?
Good point, and that’s another excellent reason to use her true form to walk into a steamy room or a rain shower.
If the inventor path is right, Varia is a gynoid, not an android.
She do would be a gynoid, but an android as well. Despite its root “android” is taken as genderless.
If you were wondering I found a couple of pages on Aztec Mythology and Mayan Mythology
(below is listed the gods of Aztec just incase you want to do “Gods are real and have kids” thing)
Xiuhtecuhtli, god of fire
Tlaltecuhtli, god of the earth
Chalchiuhtlicue, goddess of water, lakes, rivers, seas, streams, horizontal waters, storms and baptism
Tonatiuh, god of the Sun
Tlazolteotl, goddess of lust, carnality, sexual misdeeds
Mictlantecuhtli, god of the Underworld
Centeotl, god of maize
Tlaloc, rain god
Quetzalcoatl, god of wisdom, life, knowledge, morning star, fertility, patron of the winds and the light, the lord of the West
Tezcatlipoca, god of providence, matter and the invisible, ruler of the night, Great Bear, impalpable, ubiquity and the twilight, the lord of the North
Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, god of dawn
Citlalicue, goddess of female stars (Milky Way)
Earth deities Tonacatecuhtli, god of sustenance
Tonacacihuatl, goddess of sustenance
Tlaltecuhtli, god of the earth
Chicomecoatl, goddess of agriculture
Centeotl, god of the maize
Matron goddesses Coatlicue, goddess of fertility, life, death and rebirth
Chimalma, goddess of fertility, life, death and rebirth
Xochitlicue, goddess of fertility, life, death and rebirth
Toci
Nice work, but Xtapalacwhatsis is allegedly an Olmec.
“Maggie, can you say Olmec? Oooolmec.”
This^
I just watched the Simpsons episode in question (Blood Feud) and both Burns and Lisa make it clear that is an Olmec, and not an Aztec, god.
Olmec was a different culture than Maya and Aztec, and we don’t actually know what their gods’ names were, so to me there’s no doubt about it being not real. I think that’s actually why they choose it to make the joke.
Also I guess they designed it mixing the mainly inexpressive and rounded big heads with other smaller fierce looking statues.
Odd, it rejected my post three times until I erased the links to the statues images.
Often that happens if you have three or more links.* Hence I restrict myself to one or two, to minimise that bug.
Although it can (very rarely) happen even for posts with no link. Possibly something gets stuck in the cache (please substitute whatever technical term is more appropriate, if that seems wrong) and carries over from previous posts (including drafted, but not submitted, ones)?
* Although it should give a message that the comment is in moderation. Which it used to do at one point. But I have avoided such for a long time now, where possible, to minimise any hassle for Dave. So cannot say for sure how it behaves nowadays.
The only time recently I felt it was important to have three links, in the one comment, it kept bouncing, with no error. And kept doing so whilst it had any links, even the normally acceptable number.
Yes I know, and I avoid it too :)
There was only two links on it, and I got no message, the page reloaded but the post was not there. I edited it to don’t get the duplicated warning and tried again but the same happened. I waited a couple hours and even changed browsers but it didn’t appear either.
The links were long and somehow complex, maybe that has something to do.
I’m not seeing Huitzilopochtli in your list. Nor Ziplock- errr, Xipe Totec. ^_^
This was a small list to give flavor, there are a ton more deity you can see if you check out the link. :)
https://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/americas/aztec/articles.html
What no huitzilopochtli? (AKA: ‘the left handed hummingbird’ or the ‘southern warrior’.
:eon and Sydney lose 1 geek point each for not mentioning him (and they call themselves Whovians, hah!).
The two big parent tropes were skipped over 1) Dad is already in the organization and 2) Dad is a supervillain in opposition to the organization.
So her dad may be the person in panel two of this page: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1189
He was a missionary in rural Mexico and took a liking to a young local girl. She got pregnant and due to family embarrassment had to move out of the country, settling in Boston.
Hey, I just realized we first saw Vehemence on panel one of that page. No name credit on the side, but I guess that would’ve been a spoiler back then…
Yes, that was DaveB intention since the start, but he also remade panel one later to make it better match with Vehemence look at the time of the battle.
I freakin love this update
Oh my God. The plotline is dead, buried, dug up and put in a museum already isn’t it?
What are you talking about? o_O
Are the first odds that Sydney is offering a nod to Atomic Laundry? #SwankIfSo
pretty sure Harry Potter knew who his parents were, they are just dead.
You snuck in a duke nukem XD
He sneaks in quite a lot. His handle is “Duke” and he is one of the unit’s “space marines”.
Isn’t he “Goose”?
Doh.
Yea. My usual name thing. Thanks for the correction.
What odds will I get for “She’s Aasimar”?
If you keep it literal, as per the D&D setting, very favourable. If you negotiate to expand it to ‘descended from an angelic-appearing being’ then Sydney would probably offer you a significantly lower potential return.
For a start she knows that Dabbler is what she presently appears to be (a demonic-looking individual).
On top of which Dabbler has also described her school days to Sydney. Assuming that the full conversation matched the visuals we got to see (ie Dave was showing us, to avoid the wall of text Sydney would be getting verbally), she now also knows that there are also angelic-looking beings kicking around.*
I would guess she would offer you about nine to one. She seems to be unconcerned about the risk of her dad actually being an alien, despite her insider knowledge that there is actually one of those in the room.
* As an aside, it is of particular interest that Dave has indicated that the classroom scene is canon.
I think this is a comic first. I’ve never seen a betting pool over possible super hero father reveals.
Just wondering as we now have the new recruits with Sydney, will the Cast page get an update soon? As i also noticed that Jiggawatt’s pic is from before her hair changed to gold
For the record, my money is on the idea that Varia’s dad has no super powers at all and is just a dead beat. It’s not the sort of thing that makes for good comic book stories, I know, but it’s certainly the most realistic. When Varia’s mom told her that her father was a pure-blood Aztec, I have to wonder if she was just telling her what she thought she wanted to hear.
However, I admit that I could be wrong. Varia only said that she never knew her father, not that he ran off and abandoned the family like I’m assuming. Maybe he was instead a cop or fire-fighter or soldier or something who died heroically when she was just a baby.
I’ll just have to wait and see who DaveB decides he was, I suppose.
Maybe her dad is Bob Barker?
Well, Bob does have a pretty sordid history of sexual harassment and affairs with the models on his show. If he hadn’t been out there handing out cars and vacations to folks every day, he certainly wouldn’t have been so popular.
And considering his feelings on spaying and neutering, let’s keep him away from Yorp.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Varia’s father turned out to, not only have Super Powers, but to be using those powers for a Drug Cartel or something similar. I know it sounds biased, but considering her Bostonian background, it could be quite a shock.
Is Xo making a bid for a spot on the Archon Nerd Trivia team with her “Ghostbusters” reference?
You forgot Kida from Atlantis! But then, I think most people did…Even if it was a good movie. And the background painter was one of my teachers…And it was cool to have him funnel materials into our class straight from Disney’s Ink and Paint Dept. as it was being torn down…Good times. :)
i’m noticing a curious segregation/clique going on here… in the lower left we have the ?officers? Heavy-Hitters of ARC-Swat, then to the middle of the lower seats are the “Space Marines” and the presumably lower tier of power levels, say the Medium-Hitters… in the upper left are all the new recruits except for the few on the right of that level, those seem to be the Q-Branch personnel and possibly Supply? the two in the lower right-hand seats… no clue… admin staff maybe?
this may be what Max was talking about at the dinner when she said to break up the “normal” groups…
Yup.
I am proud of Sydney that she chose to sit with her fellow recruits though, despite having earnt the right to hang with the heavy-hitters. Whilst she sometimes revels in her new-found status, at least she has not let it get to her head enough to become habitual.
You may have been thinking of the aztec gods, not mayan gods. I’d start with these 2 wikipedia entries, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Aztec_gods_and_supernatural_beings That one has our favourite Quetzalcoatl, As well as a few X and I gods that I’m not going to guess which is the correct spelling of the gods you referenced (don’t watch the simpsons for a decade or two now). The other page for Maya gods is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Maya_gods_and_supernatural_beings
“maybe Walt had a boner for dead moms” – don’t forget Bambi’s mom.
Well, despite decades of usage by human females of varying “IQ”-levels, the original Bambi has always been Male, & therefore a Prince_Of_The_Forest, not a Princess.
Before the movie it was a female nickname, short for “bambina”.
And I just learned that Marjorie Benton Cooke published her novel “Bambi”, about a girl of the same name, way back in 1914.