Grrl Power #369 – Can’t knock the rock
Panel 4 is about my favorite picture of Dabbler to date, for anyone keeping track.
Panel 3 is smaller than I intended, so if you can’t tell, her top has popped open and I censored it with a pacifier. It would have been clearer if I hadn’t been intent on fitting her butt into the picture, but I’m bad at butts and need the practice. :)
When I came up with Varia, she was mostly a vessel for some neat powers, and her name and personality quickly followed, but as I wrote this page it occurred to me that she would be an invaluable resource for the team because she has so much experience with different kinds of powers. Sydney obviously has her own encyclopedic knowledge base, much of which translates into the real world, but some of it may not. Varia actually has more real world knowledge in some sense, but just because someone she bumped into in a club let her turn into a… I don’t know, a prismavore for 3 seconds (I’ll let you come up with your own idea of what that is… I assume someone that eats light or drains color from stuff it touches) doesn’t mean she’s an expert on it. In fact there’s only a few gestalt forms she’s especially familiar with since she has to drag someone else along to do it. Now that she’s on a team where they dedicate time to training, she’s beginning to developing actual proficiency with a dozen or so forms. Enough at least to know that if your brain and skull and all that stuff is made of stone, it’s much harder if not impossible to give her a concussion.
On a side note, I’ve no idea if Maxima’s lingo is legit sounding. Basically “middle management on up, hold back a sec” If someone has a more natural way to phrase that I’ll update it.
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Sydney and Varia… one with a lot of theory on superplwers, one with a lot of different practical experience. Together they are an endless well of information… geeks, you may rejoice and worship!
i get the feeling that between them Archon’s database of practical info on supers and superpowers will end up huge.. in terms of applications, drawbacks, and potentially useful trivia..
When things calm down they could have research/meet the public days where the two of them go around have Varia shake hands and The two of them start coming up with power stunts and such.
There are times when I get a petrimorph reading this comic. But I’m sure that’s true of many of us.
Yeah, sometimes this comic leaves me feeling petrified too…
It makes me stiff at times, myself.
I laugh myself rigid!
That’s all that time frolicking with the fainting goats doing that Yorp :)
Nice censorship, Dave. Even though I am adamantly against, censorship. :)
We never could have guessed!
Better than sensor sheep being used on another comic.
The angelic dove of censorship is hilarious though.
Granted she may have tweeted at Grace for changing without warning.
https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp.php?id=391
E-7 on up is just fine. Used the phrase, myself, a few times.
From a civilian perspective, it certainly sounded both natural speech, for the situation, and very convincingly conveyed the military side.
DaveB nailed it pretty good.
As far as it is in the Navy, E-6 is Petty Officer 1st Class (like a small Department manager) while E-7 is Chief Petty Officer (manager of multiple Departments within a Division). That’s the usual cut-off point between middle management & upper management, as far as it goes with less-than Officer (O) ranks.
Language is perfect. Anyone that stayed but wasn’t needed can be politely dismissed.
I was thinking something more like “Squad Leaders” or “Section Heads”, since Arc seems to be filled with enough exceptional people that who’s in charge of what might not be as strictly tied to grade as it would in a more traditional military outfit, it might be more beneficial to specify by role rather than rank.
So, Varia frequently gets stoned, and sometimes does crystal…
Was gonna ask if she had done Math yet, but then remembered that it is Crystal Meth, so…
If she hasn’t, it won’t be for lack of trying on his part… (Or, was that a typo?)
Wasn’t a typo, but more of a ‘play on words’ :D
Now we just need a character with the codename ‘Words’ :P
You would get your word’s worth.
Like Word man, yea.
Wasn’t Word’s Worth a writer?
He was, but might he have also been a spy?
Noel Coward was an actor, but it turns out he was also working for Her Majesty’s Secret Service!
And, incidentally, there has been speculation that he was.
I wonder how long it’ll be until someone actually gets the last word in this thread.
There’s also an old hentai game/manga called Words Worth.
” Now we just need a character with the codename ‘Words’ :P ”
Would his power be that he is a cunning linguist ?
New guy: “Hola. My name is Inuendo Montagna. Prepare to dye.”
Dabbler: “That’s some colorful language, there, Mr. Double Entendre. And I accept both of your offers.”
Sydney (blushing): “HEY!”
Someone once gave her a bad evaluation – she got slated. But she chalked it up to experience.
Those are some gneiss puns there. Personally, I wonder if Varia’s lava form is very tuff, but if it’s not, I guess schist happens.
I have to marble at the humour on display here.
I think you have lost your marbles, in saying that! Vary… ahh… funny though it was.
Don’t flip your schist, unless you’re afraid it’s going to get sunburn.
Old military punishment: Flip all the rocks over so they get an even tan.
she’s also quite Spathic.
Google it!
Lady Sally did it better.
Nice to see another fan of the lady.
Also used to hang out at Mikes till they nuked it.
And that was such a waste of a good, well-built, solidly-constructed iron staircase that used to be in both places…
love how dabbler is drooling at the idea hehe
At first glance, I thought that was a single fang sticking out, and it gave the whole thing a disturbing Bucky Katt look…
I thought it was a piercing with a lip ring.
What? Harem would actually have picked a ‘safe’ outfit even if she had the option? o_O
Just safe from wardrobe malfunctions! That doesn’t mean that, given the option, she wouldn’t still go for costumes that were skin tight and revealing. She just doesn’t want anything that might pop open or fall off.
Yeah, that’s why said ‘safe’ :D
At least not without her help. I have a feeling that popping out of her wardrobe is an OPTION she wants not something that happens when she’s not ready to take advantage.
:O Varia’s heel turn form would be…ABESTOS-LASS
she will never live it down when they run into her evil twin who triggers powers in people by touch.
Okay, so which ones would be the Arc-Light Special Agents? Would have thought Dabbles would have been in that group, or is she Arc-Dark?
She is a member of arcswat. Arclight are the guys like gwen and the asian doctor guy. The info gatherers. Arcdark is probably people like agent x.
Right, thanks for reminding (guess that means she isn’t E-7 or above either)
Being a ‘consultant’ (was it civilian consultant?) does have it’s perks/drawbacks.
Nope. She’s a civilian whom they feel the need to spy on to make sure she stays on the proverbial straight and narrow.
the same way that they got Sydney in here, only because they want to teach her self control to make sure she doesn’t kill anyone?
where is it written that Dab is not an actual member?
why wouldn’t they member her?
Press conference.
Well, if they membered her, and some villain dismembered her, they would find she had four arms instead of two! This would cause the secret that aliens are on Earth and working for the US government to be unveiled.
And that is not how we would want Dabbler to be remembered. Although, of course, we would want Dabbler to have her members remembered, if the surgery proves possible.
Well technically she only has 3 arms left.
Meep, you have disarmed my argument, sir. Well pointed out, as they would also gain access to high-tech arms by doing that!
Ever noticed how Dabbler only shifts into her four-armed ‘battle form’ when she knows there’s a fight coming? Clearly, forewarned really is four-armed.
*groan*
but…but…I only have two forearms. I’m a bit envious.
fangs for the puns people piers anthony is rolling in his grave (and he’s not even dead yet)
Both Piers & Spider should check out this place. Callahan’s Place may have a Punday contest every week (or at least used to), but here it’s every night.
To be a bit more serious than Yorp…
Two main reasons for her to be a consultant instead of being hired directly, and it’s probably a bit of both in her case:
First off, as a consultant she’d have more leyway on her contract terms, and can back out easier if she needs to. She’s shown alien tech and the like that she has that she’s not sharing, and it’d be a lot simpler to bargain that into a consulting contract than into an employment contract – or for her to say ‘you’re taking the wording to far, I quit’ if she needs to.
The other side is security clearance – they may not have been able to clear her for military employment (after all, they have someone shadowing her at the moment), and as a consultant they can write her duties and privileges to suit what they can clear her for.
Also immigration. She’s not a US citizen so there might be extra hurdles in getting a government job that can’t be leaped with no treaties or contact with her home nation.
They could easily give her refugee status.
The biggest hurdle is the lack of legal recognition of her as a person. Weird though that may seem, it really would be a problem. My reason for saying this was a challenge this year, brought on behalf of a chimp. Claiming that it was being denied its human rights. The claim was overturned, thereby confirming previous rulings in line with this.
Chimps are 98.8% human, by DNA, yet still fail to pass the benchmark necessary to have legal rights recognised. Clearly Dabbler’s would be contested on intellectual capacity, but even that side was tried. It can be shown that a chimp has the intellect at least equal to a human child, who does qualify. Yet both intellectual and DNA arguments have, to date, failed to win recognition
Ironically, this issue is only a problem for your proposed solution. Refugee status can only be granted to humans. It is not a problem for employment though, as employment contracts, or regulations, rarely specify that a candidate need be human.
As such animals, for example, can, and have, been employed in a variety of jobs. Some being extremely high-ranking important roles, such as political posts.
*sniff sniff*
You are smelling nice tonight. New after-shave? I am picking up cheese, tomato, a whiff of onions, pepperoni or salami and something else mouthwatering.
*a hint of drool, dripping out the corner of the mouth*
I has had some bacon.
That is a Pizza John avatar if that was your question. It’s Pizzamas time. If you have quetions go to the Vlogbrother’s Channel on YouTube.
Ahh, I am now enlightened, as to the ancient traditions of Pizzamas.
*puts on tinfoil hat and starts compiling a list of Grrl Power Con ideas*
Plus Yorp they have this weird “Flag worshiping” ritual you would have to also perform on a daily basis, failure to offer penitence to it gets you called “Red” by the locals followed by visits from the men in dark suits……not worth the extra bother.
Refugee status normally would mean she asked for the status and can’t go home, at the very least. We don’t really have an indication of that with Dabbler – she just likes living on Earth for the moment. Also, it would have other legal implications upon her relation to her origin policipality – which she may not want either. (I’m not sure what it would imply to her citizenship there, for instance, and there’s no real indication she wants to give up her original citizenship.)
That is an issue, but only because the USA
are dicks about that[diplomacy check re-roll] … require applicants to renounce previous citizenships, to become a citizen.* That is not actually necessary to grant someone refugee status.All that needs is recognition that the individual is not safe in their country of origin and has no other nation who is obliged to care for them. Whether they wish to apply for citizenship, on top of that, or simply wish to be granted permission to stay, until an alternative arrangement can be made, is up to them.
If you recall Edward Snowden was accepted as a refugee from the US, for quite some time, before he chose to apply for citizenship in Russia, having failed to find an alternative.
* Many countries do not find that necessary. And often ignore it, even if it is done. For instance, in the UK it is a matter of law, that one of her majesty’s subjects remains a subject until the Queen chooses (via her usual minions in government) to relieve them of that privilege. Albeit that international law does not allow that to be done if it would leave the individual stateless.
Not strictly true. While it is part of the oath sworn upon becoming a naturalized citizen (unless you were born here, in which case citizenship is automatic), some countries (such as the UK, as you pointed out) do not recognize the renunciation of citizenship unless it is done with competent British authorities; thus, the oath does not count.
And don’t villainize the U.S. as being the *only* government that does this. Austria, Azerbaijan, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Nepal, the Netherlands (unless certain conditions are met), Norway, and Mainland China automatically strip you of citizenship if you voluntarily seek citizenship in any other country. (So if you’re from China, and you choose to become a naturalized citizen of anywhere that isn’t China, you automatically lose your Chinese citizenship.)
In Singapore, Malaysia, and South Africa, it is possible (though not automatic) to lose your citizenship under the same conditions. In Germany and Austria, you must apply for special permission to keep your citizenship before taking a second one. And so on, and so forth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_citizenship
Indeed. Although, in all fairness I did say “Many countries do not find that necessary”, rather than “no other countries”.
It is just a personal issue though. My brother and I have been collecting nationalities. But he is one ahead of me. Currently I am eligible for one more. And I did have an American girl friend, which, had it worked out so, would likely have ended up with me moving to the States. However that would have required me giving up, on any hope of beating my brother!
Tough call obviously. Finding true love, on one paw. Versus winning a life-long competition, on the other.
the states do allow dual citizenship but as I understand it the other government must agree to such also citizenship is not required to serve in the military and service may be used as a token to speed citizen applications if desired.
Ooh, you are correct, thanks for that! The US discourages dual nationality but does not ban it outright.
Dabbler you are allowed to be a citizen of the Galactic Community, simultaneously with being a US citizen.
Yeah, that’s basically due to Israel. They declared that anyone who is of Jewish decent is an Israeli citizen when the country was founded – no matter where they are, or if they’ve applied. It’s not active unless you do some paperwork (and possibly some army service…) but it meant that a lot of American citizens were suddenly dual citizens, and the US had to deal with it. Since we supported the creation if Israel, we dealt with it by changing the law so that dual citizenship was allowed. Before that it wasn’t.
“She’s not a US citizen”
Well, ain’t it just like always. Dang aliens takin’ jobs away from our own American supers.
How high can do you think we can build that border fence anyway?
:-D
Which I always find ironic seeing as it was the “Aliens” who founded the country in the first place :)
Plus you need a good number of Aliens to cope with all the extra duties on the yokels. Those butts aren’t going to probe themselves are they?
The way government spends money nowadays, they damn well better end up with a Dyson Sphere…
Who knows, they may have tried to recruit her and she may have been the one to decline, with them falling back on “Ok how about a consulting position?” with her agreeing to that as being a civilian consultant also gives her more say in what she participates in or does not participate in. Also gives her more power to say ‘no’ when they want a peak at some of her toys.
I would think that Gwen, Dabbler, and Dr. Zoeng would all be part of ARCane. Get it?
Unless they are saving that one for the retirement home…
By that time, a mere ARCane may not be enough…They’ll have to supply ARC-Walkers too.
not likely ARChome insists on not hearing such jokes. sounds like arcom as multiple people pronounced it in the batmovies.
Maybe I misphrased it just a bit; ARChome wouldn’t have ARCwalkers unless they have a habit of raising up zombies…
If anything, she would probably be a member of Arc-Sparq, except she doesn’t share her tech even with the team. It’s all bio-coded to her.
Just because she doesn’t share her toys (still want to see what she did to Harem when attempted to fondle her proto-type tickle-gun) doesn’t preclude her from helping Sparq-ies (we have already seen her working with one)
The big problem with that would be how hard it is to ‘compartmentalize’ knowledge. She’s trying not to make an impact on the technological progression of Earth, but if she’s helping the Sparqies with their work, it would be all too easy for her to accidentally use some exotic system or physical principle that is second nature to her, but which she doesn’t realize we know yet. And then you have what is essentially a piece of alien tech in the hands of the people most likely to be capable of reverse-engineering it.
Probably not that hard to keep separate.
Image going back 100 years to when electricity was new all your tech knowledge from now would be based on computers and semiconductors. You could help but plugging in your tech directly (either physically or idea wise) wouldn’t pop in too often.
You could let slip which branches of research are worthwhile or not but there’s still a lot of work developing those branches.
Ah, gotta love the random questions that only occur in “real world” applications of super powers. :p
Stjepan sejic had an answer to Marble maiden’s particular problem :)
Double sided duct tape ! :p
https://nebezial.deviantart.com/art/ever-wonder-how-black-cat-keeps-her-costume-on-344144784
That’s what I’ve heard from a few cosplayers too.
I have learned that most women who wear cleavagy gowns in front of cameras or otherwise do usually have some sort of boob security in place. Double sided tape is actually quite common.
As Carrie Fisher was told…….There are no bras in space, so tape dem nips :)
As far as it goes for censorship, I’m never in favor of it. But if they need to cover up boobies, I’ve got just the right amount of hands to cover most women…
Didn’t realise he also did “Sunstone” (have the first book and planning on getting the rest soon)
Have all 3 volumes, waiting eagerly for Vol 4 to be published in 2016. :D
Yesssss, that is a fantastic image of Dabbler.
So many different ways to interpret…
E-6 and up would be middle management, E-7 and up would be “Career types.”
E-6 are in charge of squad, i.e. less than 10 people. They are line bosses, not middle management.
Not that it matters, they have an 0-5 in charge of platoon, with, at least, an O-4 as a XO and an O-2 acting as a range safety NCO.
Looking at the cast page the “grunts” are all either Lt. or corporals.
Which is weird in it’s own right. And E-4 in the Air Force is a Sergent. Most E-4 in the Army are Specialist (Which I still think of as Spec-4), In the Marines they are corporals. The navy has E-4 as “Petty Officer Third Class”. So this leads me to believe there “base” is the Marines (plus the Ospreys)
Of course, none of them are really O what ever or E what ever. Those are Pay Grades and they get payed way more than that. By several orders of magnitude.
Consider that this is, basically, a SPECIAL Special Ops Team.
I think many ‘normal’ Special Ops teams (SEALs, SAS, Commandos, etc.) tend to be short on plain old E-1s in the first place, if only because membership is so select.
Yea, the other factor is that each individual here can incorporate enough fire-power to equal an entire unit, on their own. Some of them being equal or greater potential threat than a nuclear armed unit!
So the normal consideration of “X number of personnel requires a commander of Y rank” well and truly breaks down.
It is far more appropriate to consider it as “combat usefulness, comparable to having a unit of X size*, requires a commander of Y rank”. Even if that is just one super providing the capability.
* Eg a battalion.
Yeah you want the person in charge of nuclear level destruction to be at least a captain since they’d need to have the responsibility and judgement of one.
Also if a Captain then they have avoided the judgement errors that lead to “Fragging The Lieut”.
…. Unless said Lieutenant’s basic superpower is being “frag-proof”..
Although, the counter-argument, to my previous, is that administrative needs would not be so demanding. So the rank need not reflect the responsibilities involved, purely from that side of the equation.
But, the counter-counter-argument is that the commander in charge of a unit needs appropriate rank to ensure it is properly deployed. Too low and, for example in the first panel above, their voice will not be heard when vital decisions are being made.
Another thing to consider is they may also have to interface with various normal military units in certain situations, and will need equivalently high ranks to make things clear to bureaucratic types (who need more of a hint than “this Private shots lasers from his eyes”), why they should be listening to Arc team members in the field.
Well said.
Your own muscular visage being another prime example. Civilians might defer to it. But military personnel might choose to ignore even sound advice, coming from someone without the right uniform and rank.
I’d guess civilians would be /less/ inclined to listen to military personnel without proper rank. Assuming they know your rank. Anything below General fails to impress me, tbh. Well, if they have good arguments or something I need, I might be inclined to listen.
Such things are subjective obviously. So you would fall at one extreme. But experiments have actually been done on this. Most civilians will defer to anybody, who appears to be in a position of authority, appropriate for the relevant circumstances.
Put a white coat on, in a hospital, and you get treated like a doctor. Pick up a clipboard and you can order a tour group around.
Do both, with folks volunteering to help with scientific research, and you can get them to torture people. Because you tell them that it is necessary for them to do so, and they accept your authority (you are in a uniform appropriate to a research laboratory after all).
Any military uniform is usually sufficient to convince civilians. Especially if under arms. At this point I am sure our numerous military readers will be thinking of civilians who were notably uncooperative.
But instead think just how many times the reverse was true. That is the more valid statistic. The exceptions only go to prove the rule, as they say.
Eh, you are sort of stepping past the obvious. We already saw how this goes in this comic. Door Guard didn’t want Sydney going into see Maxima. Its not like she stopped and pulled rank on him.
or ignore sound advice even with proper rank on the collar as I have witnessed
Staff Sergeants, (E6s,) are platoon sergeants, not squad sergeants, ~30-40 underlings in the Corps. 10 people would be a Corporal, or maybe a Sergeant in a technical field like Aircraft Maintenance (not my field, I was aa grunt.)
Now, spec-ops and such tend to be rank-heavy, yes. One of those things where you have to ask, “How do we pay them enough to keep them doing this crazy stuff?” You also have to ask yourself, “How do we make everyone they run into listen to them, and not try and grab our people for working parties?”
“Why didn’t your unit send Maintenance 3 junior troops last week like all the other units?” “We aint got none.”
But hey, Supers make a hash of the theory of military units anyways, unless you have cookie-cutter heros coming out of the woodworks.
Some units in the Army like MLRS and PsyOps tend to be top heavy as well. When I was in we had E-7 as platoon sergeant, E-6 as squad leaders, and E-5’s as gunners and assistant squad leaders. E-4’s make up most of the rest of the MOS. Of course MLRS vehicles tend to operate very independently so having responsible people is kind of critical.
In specialized units, function trumps typical rank-structure. I’ve worked with O-3 Captains as Squadron/Battalion Commanders and in one very fun case, I discovered a Flight (Air Force equivalent to an Army Company, and sized more like a Platoon) at Offut AFB that is commanded by an O-6 Colonel, in which the lowest ranking person is an O-4 Major.
A slight correction for you. . IN the Air Force currently, E4 is senior Airman, E5 is Staff Sergeant, E6 is Tech Sergent, then E7 starts your senior NCOs. So we currently only have 2 ranks of non-senior NCO.
The cast page ranks also list Sydney as a CADET, so, still not all updated.
Also quite a few of them rose quickly through the ranks of their previous military branches. And letting them keep those ranks (which also reflect experience and judgement) would help them move over to the Arc branch.
To the best of my knowledge, which I admit is pretty out of date, the Army still has split ranks at the E-4 level. Corporal for combat MOS, Specialist for non-combat. When I was in Corporal was considered an NCO, while Specialist was not. BTW, I was a Spec-4 in an E-5 slot running an 8 man welding section in a direct combat support HEM company. That sucked.
There are such things as “Range Officers”. I played that role a couple of times. Mostly what I did was watch my Range NCO do all the work, and then I took the heat if something went wrong. Oh, and made certain the paperwork was properly filled out. I was also in charge of any “special” toys. The kind of stuff where the guys with the guns surround the range and keep others out.
At first, was thinking Sydney’s last comment was a dig, not a support
Hmm, Varia has some tangible knowledge on how various powahs ( :P ) work, and Sydney has the theoretical knowledge, so combined they should be able to cover most, if not every, situation or scenario. Maybe they should be assigned to the ‘S’trategic ‘T’actical ‘D’ivision ;)
They have a shot for that.
In a way it is, which is what had me laughing. Sydney is having a dig at herself. Simultaneously with blowing her own trumpet for her own knowledge.
Self deprecating humour can be tricky to portray at times
Sydney is also implicitly recognizing that nearly-all her extensive knowledge of superpowers comes from fiction, and she needs to reality-check it.
Don’t you mean “Str-ARC-tegic T-ARC-tical D-ARC-vision”?
So you weren’t going to go for the boobs and butt swivel waist pose? :)
Anatomical correctness, and contextual plausibility, must be maintained! :-O
I had more than one character, in City of Heroes, who opted for the ‘battle hooker’ look. But they never assumed anatomically implausible, let alone impossible, poses.
They did have nice butts though.
Ah good old CoH days………………………………………can2t wait for CoT :P
Marathons in Perez Park. How many can you get chasing you all over the map?
Well that looks interesting. Glad their kickstarter worked out so well.
Yea, I have a few minions assigned to keep me posted on City of Titans, and rival, developments. I am anti-clunky technology enough that I know I must steer clear of any of them until they are running fairly smoothly. Anything too buggy and I would just get put off completely.
Likewise for any environment that is too limited. I want to feel like I am in a city. Not a corner of one neighbourhood. But if the CoH community starts to coalesce again, around a functional replacement, I want in!
Subject, as ever to my
patheticnon-existent budget and archaic computer. But if my only hurdle was my obsolete graphics card, I would find some way to replace it, with something that let me run the game.That said in Harem’s own fantasy improbable sexy poses wouldn’t be out of place.
Ah I too fondly remember those days. *sniff* so long Pulsaar you are fondly missed.
Boob-n-butt pose is only plausible (and possible) if the character has elastic powers.
And when that kind of pose is taken, they’re kind of stretching the point out of proportion…
Are we going to get to see the meeting with the department heads?
I might be a freak or something, but that’s the sort of stuff I love almost more than actual battles. xD
Like when they were discussing inviting Sidney into Archon.
Hope so, would be nice to see ‘unguarded’ comments from the ‘upper ranks’ concerning Sydney and the last 24 hours
That too, though I’d love to see some discussion from and thus minor introductions of ARC-Light members. I’m guessing anything they have to say may be important story-wise. Clues and the like to larger things being mentioned, for example.
I love that sort of stuff too. But I would prefer to follow Sydney and the other ‘E6 and belows’ to see how they make use of their free time.
Yes, let’s not forget she has a store to run, complete with a partner & a new underling…
…whose half-brother Syd is still drooling for.
Obviously I want to see that, too, and Dave’s twitter comments seem to imply we’ll get to that soon enough, but I’d like at least a couple pages showing that meeting with Arc-Light and the department heads as well.
And once again we’re back to the Dave needs to double or triple his output ;)
If we ever get full on duplication style cloning I’m volunteering all webcomic artists first.
Eh, if Dave managed to make the comic Mon-Wed-Fri without working himself to death then that’d be more than enough for me.
Mild-mannered and a ninja. I never would have expected that!
BrainBlow is far to mild-mannered a girl, to be implying that more needs to be done. She was just voicing an opinion on what to show.
And it is an interesting counterpoint, to the more frequently requested ‘lets move on to the action.’
Output would only become an issue if trying to show meetings and private time and trying to get to the action fast (in real-world time).
“She”
Well that’s, like, half correct, I guess.
And yeah I’m not really in a rush to see combat, really. Seeing characters use their powers casually in day-to-day settings is something I want to see a lot more of more than that.
Oops my bad. I try to remain gender-neutral, unless a name is predominantly one gender or the other (which yours clearly is not) or an icon is suggestive otherwise. Which yours is, albeit mostly from the pink tones. Something I should not rely on, particularly with manga/anime type art, given that the colour is only gender associated in western culture.
It is worth noting that I always address the gender/species/character (apparently*) portrayed, unless there is a particular reason to do otherwise.
I hope I have not given offence, and apologise, if that is the case.
* Or mistakenly.
If there was a machine that let me swap genders back and forth at will with no repercussions then I’d use it all the time. So I don’t really care either way.
Pink used to be considered a masculine color, actually. It’s perception as “girly” is a rather recent phenomenon.
Not that I consider any color to lean towards any sort of gender in the first place.
:)
Likewise.
“Pink used to be considered a masculine color, actually. It’s perception as “girly” is a rather recent phenomenon.”
Yup! Post-WW2, exactly. Before then, colors were mostly neutral, with only some ideals gendering color, but with girls being blue (as associated with the sky and “purity of heaven”, and boys being pink (as it was a derivative of red and thus linked to red “manly” stuff like blood and fire and meat).
But, after Those Wacky Nazis decided to start marking homosexuals with pink triangles, pink began losing favor as a male-linked color because America was very much anti-gay (and arguably still is, but it now is a little less blatant about it), so they switched the colors around, associating pink with femininity and blue with masculinity.
So, yeah, your kid sister’s toys aren’t blue because of Hitler.
Heh, an interesting take that, which I have not come across before. Mind you, there are other influencing factors.
Actually, I have decided I like your proposal better now. Mainly because of one thing Maxima also said.
We will get to see who is classed as that and possibly meet some more of them too. Plus we might get some more insight to their operation as well.
Unless DaveB keeps them out of the spot-light so we don’t see their faces :P
And who knows, maybe some backer-original characters are in Arc-Light? *cough*
Now that’s a content expression on Dabblers face, plain and simple contentment.
No, that’s the look of “Mmm, jiggly boobs!” :D
Jiggly Marble Boobs!
Shhhhh, I hear Marble Maiden running to the rescue!
Klack-Klack, klack-klack, klack-klack, klack-klack.
Ever played with Rock Knockers ?(think two rocks on a string that meet every 180 arc)
I wonder if the Archon building security guards are called Arc-360?
I don’t know about the guards themselves, but the HQ security team is <a href="https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/671"Arc-Aegis.
Dagnabbit! That should have been Arc-Aegis.
Apparently I’m being stupid today, so here’s the link:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/671
I suspect all that happened is you got turned around in a 360 degree arc and got dizzy.
As such I think you might want to check your link again. Not disputing your comment about Arc-Aegis, which is perfectly correct, but I think you are seeing things that aren’t there!
On a related note, will Dave be going back over the archives and adding to the who’s who seeing as how we know that is Jiggawatt now?
No. For two reasons. One is that she had not been introduced at that stage, nor speaks on the page. Barring the exceptions in this meeting,* those are requirements to feature in the Who’s Who. For instance Ren is not listed today. He is just a background character, exactly the same as Jiggawatt.
The second being that it would be a spoiler. Her big reveal comes later. Ok, regular readers know it, but we are getting new readers all the time. Dave does work carefully to preserve their enjoyment too.
And that is reflected in the information provided in the Who’s Who. Enough to remind you of something already seen, or give you a feel for something you would pick up quickly, if you were to meet them yourself, but not so much as to ruin later reveals.
What DaveB does need to do in that scene, is change her hair from white to yellow though. Part of his stated continuity corrections, pre-publishing the paper book.
* Either Maxima has been naughty and failed to properly introduce Sydney to the new member, or she did, in between the panels or pages, and Dave just spared us the boring bits.
I opt for the latter interpretation, as clearly there would have been a lot more in a meeting of this nature, than we actually saw. Dave just gives us a flavour of it, and the key highlights.
This then also keeps to the convention, in that ‘they were introduced (off-screen) so here is the Who’s Who so you, the readers, are up to speed too’. And nothing to stop Sydney from being introduced to them individually later. Not everyone can remember a whole bunch of new names thrown at them in one meeting.
Pfft! That is irritating. I had a complex mix of formatting in that. But did test it in the sandbox, and it all worked out correctly. The first italic paragraph (only) should have been in bold. With DaveB in non-italic bold, as normal. It works in the sandbox, so no idea why it failed to above.
*throws up paws into air*
“I wonder if the Archon building security guards are called Arc-360?”
Like.
I think “Rock Knockers” is going to be an inevitable nickname for Marble Maiden if she ever reappears.
In the Navy at least it’s almost always divided into “E-7 and above” and “E-6 and below.”
Ex-navy here. E-7 and up is the enlisted equivelant of the “upper management” tier of the enlisted side.
e 1-3 is the “noob” ranks (for lack of a better lingo). In the navy it’s E1: Seaman Recruit (this is you in basic training), E2: Seaman Apprentice (After Basic training), and E3: Seaman.
e 4-6 is the “middle” tiers. E4: Petty officer 3rd class. E5: Petty officer 2nd Class. E6: Petty officer 1st class
E7-9 are the “upper tiers” of the enlisted chain. E7: Chief. E8: Senior Chief. E9: Master Chief.
E10 is special, as there is only ONE of them at any given time, per branch. In the Navy is was “Master Chief of the Navy”. These guys are in the pentagon working with the officers.
That’s very informative!
We got a visit of about 20 minutes from the Sergeant Major of the Army when I was in basic. The guy was built like a fireplug, or a dwarf. I mean a Tolkien dwarf, not a human dwarf. He was about 5’5″, maybe 5’7″ tops, and half that across the shoulders. And I mean really like a Tolkien dwarf, not slender and fit but again like a fireplug. No paunch per se, just a thickness that didn’t end before his knees.
He moved like a man on a mission with a chip on his shoulder. I really have no recollection of what he said to us, I’m sure it was something pointlessly rah-rah like almost all of the speeches we heard.
Did you have a flash-back, when you read this page?
Sounds like the person Michael O’Neal from John Ringo’s Legacy of the Aldenata series was based on. If you like military Sci Fi I recommend it. The first one is “A Hymn Before Battle”.
“Battle Hooker” (Panel three).
That’s a term I haven’t heard used before, but it is exceptionally descriptive. Well done, Dave.
Come to think of it, that really is a good term for what most Marvel and DC comic heroines look like in their costumes, isn’t it?
And some of the guys ;)
It comes and goes, but for the most part you’re right. Sex sells, and comics are mostly aimed at young males. Marvel’s Tigra had a costume which was a bikini. Their White Queen wore a white dinner napkin that covered less than J-Los ‘controversial’ outfit from the 2000 Grammys. Neither outfit could possibly stay on in a fight. To thye best of my knowledge the images I have linked are not fan art, they are taken from the actual comics and these superheroes (and supervillains, depending on the timeline) actually wore these daily, at the ‘office’ with their fellow superheroes and heroines, out patrolling and fighting crime and engaging in super battles and such. Yeah…
DC is no better. Starfire has always had a skimpy outfit, which over the years has gone from merely skimpy to stripperific. And IIRC she is an alien from a race with no nudity taboo, and so hi-jinks are always occurring over that. As if a member of an alien race is going to appear to be exactly human with the tiny difference of skin color (she is a kind of orange color) and, oh yeah, the lack of any desire to remain clothed. And she is of course at the utter height of human beauty. Yeah…
Even Sue Storm, who was for many years the fairly reserved wife of Reed Richards and wore what might be called a relatively modest costume, for all that it was of course skin tight spandex (excuse me, unstable molecules), grew a pair of 38 DDD tits over time and then had a few costume changes that uncovered a lot more of her than had been shown in prior years.
That Tigra outfit is disgusting!
No beautiful creature should be required to cover up their private parts, just because they look similar to the bits humans are embarrassed about!
I feel proud of the fine traditions, amongst all non-human members of the community, that we are allowed to expose the full glory of our nakedness.
Yeah but when you exposed your nakedy bits Yorp, you ended up with stitches and a lampshade collar :)
My bits are all fully functional and still attached, I will have you know. :-P
“Grabs a chainsword”
That is a bit extreme!
Besides which you need to ask Tigra first. She may actually want to wear the outfit.
or wear your dangly bits lol
Funny thing is most animals (mammals anyway) tend to have less hair and/or fur on their “Naughty bits” but most depictions of anthropomorphized animals give them pubic hair and furry chest bumps.
Which is odd considering hyu-mons are typically referred to as ‘naked apes’ by most non-hyu-mon species on this planet (specially other primates)
The use of e-levels and o-levels varies from branch to branch. I was CPO (e7), almost eligible to test for senior chief (e8) when I was selected for LDO (limited duty officer) I stayed in long enough to retire and make LCDR (O-4 — gold cluster, eq to major in the ground and air forces). In the Navy (and in most of the Air Force, I believe, we tended to organize such command meetings according to job functions rather than by rank. Junior officers always have divisional assignment, and most of the Chiefs had equivalent no-com jobs. Rather than calling for all E7and above to attend a meeting, the XO would be more likely to ask for all division officers and their leading petty-officers to stay for a meeting. This is important because, while there MIGHT be a division that gets stuck with two chiefs, there are ALWAYSons or two divisions that are under-powered. When I got to my first boat (fast attack subs) they had a leading reactor controls petty officer who was an E5 and a sonar division lead who was an E6. Also, if your command hosts spooks or has chopper pilots, many of them are warrants (w1 through w4). You might want all your chopper pilots available for a command meeting, you probably don’t need all the translators. So, again, calling for people to remain according to job description is more reasonable than assuming every asshole with a gold bar has input of any import.
Very valid point, but this is a comparitively small and select group, so may be the exception. Maybe.
And in other branches, it’s perfectly fine to ask as Max did.
Harem, battle hooker, had me laughing myself silly. And I was still chuckling, when I hit the final panel and then howled, with laughter, at the final panel!
If I met a girl with really expressive ears, like Dabbler’s,* I am sure I would be very comfortable with them. They add a whole new dimension to the face. And we are used to interpreting dog’s expressions through their ears. Combining those, with our usual facial emotions, would make for a striking and emotive effect.
Panel 4 being a strong dead-pan example.
* Clearly science fiction at the moment, but we certainly are on the brink of being able to do that. And I am sure that both surgical and genetic tinkering options, to achieve such ends, will become both possible and popular, in the fairly near future.
Some real life girls (and boys) can already do that with their ears (wriggle them a little)
Panel 4 is dead-pan to you? She is picturing Marble Maiden’s jiggly chest marbles, and drooling
Heh, I read multiple levels into it. Specifically enhanced by the point I made. Her ears are saying one thing, her lips another and her eyes a third!
Heh, yeah. I had to take a second and go ‘Is she drooling? Yup, she’s drooling.’ :)
Yup, that is definitely what her lips are conveying. Both with dialogue and her satisfied smirk.
I can almost see her tongue, licking the inside of her lips!
You can already buy mechanical headbands that will give you expressive ears.
Or cybernetics: https://www.necomimi.com/
Wearing thought-activated cyber-wear does present disadvantages, if seeking a career as a professional gambler, true. If going down the emotive ear-wear route. Concealed weaponry mind, now that might be more viable.
But yep, those are primitive versions of what I was talking about. Albeit ones that teachers can demand be removed.
Will we get to Sydney’s media prep course?
How would Arianna react to Sydney referring to her as either a “shyster” or an “ambulance chaser”?
“Meh! Max calls me worse during breakfast!”
*Arianna holds up a drawing of her chasing a flying ambulance with the word balloon from offscreen* This is what my niece drew me yesterday, Isn’t it so CUTE!?
wait, a uniform with no high cut leotard, no cleavage, no high leather boots… raise your hand those who think Math will be the first one to drop out. o/
Why would he drop out? He’s basically just been ordered to go off and stare at internet porn day and night until further notice. He’s getting paid to look at naked women!
Besides, just cause his teammates won’t be dressing like that doesn’t mean the villains he fights won’t be.
Jabberwokky sure gave him an eyeful.
Also he has lots of coworkers who dress nice and flashy (in both meanings) during their down time.
Unless of course that is the uniform for both male and female Arc members. He might change his mind when Max puts his ring tone as Rocky Horror picture show.
Well they aren’t always in uniform around the base most times, and given how rare “super” situations actually are, will be the majority of their time. So he’s got plenty of eye candy to ogle.
As an E-7 Army. For meetings I’ve been told to go to in emails, it was at times Senior Leadership must attend.
I like the part where even the hostage surrendered.
Also, did marble maiden made her own costume or did she had it custom made?
Likewise. And especially laughed at how he looked even more eager, to do so, than the hostage-taker!
Battle Hooker…….isn’t that basically Dabbler anyway?
+1 zing.
Was thinking that as well :D
No, no, no, not at all. A hooker charges.
Only if you threaten to take away their credit card :P
I immediately thought of Betty and Wilma doing their CHARGE IT! cry. Then I thought of classic Flintstones characters in Battle Hooker dress. I’m strangely fine with this.
And all of this could be avoided if they were wearing burkas.
Following that line of reasoning, X should be your favourite character. ;-)
And X has gone the whole hog in full facail one too :)
Is Dabbler drooling in panel four?
Yes. But I mistook it for a fang, the first couple of read-throughs. Slightly spoiling an otherwise superb picture.
However, the subtlety of it is important. The key to that panel is the varied meanings she is conveying. So if the drool had been as obvious as Sydney’s was, looking at the topless beefcake, it would have over-emphasised the lust over the other aspects.
So Dave is justified at being pleased with the outcome. That said, and much as I do like this panel, I still prefer Dabbler’s cheeky looks, when doing make Maxima say bingo.
Oh and Yorp? Dabbles’ wide mouth is back :D
Whee! Long may it stay! Her smiles are so much nicer like that.
If I may on the rank and structure, for simplicity and clarity “Senior NCO’s and above…” Your E-7 to E-9 NCO’s are also “Top 3” (At least back in the day in the USAF-1980’s)
huh. come to think of it, what would happen if Varia was touching multiple people? and are the people she touches always immune to the power she manifests, like when she’s magma? i guess she doesn’t have to cover up like Rogue in order not to harm people she’s touching, but if her powers go wonky with multiple people touching her, doing a crowded club or restaurant would be a nightmare. imagine being on a crowded bus on campus and suddenly you’re magma and a second later you’re a lightning golem and when the bus stops too suddenly and three people crash into you now you have bat-like sonar.
Interesting premise. I was just wondering what would’ve happened if Varia had tangled with Concretia (I assume because of her power-set Varia would be more of a Grappler/Wrestler since she has to maintain contact for her power to activate)
Partly it depends on what is funnier, and so what you outline may well be the route Dave goes.
But, putting that to one side, the power that we have seen* work as they are intended, as opposed to the way they might work if a malicious genie were granting them. For instance Heatwave’s fiery powers do not burn her hair or melt her clothing.
As such the most workable solution is that the touch is only a part of the equation. One that simply forms a range limitation, rather than being a trigger. Intent to form a gestalt (probably requiring such from both parties, but certainly on Varia’s) being the other part.
Logically if she would not have survived to this point nor be employable by Archon if her powers were that uncontrollable. Even with her built-in safeguard of granting power immunity to the recipients, those folks in the vicinity would be endangered. Not to mention buildings getting set on fire or other deadly side effects occurring (either directly affecting third parties, or indirectly threatening the members of the gestalt)..
* Of course we have only seen the ones good and useful enough to allow the individuals to be employed by Archon. Or who were considered capable of fighting them. We may yet see ones with far less useful capabilities. And such is likely from the hints we have had.
Fairly sure Varia has to consciously activate them, which means she can touch someone and not turn into some multi-tentacled love-machine (unless she and her current partner want that ;) )
Yeah if it could happen accidentally I’d be wearing longer sleeves at least to prevent accidental activation but on the other hand she made sure to explain her powers before shaking Syd’s hand and talks about being a petramorph when making out (and I can’t see that being very fun after the first few times).
I think the warning is habitual because ‘weird s**t can happen, when we do this’. As opposed to ‘if we touch it will turn on’.
Likewise the implications in the mini-comic above do not need to read the way you are taking them. They can do, but only if you bring in that conception to it.
On its own it is just Dabbler enquiring about whether shape-changing (or other effects from gaining new powers) improves Varia’s sexual characteristics. Having sex whilst in lavah form may not be such fun,* for example. Especially if setting the bed on fire!
There is nothing to say though that this would happen without Varia choosing it to. But if she gained something that made her more sexually attractive than normal, then clearly she and her partner might well opt to take advantage of that.
The very fact that she does not point out that it is a problem for her, and even finds talking about it enjoyable, actually reinforces my belief that it is something she can control.
* Or it might be a lot of fun, as her partner would be immune to any (directly) dangerous effects. So an adventurous sexual partner might overcome the freakishness and enjoy the sensations. But Varia’s comment implies that most partners (if they have an unusual gestalt power, like that) would tend to find it a turn-off, rather than a turn-on.
Thinking on the whole accidental contact thing, even when wearing shorts and a tee, on a crammed bus, skin to skin contact is quite rare. At least in my experience, people seem readier to face their back to others or raise their arms above their heads than touch someone. Though as a “plus”, depending on where they touched, she could serve as a great bus/sub molester detector.
“Yes officer, he’s who made me become water!”
I can’t decide if that idea is funny, horrible or creepy.
‘someone that eats light or drains color from stuff it touches’
The Cartoon Network show Adventure Time has that. The character Marcy the vampire drains the color red from objects to feed. She normally goes for inanimate objects, but if deprived for long enough periods has had to hold herself back from going for living beings. Her hesitancy implies that the act would be detrimental if not fatal.
adventuretime.wikia.com/wiki/Marceline
> Panel 3 is smaller than I intended, so if you can’t tell, her top has popped open and I censored it with a pacifier.
How about uncensored version? Censorship doesn’t work well if you are trying to show an example of wardrobe malfunction…
It is a joke, rather than censorship. The problem being, as Dave said, that the image is small enough that the gag does not get conveyed as readily.
He could always have gone for a Janet Jackson type nipple cover. Seen from the back like this, I expect many of us would have mistaken that for the actual nipple.
So is it Dabbler or Harem talking in the third panel, cause I really can’t tell.
I mean I realize that it’s Harem in the picture, but if Dabbler is the one picturing it, that could be why she’s gone all drooly.
Harem. We now have a comic convention that yellow shaded speech bubbles represents continued dialogue from the last (plausible*) speaker. Whereas blue is for a new speaker.**
Besides which Dabbler is blue. It would be logical for her accent to be blue too. Not to mention her favourite films. Sydney would probably need to opt for blue speech too.
* Sydney, as you deduced, would not be plausible for that dialogue.
** Although it could be taken as narrator vs on-screen (or even mechanically-relayed) voice. But the existing narrator was Harem. So even that would follow.
Darn it, I forgot to link the precedent:
Dabbles is drooling over Marble Maiden’s jiggly chest marbles, she’s seen plenty of Harem’s (all ten at once on more than one occasion)
Is dabbler drooling in panel 4? Theres a spot of white on her lip and she’s got that look…
also, why spell lava “lahva”? that’s sort of weird, lol… i guess i shouldn’t be a grammar nazi though, my own spelling is pretty bad, would be tons worse without autocorrect.
Yes, the consensus is that it is drool. And it certainly fits, as you say.
“Lahva” is the result of Varia’s Bostonian accent. The same as “cah” in “car park”.
Same reason marble was spelled mahble. Varias dialogue is written in a phonetic accent.
And, like most people with accents living, or working for long periods, with people with no, or different, accents, their ‘native’ accent can slip in at any time
Plus, Rule of Fun-Cool :P
The actress Delta Burke was once Miss Florida. The girls travelled in pairs and shared hotel rooms. She got paired with Miss Georgia and by the time the pagent was over, her childhood Southern accent had returned in spades! :)
Where Dabbler is concerned saying things like “There’s a spot of white on her lip and she’s got that look” takes on another subject entirely.
Well, Math did knock Concretia out back in the restaurant brawl and Sydney was present. So why is she asking if you can’t knock out someone with a stony skin?
Well Concretia did get up again afterwards, so she has a valid reason to query that. This is their debriefing where they discuss such stuff, after all.
And Concretia was knocked out of the room Sydney was in, so she may not have known the outcome herself.
Ok, that’s plausible.
Also, Concretia is an odd case. She doesn’t actually have stony skin – her power appears to be twofold: She can make her real body immaterial, and she can form golems around her immaterial body out of the materials around her, which she can than move.
In a lot of cases I’d actually say the answers to Sydney’s question is likely ‘it depends on the super’ – the answer is an effect of exactly how their powers work.
A lot of superhero costumes work out to “draw a low detail nude, then add color”; while some of Marble Maiden’s clothes show evidence of being real, some parts (like the neck assembly) might be paint.
Sydney means knock them unconscious, not out of the BUILDING! (Out of the building is actually more impressive to me.)
One thing that both Sydney and Varia are missing is the possibility that somebody transformed into stone still needs to breathe. An anesthetic gas could knock out somebody in that case.
(On the other hand, “transformed into stone” automatically tells biology to take a hike, so breathing might be optional.)
My expectation would be that a stone person would not need to breathe, but as you point out, no way to know. I feel pretty comfortable saying Jiggawatt doesn’t breathe in lightning form, but that’s thin precedent.
As usual, much depends on the specifics of the power.
“Transforming into stone” might mean that the person becomes 100% stone (or a material similar to same), or it COULD mean that the person manifests a stone exterior / shell whilst retaining some degree of normal bioligcal function inside, or something else entirely.
I think it very likely that a person whose anatomy becomes primarily stone (or at least, an arguably non-organic substance) may not have to breath.
However, I also believe that there are almost always trade-offs, especially when it comes to things like energy production / usage for living things. Just like regular humans, a super might normally need oxygen, food, etc. in order to continue functioning. However, if said super transforms into something … “different”, they arguably still need some kind of energy input to remain “alive”. If food and oxygena are no longer usable, then maybe something more exotic – cosmic radiation perhaps? “Life force” (think vampires)? Rare elements?
Mainly spitballing here. In such extreme cases, it seems entirely reasonable that regular-grade anesthetics are of little or no effect. ON THE OTHER HAND, that super’s physiology is so different that there may be weird and unforeseen effects from any number of other things or situations.
My first thought here was a Gargoyle. They turn to stone (or at least, something that looks like stone) with no apparent need (or ability to) breath in that state. Yet they live. Can’t move, speak, or interact with their environment, in fact they can’t do anything but dream, heal, and absorb sunlight, but they live. Even after being in that state for thousand years.
Yeah, gargates pretty much spit on biology. And they’re not even magical creatures in their universe.
Well carbon-based biology anyhow. Silicon-based life may actually exist, even in our universe.
While it is possible, the scientists think it is very, very unlikely. (Warning: Science ahead!) It’s less robust and doesn’t bond to other atoms as well as carbon does. The reason is this:
A carbon atom’s 4 unpaired electrons normally reside in its second orbital – and since 8 is the maximum number of electrons allowed in the second orbital of any atom, this orbital becomes full and complete when carbon binds with other atoms on all 4 sides. Accordingly, a carbon chemical bond is among the strongest of all.
In a silicon atom, however, the unpaired electrons are in the third orbital. The maximum number of electrons in the third orbital of any atom is 18. Silicon can have atoms bonded to its four sides like carbon, but the bond isn’t as strong because the third orbital is not full. Overall, a carbon bond is roughly twice as strong.
Furthermore, carbon bonds most strongly to other carbon atoms. This is especially true for diamond, which is made of carbon atoms bonded to one another. Diamond is the hardest substance known; hardness results from great bond strength. Furthermore, carbon bonds are also unaffected by water, giving carbon another advantage, since water is the most likely liquid medium for life. Silicon, on the other hand, doesn’t bond as well to other silicon atoms, and not well at all in the presence of many liquids. Chains of silicon are especially unstable in water; they break apart.
Another argument favoring carbon-based life is the high cosmic abundance of oxygen. When carbon chemically reacts with oxygen, the result is carbon dioxide gas. We inhale oxygen and exhale CO2. When silicon (Si) reacts with O, however, the result is quartz (SiO2), which is a solid unlikely to interact easily with other compounds. Can you imagine living creatures inhaling oxygen and exhaling quartz bricks each time they take a breath?
BUT, even after all that, silicon-based life still isn’t impossible, just highly improbable, given the right environmental conditions. For example, despite the relative fragility of silicon bonds, the bonds that it does form can withstand temperatures at which a carbon bond would break apart… 326 to 626 degrees Celsius (1,112 to 1,652 degrees Fahrenheit).
This is already a big wall of text, so I’ll just sum up by saying that it’s easy to imagine simple, primitive types of silicon-based life (especially given some of the weirdness we’ve found on our own planet, such as the thermophilic bacteria close to the underwater volcanic vents, which feed on hydrogen sulfide and can survive temperatures of 113C (235F). We probably won’t be finding any intelligent silicon-based life, though, like the Hortas of Star Trek.
Very nicely explained. Mind you it does exclude the silicon based life-forms which we are presently creating ourselves. And making every effort to imbue with intelligence.
I’ll just add that one way to overcome silicon’s mad affinity towards oxygen is to form -Si-O-Si-O-Si- chains, forming the compounds known as “silicones”. They range from oils to solid plastics, are stable in oxygen atmospheres and water, and can be produced at Earth-like temperatures.
So you could imagine life-forms with rubbery ‘flesh’, with harder shells or bones (perhaps containing silica), and thin silicone oil for blood.
Plastic people. 8-)
There is at least one other factor that was not mentioned, regarding the hardness of diamond. Carbon is a fairly small atom, which means that the carbon-carbon bond is fairly short. Consider the inverse-square law of the electromagnetic force, with respect to bond-length and bond-strength –shorter chemical bonds can be considerably stronger than longer chemical bonds.
Another way to see this is to consider the density of graphite, 2.25 gm/cc, versus the density of diamond, 3.5 gm/cc. Graphite is full of relatively lengthy bonds (between separate sheets of closely-bonded carbons), while all the bonds in diamond are short bonds. That density also tells us something about a significantly greater number of atoms, per unit of volume, in diamond, compared to graphite. So, between the sheer numbers of carbon atoms in diamond, almost every one of which is bonded to 4 neighbors, and the fact that all the chemical bonds are short, that’s where the hardness of diamond ultimately comes from.