Grrl Power #376 – Let me show you the dance of my people
No Sydney, don’t get distracted by that guys dancing, you’re uncovering a mystery!
The way the orb works is kind of misrepresented on this page, cause it looks like the truesight gives her a myopic little pinhole to see through. If I had twice the space to draw this page I would have done a before and after panel to show the difference between the two. I could have made it a double, but I’d also need more time to draw it as well, so you guys get the “she’s releasing and grabbing the orb and seeing the Star Wars circle wipe of the truseight reasserting itself” effect. Also, unrelated, but that club is pretty bangin’ for a Wednesday night. Maybe a lot of people declared it “Superheroes are a thing” day and are throwing parties all over the place tonight.
I’m not yet ready to reveal what is going on yet obviously, but for the sake of discussion, let’s say you’re an alien and you come to Earth on vacation or for a semester abroad or something, and you have a watch that can disguise you as a human. How do you decide what to look like? Lets assume you’re from a species with binary gender and you can’t change that, but wouldn’t you want to look like the most privileged race in the area you’re visiting? That seems like that would be the default setting, but maybe you like standing out, so you’d disguise yourself as a black guy when visiting Japan. That would make you stand out for sure there. And would an alien know what constitutes an attractive or even a normal looking human? Probably the only way it would work was if there was some tourism bureau who assigned your human form hologram and you couldn’t make any changes while you were there, otherwise they might be tempted to tweak it as they learn what make humans attractive to each other. It also would mean you probably couldn’t get a tattoo while you were there unless your disguise was especially sophisticated. This is assuming that if you can eat the local food then tattoo ink probably isn’t going to dissolve your arm or anything. You’d probably have to get shots before you went so not only would you not have problems with local viruses, but also so you didn’t exhibit allergies to all pollen or so that rotten milk didn’t get you drunk.
Sydney jokes about black people being better dancers, (I’m a terrible dancer so I drag the average down for all white people) but really, beyond some pretty superficial cosmetic differences humans are really quite similar. In fact there is generally agreement among scientists that race is more of a sociological construct than a biological one, but imagine if you were going to a planet in disguise as a native, and among this species, one “race” was better at juggling and another had better memory and another could digest plant matter better. You’d probably have to disguise yourself according to your ability to pass as that subset of the species.
Humans are enormously good at identifying each other from our facial features, so much so that we absolutely take it for granted. I always wonder what would happen if we met an alien race that looked just different from us (or totally different) that we simply couldn’t differentiate them based on facial recognition. If they didn’t have some identifying thing about them that we could use, like one guy has a dimple in face chitin, or another has pale blotches above his eye array, that could make things really awkward. I’d love to see some sci-fi show deal with stuff like that, where there are aliens that are relatable sociologically (not weird cryptic aliens like the Vorlons), but they all have lobster faces and the humans can’t tell them apart and they can’t tell us apart. Heck, we probably couldn’t even differentiate genders, and they’d probably have the same problem unless facial hair was involved.
Crap I forgot Peggy’s tattoos. I’ll get that fixed.
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There was a sceen in startreck that dealt with someone mistaking one member of a alien race for the other. The alien mentioned that he couldn’t tell humans apart very well ether.
When we see a member of a group we don’t spend a lot of time with, it’s easy to get group-level identifiers confused with individual-level identifiers. Hence when I lived in Uganda, people told me I looked like everyone from Jesus Christ to Christiano Ronaldo
I think you refer to the Benzites. One first appeared in the Star Trek TNG season one episode Coming Of Age as someone trying to get into Star Fleet Academy. They reused the costume in the second season episode A Matter Of Honor and said it was a different member of the same species, explaining away the fact that they were identical by saying the two aliens were from the same part of their home world.
You know, I can see turning truesight off and on would help one *notice* out of place things.
Like flipping back and forth between two photos to pick up what’s changed.
Yup. Perhaps Sydney should pay attention to everything, in her field-of-view, whenever she does that? Something small changing, even if only in the corner of her eye, might give her an important clue.
But Halo does have a past history of missing things, right over her head.
Actually, whenever I did animation during college, what we’d do with the pages essentially flip ’em back n’ forth rapidly, to notice the most minute of changes we were working on, is pretty similar here. And you definitely end up noticing the minor differences.
After squinting really hard at that page, I give up.
What did Sydney (and me apparently) miss right over her head?
I will whisper it to you, so that it does not spoil things, for those who may want to try spotting too.
In panels 6 to 8, the orbs’ orbits change, such that they are also circling Varia.
Oooo Right. I was one of the people that had noticed it at the time.
Shamefull that I forgot :(
Yes, she does sometimes miss stuff right in front of her occasionally :).
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1707
And sometimes she forgets about things and people which are right in front of her, which she had already seen minutes earlier.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/450
I just realized that “In the corner of the eye” page she is wearing blue shaded sunglasses.
No wonder she didn’t react to the blue guy.
A very good point!
Astronomers do this, too. They take two pictures of a bit of the sky and if they see something change position, they know they’ve spotted an asteroid or comet or something.
Yup. The device used to do it is called a blink comparator.
*blinks, slowly and carefully, so that it can be observed to just be the one blink only*
I know it’s an illusion created by the fact that they are caught in the middle of a dance move and leaning forward a little, but Hiro seems to be towering over his two superhero groupies. To me, it kinda looks like a doting father come to take his daughters home from the costume party.
In which case their respective body languages would be very disturbing. Batgirl, in particular, looking like she wants to have his children-grandchildren.
O.o
Fortunately, most fathers don’t dote quite that much!
I hadn’t noticed that on the first read through, but now that it’s pointed out it seems obvious.
Batgirl, in particular, looking like she wants to have his children-grandchildren.
Actually to me ‘Batgirl’ and Hiro seem like a teenager/tween ‘Lookit me, Daddy!’ and doting father and thus actually surprisingly wholesome, whilst t’other groupie seems far more ‘MMM, got to have me some of that!’/drooling.
And where’s Hiro’s nose gone?!
Batgirl’s friend is posing in a similar, if slightly more coy and restrained, fashion, Whilst she is very close to Hiro, she is maintaining a slight separation, which we can see from the lack of his shadow falling on her.
Batgirl’s shadow, however, is showing that she is in full contact with Hiro. Given her position, that indicates she is grinding her bum and vulva onto Hiro’s leg. Hence why this flavours my interpretation, the way I stated it.
I don’t knows what you mean about Hiro, his nose is plainly visible. The shadowed side is not well defined, but that is due to the nature of the illumination, so is well depicted.
I am guessing you may want to adjust your monitor’s settings? It seems like you are missing some of the details from the subtle shadow shades.
We have to remember that Hiro is probably *MASSIVE*. He seems to be pretty close to size in Anvil, who is also humongous. I stand 5’0″, and my 6’4″ drummer friend absolutely dwarfs me like that. Then again, I look like a D&D Dwarf anyway, given that I’m also 220 lbs of burly little truck. The club girls are probably about the same size as Sydney or Peggy.
Cast page lists Hiro at 6’1″.
As the ladies seem to be bending somewhat I would put then around 5’3″ – 5’5″.
Please tell me you’re a singer because I just can’t get that image out of my head now.
I’m not much of a singer, but I do play Rocksmith.
I would have thought guitar – dwarfs often have axes.
He can also fly.
If I could fly, I’d probably hover just above the ground most of the time. Just for the hell of it
“Also, unrelated, but that club is pretty bangin’ for a Wednesday night. Maybe a lot of people declared it “Superheroes are a thing” day and are throwing parties all over the place tonight.”
Alternatively, text log:
…It ate my text log. Stupid me for forgetting html tag format.
Text log:
Clubber: “OMG! SUPERS AT OONTZ! ”
Not Clubber: “Yeah right. Pics or it didn’t happen.”
Clubber: *selfie with Harem and Halo*
Not Clubber: *texting friends* “OMG! SUPERS AT OONTZ!”
How did she get on top of the… what is she on top of? There’s speakers, and the bar glasses are under it…
Doesn’t help that I’ve never been to a nightclub.
Um, she flewed up there. She’s on top of the drink rail above the bar near the dance floor.
Yup. Normally inaccessible, other than to drunken folks, who are still able to climb a pole faster than a bouncer can drag them down.
We see Sydney habitually using the Fly Ball, in even the most mundane of situations, so there is little doubt on that score.
Hmmm . . . drunken folks . . . the pole . . . :D
I wonder if some wasted nitwit is going to look up there, spot her, recognize her, and start shouting. “Hey, babe! As long as your up there, why not kick those speakers out of the way and give us a pole dance?!”
If she heard him or her over the music and the crowd, she might be inclined to show off her PPO.
Or worse why she wanted to name it The Molesterorb.
Well that just entered my head as new head cannon.
Don’t think I’ll ever get rid of it. Thanks (seriously, it’s a glorious image)
Hi there! First comment here, follower since day 1. I want to suggest a True Sight ‘look’, it occurred to me that it could be like looking through the orb, like a lens, a fish eye type of lens that has a distort edge around the image, it can be tricky but I think it will look great and give you the look you want for when Sidney uses it, everyone outside the lens will look normal, inside they will look ‘real’ but with a tiny bit of distortion; there might be a Photoshop filter for it!
Anyway, your comic is great fun, thanks for creating it!
Cheers, LB.
That would be cool, except Sydney isn’t looking through the orb; it is directly augmenting her visual field.
There maybe an undiscovered setting that will give her a smaller filter area, as you suggest, or a transparent overlay of the illusion, so she can compare, but right now Sydney’s power stunting with known features. The effect Dave’s going for is Sydney flicking the orb on and off to check for discrepancies.
that may come to be as it is the orb she upgraded in her “level up” scene during the press conference.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1171
I think day 1 I was actually the only one reading the comic. All seven hits were all mine. :) But hello!
Part of the fun of the orb is that she doesn’t know if it’s on. It’s automatic when she’s holding it. That may seem like poor design but presumably whoever made them was not as scatterbrained as her.
I certainly felt like I had been reading from day one. The only thing I can do to narrow down when I actually first did was that I remember reading the first few in quick succession, and then seeing it transition to the ‘real world’. And can remember my thoughts, at that point.
Quite ironic that Sydney’s idealised busty alter-ego had not sold me on the comic. Yet Sydney’s reality, and the concept, did the trick, at first glance.
Helped, in part, that it was the reverse concept of a major campaign I ran, in GURPs. Characters from a dark future, who effectively possessed super-powers, via their cybernetics, who sought to (with the aid of virtual reality) escape to an earlier golden age. Before things got really bad. Namely today.
Yup, my players were supers by day and chilled out, in the evening, as people from our time. The twist being that they were all powerful members of a mafia-like organisation, yet were dissatisfied with the lifestyle. Plus they liked the idea of a world where such powers were not commonplace.
Being curious to see if gaining real (non-cybernetic) super powers, well before that happened, would make a difference. Yearning to see if, by being on the right side of the law, they could have averted the dark reality they lived in. Of course their VR characters start play in their mundane every-day lives, without any powers being in evidence.
Sound familiar, in an upside down kind of way?
The simple answer to your question Dave, is that you would get confused. The more…complex answer involves moving to China, or Japan. Seriously–Westerners tend to get in big trouble in the Orient, for just this reason. I am told that it is doubly frustrating for somebody who has been raised in the West, but is ethnically Japanese (or part-Japanese)–they not only can’t figure out who they’re talking to, but their friends can’t tell them apart from everybody around them. It is apparently very frustrating, and you have to teach yourself to take in very small differences in appearance and manner, which I imagine isn’t easy.
Me…I’ve never been to Japan, or China. I have, however, lived in a state where about 2/3 of the population consists of identical twins (no, seriously–my first grade class had seven pairs), which poses its own interesting challenges. To this day, my brother and I are the only ones I know who can tell identical twins apart with no more than a passing glance, which has been known to creep the hell out of all kinds of people.
I bet it surprises a lot of identical twins you meet.
(The last set of identical twins I dealt with, I had no trouble telling apart… but the fact that they were nearly 60 years old and had NOT spent their entire lives together might have something to do with that. They were still similar enough that I recognized them as identical twins.)
Thats not surprising actually. I am an identical twin. and if you spend enough time the differences are very easy to spot. i have a friend who can instantly tell us apart. it made it very difficult to do the twin trope thing. ( almost got a dimerit for not being in the right place.) had to avoid her for as long as i was taking my bro’s place in class. had to stop before i got to high school. people were getting wise.
In high school it was hard to tell one pair apart.
Not now though. One of the 2 wears at least polo shirts and sharp casual slacks when out and about. He’s also been in various political assistant positions in DC over the years. As well as not settling down with one woman, and enjoying many of them.
The other twin is usually seen in public wearing leather coats, turtlenecks, and with the boyfriend of the week. He’s also in AA
The only thing they seem to have in common is that they can’t settle down with one significant other.
A good tactical tip is for twins to wear distinctively different outfits consistently, and to ensure their mannerisms are likewise easily distinguishable from one another’s. That way if they do have cause to swap places, then folks will not have had the practice caused by having to rely on spotting the subtle differences.
Mind you, the skill sets of the observers make a big difference. For instance I would class myself as a poor observer. I have to actually make a point to look for something. Once I have my attention focussed on something it usually stays there.
So I miss a lot of otherwise interesting things that I might observe peripherally. Something which becomes apparent when in the company of friends who might ask “wow, what did you think of …” only to realise that I had not spotted whatever it was.
I actually learned about this in Psychology class (I’m a near-identical twin so I paid attention). When it comes to recognizing faces our brains don’t actually look at the whole face, they pick three or four spots on it for a mental filing system. Everyone has different ones they learn through development, and some people have an easier time re-learning indexing locations when they’re older. This is why some people could tell me and my brother apart right away, some got used to doing it, and some folks we knew for ten years still had difficulties. Since you grew up around a lot of twins, it sound like your brain got used to finding different indexing spots very easily. As a different example I’ve found I have a blind spot for “skinny white girl” that resulted in me needing to tell a cop “yes she lived across from me for two years but I honestly can’t say if that photo is her.” (they moved out without formally moving out, made for annoying paperwork)
I imagine very young brains are the ones able to clue up on those subtle differences the easiest. Whereas slightly older individuals will have more difficulty, as their brains will be less pliable. Even a couple of years can make a big difference, at this critical point of brain development.
Rather like language development. A family emigrated here, at the same time as me. One of their parents is reasonably fluent, the other is mid-way between her level and my pigeon Bulgarian. Both the kids though are totally fluent. But the younger (under age four when we moved) is indistinguishable from a natural speaker.
His older brother can pass as one, but only at times, and not to anyone with a keen ear. Yet he is only senior by a couple of years.
It would certainly match with my experience, as I got to become friends, with the many twins I knew, at kindergarten, at a very young age (starting earlier than in other countries I have come across).
The first thing I thought of about being able to tell aliens apart was the movie District 9. The only way I had to know who was who was by the clothes they were wearing.
It’s even a bit of a plot point. The humans are fine treating the aliens like crap partially because they don’t see them as “people”, and there’s more than a couple comments that are basically find/replace for stock racism with a bug slant.
Sydney is way too young to know the Thundercats. They are pretty obscure even to the 30 somthings who might have seen them as kids.
Yes, But Sydney is a true comic book geek/nerd(pick your term) I don’t doubt she would have some of the most obscure comics in her personal stash, even ones older than her…
Beside, It’ll only take one Con with a T-cats Cosplayer to get her curious, then it’s just a few hours(days) of youtube away from complete understanding….
If you check on youtube, there was a 2011 Thundercat series:
https://youtu.be/tCZwuowvH-s
Plus there’s a comic book series:
https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/thundercats/images/f/f1/Thundercats_the_return_4b.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111106105032
I quite enjoyed how they did Cheetara in the 2011 series
Speaking as one of those thirtysomethings…
Dude, you think Thundercats is “pretty obscure”? They rank right up there with Transformers, G.I. Joe, Voltron, and He-Man in terms of well-known 80’s cartoons. You gotta be joking. “Pretty obscure” would be something like “Turbo Teen” or “BraveStarr”, not “Thundercats”.
It’s still pretty obscure, I mean, other than that 2011 show that I had no idea existed, no one’s made a movie of it… I’m pretty sure everyone under 30 knows transformers, He-Man, GI Joe, and TMNT because of the movies, not because they went and watched old cartoons. Voltron and Thundercats have no movies ergo: Obscure. And don’t tell me there’s a japanese Voltron movie, that doesn’t count.
Ok maybe the He-Man movie doesn’t count either, but at least He-man related memes exist, never seen a thundercat meme.
Obscure is relative, especially to someone who works/owns a comic book store…
The depth of Sydney’s nerd literacy will be explained at some point.
Nice work on the lighting on this page, Dave. Multiple sources, multiple colors, and it all looks great.
+1
How did Sydney get on top of the bar?
Climbing, flying?
Seriously, every night club I’ve ever been to treated any flat surface with drinks on it as a dance floor, my money says there is probably an easy way to get up there.. I also suspect Sydney, not being a clubbing type would probably just flown up there…
I wonder how long before a guy climbs up next to her and try’s his luck…..
*tries
Where is X? Isn’t he supposed to be shadowing Dabbler?
Remember, he or she can be invisible. X might be up there standing right next to Sydney and we just don’t know it.
Don’t forget who “outed” him.
This is true. Considering Sydney’s using her true-sight right now, X would likely have shown up. Perhaps he or she is hiding behind some of the dancers? Perhaps one of Dabbler’s new friends is X out of uniform?
That would be one way to get close to the body you’re guarding.
she even knows which dancer X is and will tell peggy in the morning. after jokes about how well peg handled her handler.
And after jokes about his “handle”.
X learned his/her lesson and is standing directly behind Sydney, listening to her monologue.
Excellent point.
Sydney! He’s standing right behind you!
Yup, very possibly. Or somewhere that X could move easily out of sight from her, when Sydney summons the yellow orb. X is a trained observer, who both knows the Comm-Ball’s properties and clearly takes counter-precautions.
Alternatively, given that Sydney has been playing with the True-sight Orb, X may well have decided to avoid using cloaking techniques. Doubtless X will have plain-clothes options, for mundane surveillance, and will run less risk using that in this environment.
Not just from Halo mind. It is a crowded area, with people gyrating all over the place. Invisible individuals would be likely to be bumped into here. So being visible would actually be the more discreet option.
Ooh, look, there X is, in panel 5. Right by those ninjas.
Maybe X is one of those 2 guys.
I doubt he’d object to a… more detailed survey investigation
Flying’s cool, but with that power I’d spend a lot of time just doing the whole David Bowie in labyrinth walking around on walls thing. What I would NOT do is get that close to a club speaker, because I value my figgins.
Hm, the glamours have to have a tactile element, but I wonder if it would handle someone pulling one of that guy’s illusory hairs. Of course the sane thing to do in this situation would be to consult with Dabbler, but I’m thinking Sydney might be the type to go for hair pulling.
She’s standing *behind* the speakers, so all she will hear are low mids and bass, high mids and highs travel very linear and won’t get transmitted through the speaker enclosure.
And those are full-range speakers to boot, so the amount of bass delivered by those is limited anyway.
TL:DR: It’s perfectly safe to stand where she does. In fact, standing behind the speakers is better than standing on the dancefloor. ;)
Agreed. Succubi clearly use them to entice others to have sex, after all. So if the illusions were not good enough to allow partners to touch them, they would not be fit for purpose. All that the scene in the interview room (where she grabs Maxima’s butt) shows is that Dabbler can turn off that aspect, when she is feeling mischievous.
My first thought was that ‘pain and touch are different receptors, so even if an illusion can only alter the feel of something, then that would not allow it to conceal the pain’. This may well be the case. However Succubus illusions are believed to be very powerful (as stated by Dabbler, who has the experience to judge such things).
As such, and given that pain can be important, for some types of sex-play, I am guessing that Succubus illusions can generate pain too. And if they can create pain, they may well be able to mask it too. Even our mundane hypnotism can do that. So I do not feel that it is a stretch to assume that Succubus illusions can do likewise.
If so, of course, it would make them extremely dangerous. A foe could be injured, and even bleeding to death, without realising it.
Who would have known that the lamest of Sydneys abilities (the truesight one) would in the end be the one she uses the most?
Eh – you never stop looking, and Syndey is smart enough to know that the flashiest powers aren’t always the most useful. You can’t defend yourself against what you never see coming, after all.
Perception Check! Roll 1d20…
Knowing something about another person that they don’t know that you know is rather strong.
Considering how impressed Max and company (Including Dabbler) were with it I’d doubt it’s considered “Lame”. If they have to arrest a Mage Syd can see if there’s any Guardians like if that cute little Cupid water fountain is actually a Golem ready to smash anyone who crosses the garden gate.
She sees things whose shape is disguised. So if the fountain statue is a golem that is actually shaped like a fountain statue, it wouldn’t help. (It would have to be a golem that is shaped like one kind of statue and disguised as another, in order for her to see anything unusual.)
True. Although if Halo presses the appropriate sigil, the Comm-Ball can also detect supernatural auras (see Vehemence’s aggro aura for it in operation). Assuming that a magically created golem has an associated magical aura, then Sydney would be able to spot that. Thus arousing her suspicions accordingly.
Going by the effects in the comic, it seems likely that all spells have such auras. So magical constructs would seem likely to have them too. Although if it is a golem created by a divine act, then such would probably not be present.
Sydney, you are probably best avoiding directly opposing gods. For now.
She can also see auras though
Once she had a chance to study the orbs (under Archon supervision) she’ll be very efficient with it
Peggy’s tats are back.
In 3rd 100ish from 2nd.
VOTE PPL!
If nobody has done so yet, I dub the purple reptilian ‘Larry’.
Both in homage to the old Larry the Lounge Lizard series of games, and to save him from being called ‘Barney’.
Larry the Lounge Lizard? Do you mean Leisure Suit Larry?
In any case, I second the motion.
Indeed!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leisure_Suit_Larry_in_the_Land_of_the_Lounge_Lizards
Though, by his presence in such an environs, Larry himself could be counted as one of the lounge lizards, thus my appellation.
A thought occurs to me, and after much skimming of the comments I can’t find any mention of it – probably there somewhere, though :).
The way Sydney interacts with her orbs – in terms of where they are when they orbit her, grabbing them, controlling them, rather than their powers – seems very unconscious and natural. For example, when she holds out a hand as an orb flies into it, or when she clocked maths without looking. Do these orbs integrate with her natural sense of proprioception? And if they do, how are they able to do it so perfectly that she apparently doesn’t even notice it happening?
(Unless they just like her and want to be helpful :))
The orbs clearly have some autonomy, given that they can tick Sydney off for not doing what she wants. Most notably if she wants to move away from them. Albeit that such might simply be a fundamental property (such as with magnets). But other behaviours include following her (even when she does not realise they are, such as when in the bank, inside Tubey), orbiting Sydney and even going to sleep.
None of these are complex enough to indicate intelligence though. They are simple enough to be programmed responses (but may also be instinctive behaviours). I do think they have some sensory capability though, as shown by their collision avoidance.
Even in this room Sydney has been in crowds, yet we have never seen an accidental collision. Of note, including when they are orbiting behind or above Sydney’s head. Thus they cannot be relying on her senses alone. It need not be a full suite of senses mind. Even very primitive, or basic, ones can allow that task.
As for the rest of your comments though, yes, Halo clearly directly mentally commands them, and can do so unconsciously. The most indisputable point, regarding operating them at an instinctive level, is how swiftly Sydney responded to Shadow Boxer’s attempt to backstab her. She only got a hint of danger, yet managed to partially block his blow, before it landed.
I estimate that Halo reacts faster with her orbs, than she can physically. She instinctively uses them to the same degree as a highly-trained martial artist.* They too can condition their reflexes to respond prior to being consciously aware of doing so. However Sydney lacks the training to do so with the consistency that someone like Math has.
* See Sydney’s testicle-crushing maneuver, against Shadow Boxer, for the degree of skill she can achieve.
Calling it that there is going to be some point in the comic (far in the future though) where Math helps her develop an actual physical fighting style based on her orbs. This would be quite useful in situations like with the Shadow Boxer but where the person involved knows about her abilities with the orbs and is wary enough to not fall for any simple tricks.
I for one would really like to see how advanced and dangerous sydney can become when she uses her orbs both as clubs for a martial art and quickly switches between them.
I’m talking about things such as quickly using the lighwhip, switching to flight for a few seconds to make a giant jump or gain momentum, switching very quickly to her shield to block attacks, and using short bursts of the PPO as ranged attacks. I think it would allow her to fight on-par with maxima if she reaches such abilities even at a basic level.
Of course, knowing sydney, it would most likely be Zui Quan based, or something that looks similarly goofy. It would make her a very dangerous opponent, since all but the most experienced fighters would instinctively underestimate her. This is comparatively, of course, since many opponents already have underestimated her.
Sydney’s style is named after its founding move, Tongue-Fu.
Remember she’s had them for a few months already.
Sure they were in the tube in public (and asleep), but it’s been confirmed that she has practised with them in private. It doesn’t take long for a human to get used to an altered sense, and no doubt the orbs have some integration mechanisms on their own to help with integrating in their subject’s subconscious.
At this point, controlling them seems to be as easy for her as controlling any other limb. She probably learned it the same way you learn how to ride a bike (or more direct, learning how to use your limbs as a baby. That doesn’t take long, and with some supernatural help to speed up the formation of the required neural pathways…)
“as easy for her as controlling any other limb” – hence my question. She doesn’t just seem to control them as something seperate, like, say, a knife, but to know where they are in relation to her body, what their movement is and what their speed is without depending on sight or touch – ie, proprioception, or the innate sense of where your body is in relation to itself. As an example, if I asked you to close your eyes and without looking hold your left index finger to the top of your right ear, you can do it without sight or conscious thought.
If the orbs connect into Syndey’s sense of proprioception, then how extensively do they actually integrate with her, and is it a purely mental bond, or could there be subtle physical changes occuring? It makes me wonder if one of the mystery orbs might be a control orb that provides an interface between her and the other orbs, and which integrates further with her if she chooses to upgrade it? I’ll admit that last sentence is pure speculation :)
@Yorp: maybe her style would be Breath of 10,000 Flames :).
Halo certainly creates a mental map, of where her orbs are. She could not achieve the highly complex results of using them (and the tentacle, for that matter), without such. And a feedback, letting her know where they are, would certainly seem likely.
Thinking through, on how she might form the map without that though, indicates that she would need to rely on a combination of sight, and trusting that their normal behaviours will keep them in predictable locations, at other times. Which lead me to the analogy of a trapeze artist.
Picture Halo as the catcher. She does move herself, but nowhere near as much as the flyer. Her primary job though is to know where the flyer is, and to predict where she will be, at the time of the catch. Although they will use audio cues, to help synchronise, their main sense is sight.
But they have the problem that swinging, and the flyer’s somersaults, break line of sight to the all-important arms. Yet they manage to cope. So I think Sydney could likewise. Greatly aided by knowing that the orbs will precisely respond to her mental command (if she gives appropriate orders).
Although I do not think we can say, with confidence, which is the case yet.
If Sydney deployed her ‘breath of 1,000 flames’, in combat, she would be accused of breaking the Geneva convention!
Mass Effect actually did what you suggested regarding facial recognition with aliens. Turians all look very similar to us, and several characters throughout the series even comment on how humans have difficulty telling Turians apart without the help of their facial tattoos.
In fact, most aliens in the series differ very little between individuals (from a human perspective). There are differences, but subtle ones.
I don’t know, Garrus after his trip to Omega is quite distinctive (If you can tell which half of his face got blown off by a missile anyway.)
everyone needs to vote every day,!
Ugh! Just imagine if those two guys suddenly saw Dabbler’s true form while dancing. They’d freak out, and possibly puke.
*uses paws to cover up Dabbler’s ears*
Poor girl, don’t listen to the nasty man. You are lovely! From your fluffy blue hair all the way down to your shiny hooves.
if she had heard him she would kiss him (charm spell) and have him beg to lick her hooves just to be vindictive.
Not the hooves! ANYTHING BUT THE HOOVES! ด็็็็็้้้้้็็็็้้้้้็็็็็้้้้้็็็็็้้้้้็็็็็้้้้้༼◉Д◉༽ด็็็็็้้้้้็็็็้้้้้็็็็็้้้้้็็็็็้้้้้็็็็็้้้้้
*covers up own bum, with paw*
Hey! Keep your hands to yourself!
No, not the hooves! Anything but the hooves!! ੨( ･᷄ ︵･᷅ )ｼ
You never know what people are into. It’s entirely plausible that these guys saw Dabbler’s “battleform” and thought “OMG SO SEXY!”
Battleform… wait, that’s right, not everyone on the team knows that Dabbler is a monster, right? So, like, who knows? I mean, she was giving Barberarian a kiss (make out) goodbye in her “battle form,” so she was being pretty blatant about it :-\
Dabbler’s not a monster. She’s a succubus. Being a monster would by nature indicate some manner of monstrous behavior, and we haven’t seen that from her. Heck, she’s gone out of her way to avoid using lethal force. That makes her more humane than many humans.
+1
Doubt it. At most they’d be very confused for awhile.
Faced with this situation, IN the place this is happening, I am certain that most people would first:
(a) check themselves for head injuries or vision problems they might unknowlingly have acquired;
(b) wonder if it was some kind of special effects thing (UV lighting, for example, can make people look really weird);
(c) check how miuch booze / drugs / medication they’d knowingly had at that stage;
(d) wonder what bizarre drug they’d been given without knowing,
Once they’d run through that checklist, finding out that the person really is an alien might even be a source of relief (“Oh, thank Ghod. THAT’s all it was? For a couple of minutes there, I thought I was going crazy.“).
The way those guys are grinding on her, pretty good chance their first reaction to a loss of glamour would be “woah, kinky…” and keep grinding. The guy on her back specially, as he’s on more of a braile mode. :P
As an aside, i would really like to see “disguised” versions of those panels with Dabbler and Snapper. :D
All Kenya really needs to do to attract some guys is to go to either the Netherlands or Norway, where 6 feet is the average height for guys. Then walk into a gym, and most guys that are not suffering from an inferiority complex will be highly interested.
Aren’t the ‘Who’s Who’ boxes only for those that have dialog?
Or are we taking the Sea Witches advice to *cue Ursula voice* ‘don’t underestimate the importance of body language!’
Thems the literal rules. The underlying principle though is to use those to identify the key players in a scene. Normally the default rules do fine. In this instance however some characters are present who had not been seen earlier in the club. Peggy in particular, and Super Hiero. The latter was visible, but not identifiable.
So it is helpful for Dave to point out these individuals, for those readers who might not remember the whole cast. Given the size of it now, there will doubtless be folks who do loose track.
It is worth noting that this remains within the spirit of the rules though. Because Sydney is talking about each of the individuals, who appears in the Who’s Who. By name for Peggy and Anvil, or as the object of the groupies attention, for Super Hiero. Likewise for Dabbler, as the subject for later jokes.
Spiked hair is coming back, nearly everyone at that club is spiked up. :D
“Hey Peggy, remember when you made fun of me for my security sweeps?”
Actually, I figured Sydney’s world had a Men in Black thing going on as soon as the second alien showed up. And I mean Vehemence; he didn’t change form under Sydney’s Truth Orb, but he’s obviously from Somewhere Else (or went there). And if there’s a lot of undercover aliens around, and Archon knows about them, they’d keep them close so having one or two show up at the nightclub…
It’s a fun piece of added depth for the Grrl Power universe.
An interesting point.
It is interesting to predict how things play out, from the clues we get.
and V’s comment on the throne suggests where he visited even (dab’s demon family showed him around as an exchange mage program member)
Yeah I’m getting a MIB vibe too. Which is logical enough, given the existence of dabbler. Presence of 1 known alien immediately makes you ask, “where are all the other aliens?”
Most are probably on their home planets, sorta living their lives. Of course, for some their personal home planets might not be their species home planet. But I would guess more stay at home than get the urge to go to primitive alien planets.
Ok, which one is doing the Shepard shuffle?
Is Peggy her real name? It’s a “we’re going to name our daughter peggy because she’ll get a wooden peg leg someday, ha ha ha” weird.
According to the cast page, it’s Peggy Kessler
Nominative determinism. Peggy was this close…
*holds claws a hair’s breadth apart*
… from becoming a pirate!
The vote incentive makes Maxima look like an escaped ‘Simpsons’ character, being stalked by Bart.
In my head canon that’s her boyfriend walking in on her.
You think Bart Simpson is Maxima’s boyfriend? Well there is a certain kind of logic to it, with them both being yellow.
A bit worrying, with him being a school kid. Although the series has been running a long time, so I guess he has probably grown up by now. They must just use special effects to keep him looking like a kid?
It’s Maggie I really feel sorry for – imagine being stuck as a baby for 27+ years :-@
Oh know, a Thunder Syd must be in trouble.
I just had a stupid thought! I have a lot of those . . . :D
If this were your typical American action movie, the aliens would naturally prove to be evil doers. They would spot Sydney up there, realize they had been discovered, and try to stop her from foiling their dastardly schemes. Laser blaster disruptor phaser guns would be produced and fired! Like all Hollywood villains, they wouldn’t be able to hit the proverbial broad side of a barn, but perhaps she should get ready to grab her shield orb anyway and look for a conveniently placed and over-sized air vent to duck into.
remember her size a regular vent could work.
Conveniently placed? Those things always lack hand rails for any bottomless shafts and have whirling blades and chomping chomper-mashers somewhere on the route! Never with any warning signs either.
And don’t forget how many good people died, to find the plans for where those vents are located!
No just Maney the Bothan.
That’s just mean . . . unless it’s true! :-P
Sure! The entrances are always conveniently placed for entry by the hero types. Whatever perils may be therein are an entirely separate matter.
Let us have a moment of silence to remember all of those Bothans who have died for us over the years . . .
It was just one.
His name was Maney.
One interesting note.
Mr. Deus, of the maniacal laughter, obviously doesn’t know about the other aliens besides Dabbler, as he and his assistant clearly commented that she would find few opportunities to use true-sight.
Dear Sydney,
Better get used to the prospect of superhero-groupies.
You will have many.
Love,
The Public
A race that uses several sense means including UV and IF plus infrasonics and to top it off pheromones like most of the animal kingdom does including ants and aardvarks. Just hope they aren’t paralyzed by our facial expressions or our exhalations. Now that would be a problem.
To the contrary, those which have evolved in proximity to humans, or their relatives, have evolved to take advantage of those things. Mosquitoes, for instance, will be attracted by the smell of our exhalations, then home in on the sight of our heat emissions.
Killer bees even more so. They become aggressive when they smell the carbon dioxide, from our breath, and home in specifically on anything that looks like a face. Aiming their stings at the eyes.
Is it just me, or is the guy on Dabbler’s right visibly aroused? Not that I would blame him, but if that’s the intent it’s a funny visual easter egg. It’s a totally expected reaction that would be visibly obvious, but that I don’t think I’ve ever seen in a comic before.
Or it’s just an odd hip/leg line and I have a dirty mind.
well he is grinding on a succubus…
I’m black and a terrible dancer and I do not consider Halo’s comment racist.
More white with black stripes, I would say. And rather feline looking!
*suspicious stare*
I wouldn’t mess with that cat if I were you Yorp. He’s atleast twice your size.
Not to worry. Yorp has a way with the felines.
I have my reasons… I forgot them though.
well now I under stand what they where going on about 2 comics ago about how Sydney needs to know something above her pay grade… this is it! it seems the higher ups already know that They are among us, and should tell her before she goes over bored.
That seems to be the unanimous opinion.
Aliens come to Earth to eat popsicles and to play “Martian Charades”.
The taxi driver, Bruce Willis, aught to be worried then.
On the other hand . . .
I really need to see the whole movie. Somehow I’ve only seen bits and pieces.
My top ten list tends to vary, but the 5th Element usually holds the top spot, or retake it, when a rival loses its lustre. It just takes everything to the max: style, fashion, music, futuristic vision and action.
Alright you slackers we have dropped to 6th get voting.
NOW!
My efforts are going to be sparse from today. Off on my annual flight to the yard. Or the dog-house. One or the other. But any day I can actually get my paws on a PC, I shall do my bit.
At least Sydney seems to have calmed down about this…