Grrl Power #425 – In case she’s ever a damsel in duress
For those of you who don’t quite follow the gag here, it’s a call back to page 218. Obviously Sydney has been brought into the fold and she’s on board. Max has gone quite easy on Sydney thus far – it’s questionable how much Sydney realizes that, but she’s smart enough to know not to get on Max’s bad side. However this game seems harmless to her. I assume the further up the chain of command someone gets the more problem they might have with it. I can only image doing stuff like this in the other branches of the military could get you into a good amount of trouble. Disrespecting a senior office or what have you.
This duress code is one of two Sydney will get. Vermillion is the one the rest of her team knows, but she’ll have a second one only the top brass knows, in case someone lower in the pecking order is ever compromised or revealed as a turncoat. Of course if everyone on the team knows that everyone else has a secret second code word, and turncoat would be listening for “rare” words to pop up in that sort of call. For that reason the secret duress code word has to be less rare, and the team members have to just condition themselves not to use it in daily conversation.
This process requires that Sydney memorize the rest of the team’s duress codes as well. Lots to do as a fledgling superheroine. Hiro, Max, Arianna and Zephan have to memorize both sets of code words. It’s got to be tough considering a situation like that is probably going to be a rare occurrence.
By the way I call Harem “part Irish” in that one panel. I started thinking about it and really she’s probably mostly Irish. She’s a befreckled red head and her last name is DeShantis. There’s a few other nationalities mixed in to her heritage, cause that’s just how people do, but yeah, mostly Irish.
I’m experimenting with something in that middle panel – the captions are character coded by hair color, since in this case the two speakers have different hair color, go figure. This won’t work if Arianna is talking to Vogue Harem or Anvil with Heatwave. When I originally started the comic, I considered briefly color coding the speech bubbles the way Flaky Pastry does, but I was concerned that could lead to some difficult to read color combinations. Obviously everyone notices the pretty word bubbles, but correctly associating them with offscreen speakers is something only really astute readers pick up on.
I have a NSFW surprise for you. (Softcore, nothing too crazy.) A supporter over at Patreon commissioned a picture of Dabbler and Maxima doing, let’s say, non-canon things. He didn’t commission it from me, as I don’t have the time for stuff like that unfortunately. Instead a guy who goes by Mikiron did it, and it’s excellent. So check it out and check out his page as well.
By the way, happy Overwatch day. Supposedly the game should unlock today at 4pm PST. I still plan on drawing a Zayra + Peggy pic, but ironically the release of the game may slow that process down somewhat. I’ll try and have it ready as the next vote incentive.
Patreon supporters can view this page at twice the size! (as soon as I wake up and post it then immediately go back to sleep since Patreon doesn’t have a way to schedule posts yet.) $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like :)
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Irishman here. that insult was fucking hilarious you fat American bastard.
I would have never known it was directed at the Irish.
Here in Idaho… ya know… we are known for our Potatoes.
We have a TRUCK
And everything.
It is the ‘famine’ bit that directs it. Whilst I am sure that the potato blight will have affected other parts of the world, Ireland was very heavily dependant on it as a staple, and had insufficient alternatives. So the deaths that resulted were a massive proportion of the population. Plus it led to many fleeing the country, with a lot going to England but many to America too.
This is wny…checks Wikipedia… 10% of people in Idaho identify as Irish
A good part of the reason why Idaho has so many potatoes is because the Irish were expert at farming them, so helped to improve the farming of them there.
Yes, but the Idaho farmers are not known for starving; they’re known for being the shape of their primary export. :P
I keep thinking to myself how cool a web-animation of this series would be, It makes me wish I had any skills Flash, and had the permission to work with you in making it an animated weekly/bi-weekly animation. I have neither, so I don’t.
I find it funny with all this “media relations 101” about not offending people, and then the characters use my God’s name as a common curse weird in the next panel. Of course, I’ve just come to accept that no one cares about offending me, that I personally just need to “get a grip” and not be so sensitive… Yet, I notice that no one in the comic has ever uttered “Bouncing Buddha on a pogo stick”, or “Mother@@@@@@@ Mohammad”… That’s because it’s not right to offend those people…. Do I smell a double standard? I think I do!
See panel 2 for the rebuttal to your issue. The Irish are allowed to laugh at Irish jokes. Likewise Arianna has likely grown up in a Christian culture, irrespective of whether she is herself secular or religious. Saying “Jesus Christ”, when stubbing a toe, or feeling exasperated, is endemic in various segments of our society. Myself included, and more relevant, likewise in the military, which is where our comic is set.
Your alternative expletives would make no sense coming out of Arianna’s mouth. The dialogue is realistic for our culture and the specific setting they are in. Yes, Arianna has lapsed, out of frustration, and is not practising what she preaches. But that rather is the gag. Sydney is frustrating the heck* out of her.
I am surprised to find you here mind. Given that all the advertising, for this comic, warns that the heroine is foul-mouthed. If you are that sensitive, this is probably not the comic for you.
Oh and by the way, just the other day, the comic was gently poking fun at the doctor’s culture. Or at least Sydney’s lack of understanding of it. So your accusations of double-standards are, frankly, more troll-like than well-founded.
* See how hard I am trying. I edited that from “Hell”, just in case invoking Satan’s place of residence might give offence.
“Yet, I notice that no one in the comic has ever uttered “Bouncing Buddha on a pogo stick”, or “Mother@@@@@@@ Mohammad”…”
In THIS comic, perhaps. Other comics? Not so much.
“Bouncing Buddha on a pogo stick” sounds funny. I’ve never heard it said before in any context so I’ll try to fix that into a sentence eventually without it sounding contrived.
Hey, you succeeded. Well done.
As a neopagan, I’ve been known to use “Danu’s tits!” or “By Shiva’s third and most potent testicle!” from time to time. I also picked up “Great merciful bloodstained gods!” from the movie Spartacus (the original with Kirk Douglas) just because it’s such a great line.
Just don’t try using it in Myanmar (what was Burmah) you will find yourself in jail for blasphemy. Even having a Buddha tattoo, can do that. And do not forget to remove your shoes before entering one of their temples. That is another big no-no.
I actually kinda agree with your point about the double standard but only partially, the reason being is because we dont want to offend all the PC people, but in all fairness we should be allowed to pick on them i mean look at all the middle eastern bullshit, IS and all the terrorism, we should make fun of them its how us little people can fight back at them, But we dont want to incure the wrath of the suicide bombers, lest we lose our houses, now do we.
Political satire is perfectly acceptable, in my eyes. Lampooning a bungling leader, be it religious or secular, lets the powers-that-be know the public have seen through their bullshit. Plus it is a healthy way to let off steam.
It is far more preferable to have the public laughing than rioting. The only price that is paid is that politicians, and their supporters (including those of a religious nature) end up with their pride battered. Which is actually a good thing when hubris (false pride) is involved.
Here though a distinction must be drawn. Namely the difference between directing insults at politicians, policies and political parties (including clergy, religious dogma and religions) versus directing them at objects of veneration.
Flag burning is a good example of this. It is a powerful symbol of dissatisfaction. As such it should be kept legal. Better that protesters have this way to vent their frustrations. If it can help them express their frustrations, without rioting and burning down buildings instead, it is actually healthy for society.
On the other paw though we have the Quran, which Muslims consider to be sacred. This is distinct from the Christian Bible, where it is only the message which is important. For Muslims the physical book is also, and an attack on it is considered to be an attack on God. So burning a national flag, or even a Bible, in a protest, is grossly insulting, but is otherwise on a par (ie an ultimate symbol of anger or frustration, at the institutions associated with it).
However burning a Quran is directing the insult at God. This is a cultural distinction which we should bear in mind, and respect. Likewise for the issue of depicting God or Mohammed. There is no healthy reason for directing attacks at someone’s faith. Insults, when called for, should be aimed at the unpopular leaders, institutions and policies, which are the cause of the frustration instead.
No healthy reason? I wholeheartedly disagree, Yorp.
Religion is a sociopolitical tool which spreads both moral and political beliefs. Are you saying we should attack the people who learned their beliefs from their religion, but not the religion itself? If an attack on a believer is justified, an attack on the beliefs should be pursued instead, else we’re just insulting people for no reason. Actually, a core belief of many religions is to respect ones’ fellow man and your sentiment goes against exactly that.
You seem to have missed that I indicated that the dogma is open for debate.
However I must admit that I was thinking of dogma as being the baggage that grows up around a religion, but which is not intrinsic to the original message. However, in looking up the word, I see it is precisely the opposite. It is actually the core, unchangeable, tenants of the religion. As such I would have been better off saying “church policies” rather than “dogma”.
If you are faced by a religion which advocates human sacrifice, or something equally aberrant, then it is entirely appropriate to challenge such dogma and disavow the religion in its entirety. However none of the major mainstream world religions have such practices.
I do feel it is appropriate to mock silly church policies or strange ceremonial trappings. But it is foolish to ridicule the central pillars of someone’s faith. At best such will alienate them, driving a divide between yourself and them. At worst it might provoke a violent retaliation.
This is true of every strongly held faith. Push somebody too hard and they will push you back!
However this is where intelligent use of comedy can be invaluable. Finding ways to challenge unfair practices or policies. But being careful to aim it at those aspects specifically, rather than attacking the core faith itself. Get the dividing line wrong, and you risk getting folks angry.
The skill lies in getting the members of that faith to laugh. If their practices are indeed foolish, this can help them see it. And, at the end of the day, you need them onboard if you want them to change their practices. But they will not be laughing if they feel you are taunting their faith!
Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain… Using it as a curse word is a sin. The Lord’s name is
sacred. By your own argument then, don’t offend Christians by abusing something sacred to them… I know it won’t happen, and if I stopped reading comics that had offensive stuff in them, I would soon have nothing to read.
Except modern western society has pretty much ignored that for several generations. Barring the more conservative religious elements mind.
Shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted is fairly pointless. But this horse has been gone so long that its great great grandchildren are still prancing free on the moors!
Not that I have any objections to folks yearning back to the good old days, when such things were held as sacred throughout society. Nor for wishing to restore things to such a state, despite the unlikeliness of that happening.
Nonetheless I do adhere to traditional values and make the effort myself. If in polite company mind. However I would have been more impressed by the argument if it was raised in its own sake, rather than complaining about it in comparison to another religion.
They have managed to maintain their values in their broader society to this day. And it is Western society which is seeking to erode their culture. So it is hardly fitting to use our attempts, at the corruption of another society, as an excuse to try and prop up the fallen values of our own!
This sounds an awful lot like your religion deciding what people who “don’t belong to your religion” should and shouldn’t do. You’re not going to go to Hell because I say any bad words are you? You can be mad at me for sinning but you can’t tell me I’m offending Christians because I don’t believe the same things you do; and I don’t believe saying Christ is a sin.
The inherent humor in the scene is Arianna’s hypocrisy. She asks Sydney to tone down her swearing and then immediately blasphemes. The point isn’t that there’s a double standard, but that Arianna isn’t following her own rules.
Unimportant observation: I think that’s a Uni-ball Signo RT1 that Sydney is using in that penultimate panel. Between that and Arianna’s Sheaffer fountain pen, the folks in this comic have some pretty great taste in writing implements.
(PS: Oof. “Penultimate”. I swear that wasn’t on purpose.)
Looks like one of those old Bic multi-ink pens (the ones that have three four or more inks and you change the colour by pressing down the corresponding colour at the top)
Hey DaveB, just a quick FYI about the web banner at Top Web Comics. It isn’t showing. I don’t know if it’s not linking correctly to wherever they store it or if my computer is just being Windowsie. Reloaded a couple of times and it never popped up.
It is working fine on my screen. So must just be a local problem at your end. I advise forcing a cache reset (for Google Chrome, and some other browsers, you can use CTRL+F5 to do this). Hopefully that will fix the issue.
Hmm working fine for me, but I’ll keep an eye on it.
Awesome. I’ll check the cache tonight. At work and my phone, 1/10th the size of my tower, displays everything just fine.
I have to ask- can we get a vote reward showing us how the hell Dabbler got Maxima to say “trouser ferret?”
You do realise that this might involve the depiction of a “trouser ferret”? Are you sure you want to handle that?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W7c8QghPxk
Panel 1 for #425 — Did you, perhaps, mean “more considerate individual” …?
The turn of phrase works as stands. “A more considered individual” indicates a change in state of Sydney (in particular her mind-set), as opposed to the results of her entering into that new state. Namely becoming more considerate to others.
Say, you look awfully familiar. I hope you are not a defector from my Penguin Army? Just because I left the Secret Antarctic Base unsupervised, for a few months, does not mean you can go off gallivanting around the globe!
Penguin…? Why, no…I’m a Prinny, d00d! *chucks a bomb at Yorp and waddles away like hell*
Don’t know what I’m watching. But I like it.
*Eating popcorn*
From the wonderfully weird Disgaea series of strategy games ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-mb4HywmXQ
Ahh thank you, but it is not my birthday, so no need for a sparkly present. Here Cato, please look after this.
…………………………………………………………………………………
R.I.P. Burt Kwouk.
“Sets up a grill”.
I wonder what penguin tastes like?
So. Who was it that got Sydney into the game? (More importantly, who will win?)
Also, is it a Bingo, or a full set?
Dabbler would seem the most likely temptress.
Both. Each player’s card has its own winning words printed on it, which, although there is overlap with other players, must represent the full set that said player must meet in order to win.
For Sydney to talk like a normal human would be the best way to show that something was wrong.
Maxima; Where are you Private Scoville?
Halo; I’m sorry I can’t attend you briefing, Commander, but there was a problem at the store I had to attend to. I’ll be in as soon as I can be there.
Maxima (to team); Sydney’s been kidnapped! Send in the cavalry!
+1
So, apparently i’m the only one who didn’t understand that insult at all, or the only one who dare ask to get it explained.
Sydney is obviously up on her Irish history, with the “potato deficient famine” part, which alludes to the Irish Potato Blight.
I am possibly missing something on the “jockeys” ending mind, as the only thing which springs to mind is the fact that Ireland has produced some of the best jockeys in the world. Which, as it does not significantly add to the insult, probably means there is some American or pop culture reference that is whooshing over my head.
However even the mundane explanation, for the latter part, would be racially stereotyping a populace after a single profession (albeit quite a complimentary one). The former part though recalls one of the grimmest eras of Irish history. With a great many deaths, from starvation. Not to mention all those forced to emigrate, due to starvation.*
All that subtext contributes to Arianna getting her knickers in a twist.
* Including one of my ancestors. Although she was very fortunate in not having to go to America.
Just to set your mind at ease about my
comment, it was not to wind Americans up.* Life on the frontier, for a malnourished penniless peasant, like her, would have been rough. But the odds of her even surviving the trip were not very favourable. A surprising statistic puts this into perspective.
There was a significantly greater mortality rate, for those emigrants, than there was for slaves on board a slaving ship!
It all fell down to greed and the incentives it provided to the owners and captains. Slaves only made a profit if they survived the trans-Atlantic trip to be sold. Emigrees paid their fees up front. Further the more who died, on route, the less supplies they used up.
Knowing there would be a high mortality rate thus allowed less supplies to be loaded. The sea-burial of the dead also helped to lighten the load. Both of these facts were important, due to the conditions of the ships used for the trade. Canadian timber was being exported to Europe. As timber is buoyant, it meant that even otherwise unseaworthy ships could be used.
Of course this posed a problem once the timber had been unloaded. No insurance company would underwrite a ship that was in such a decrepit state. As such, in turn, nobody would risk their cargoes being transported on the Americas-bound leg of the journey. And an empty cargo ship looses money.
So they used some of their timber to make tiny cabins for the emigrees to be crammed into, like sardines. Making sure to get their payment before they got to see how bad their conditions would be.
* Ok, ok, I confess it was. Just a little bit mind.
From what I’ve heard, this is pretty normal for the military.
Especially when you’re talking about an organization that has recruiting standards that would be schizophrenic for any other branch.
VATICAN CAMEOS!
Yea, I had wondered about that too. Maybe some clergy patreons?
…Harem laughing like that has become a running gag, hasn’t it?
I think ‘shorn cloaca’ would be a good durres code.
Having been in the military, I can tell you right now this super power team’s protocols are nothing like the real military.
Dave is not from a military background, so that is understandable. And we should not be too concerned, as the main thrust of the comic is the comedy, and the super-hero side of things.
However it is always worth while to give examples of what is ‘off’, to your eyes. For a couple of reasons. Firstly it can inform the author as to areas he could tighten up, to give it a more realistic feel. Secondly some of the differences would have to be present in Archon, compared to any other military unit, and the differences you describe may be explained by that.
The latter being because the team ,members are rarer than Hollywood “A” list celebrities, and have pay-packets to match. Plus, if they get dissatisfied and leave (once their tour is over, obviously) then they cannot be replaced. Not like for like, anyhow. And big business will be doing everything they can, to lure them away!
Incorporating any feedback would be simplicity itself, due to the fact that Archon is new, and is just finding its way. So it could be presented as them transiting from informal protocols, to formal ones, as they are codified.
The last time such a distinctly different force was created was when the fist air forces were assembled. Although they could draw personnel from the army and the navy, to help them establish their new service, the old protocols could not cope with many of the needs of the new service.
Techniques for teaching bayonet drill and marksmanship simply did not translate to dogfighting. So whole new methods had to be thought up, whilst actually fighting a war, and discovering just what capabilities the new service could bring to the battlefield. Which, in turn, created a unique new culture.
Where the flight crew could spend their days in battle, and their nights at the theatre, or with their family.
Such things are commonplace today, and drone warfare brings an even more unusual twist on that. But in their early days, the world had seen nothing like it. And any serviceman, from another branch of the military, at that time, would have found many of their practices to be bizarre.
Now make her say Cloaca Maxima!
And why can’t I get my Gravatar to work here anymore?
Has your email address changed? If the one you registered your gravatar with is not the one you are using now, you need to set up a new one at https://en.gravatar.com/.
Alternatively it is easy to accidentally alter your email address, on the comments form, if you tab down to the wrong spot, or just misclick. Even a single character deletion or addition would still parse as an email address, so would be accepted, for making a comment. Yet it would not match the one you registered your gravatar under.
Sydney has a cultural slur for every occasion. Or more than one slur per occasion. Usually closer to twenty, and that’s just the ones that fit in a speech bubble.
A way to work “vermilion” into the conversation: talk about the game Melty Blood. Talk about how you main Akiha and hate her other form. You’re the Mighty Halo; nobody will question that change of topic.
Lots of ways to use vermillion. She could mention it as a name for the color of Maxima’s blood. She could refer to Beetlejuice, where they had a use of it. Given her instinctive creativity with words, the issue wouldn’t be using it but doing so in a way Maxima would notice.
Maxima bleeds blue and has done so on national television thanks to Vehemence. Anyone who even started doing their due diligence before pissing off Archon would smell that reference as a coded message.
I was thinking dress shopping. She could list off a bunch of random colors: maroon, burgundy, turquoise, vermilion, black, etc. If Sydney could say it in the middle of the list, it would be basically unnoticeable to her captors, but Max would definitely notice it.
Tbh I think a better Duress code would be mentioning “that office party on Saturday” or something, because then you could work in code for what you know of the people holding you captive
Examples:
“you’re bringing the nachos, right?” – “bring people to deal with fire/heat”
“make sure you bring some of that special spicy dip you do” – “bring fire”
“we just need trail mix” – “Bring a mixed bag, I have no idea what they’re packing”
…Now I want to skip ahead to the scene in which Sydney is captured (rescued by Cora) and see if she remembers/has a chance to use the Vermillion code.
…I’ll get there eventually.