Grrl Power #444 – Reuleaux earballs
The paws/pause pun obviously loses a little something in written form, but what can you do? Hopefully everyone got it anyway.
My original vision of this page included the big panel with a bunch of little word bubbles with pointed ears in them aimed at about a third of the silhouettes in the gallery – but the background and the banners and all the silhouettes and vacation sort of added up. I didn’t want to do silhouettes for the people at the table but again I ran out of time. I do like the gallery being cast in shadow though.
You might notice there are a lot more seats in the gallery than there are at the table. (And the gallery runs both sides of the chamber, though you can’t see that here.) I haven’t quite figured out how that works yet. I think the races are organized in to twelve groups of related species, and the groups rotate out which of them gets a seat. Everyone gets a voice though, but for expediency’s sake, the seated representative should be advocating not just for their race, but for everyone in their member group. Organizing the Council was no small task, after all, some of those groups historically don’t get along well. It’s bad form in the Council to refer to humans as a common enemy, but maintaining secrecy involves preventing supernatural wars from spilling out into the streets, and that takes strict internal policing. That’s something that will be touched on briefly before this scene is done.
This page colored by Keith.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon as soon as I get up. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like :)
Here’s the link to the new comments highlighter for chrome, and the GitHub link which you can use to install on FireFox via Greasemonkey.
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They’re buds. That’s almost fraternizing….
Let’s hope for the kind of fraternizing that gets them kicked out of the military! Oh wait, that’s legal now…
Eh, given the difference in Paygrade, one ore both could find themselves getting an ugly DD214 for that kind of Fraternization. Max for sure, Sydney if she can’t/won’t claim and prove she was coerced.
Sucky thing about the UCMJ, No “double jeopardy” protection. You can be tried in civilian courts and found innocent, then be brought up to your CO For a ” Non Judicial” hearing (Captain’s Mast for the navy, don’t know if the other branches have a different name). And get punished for having been perceived as having committed the crime.
“Double jeopardy” doesn’t apply so much to the crime itself, but to the specific charge. For example, if a single crime breaks both federal and state laws, then one could be brought up on charges in both jurisdictions even if both called the crime by the same name, In fact, something similar happened to O.J. Simpson. Even after he was acquitted of murder, Nicole Smith’s family was able to win a wrongful death judgment against him.
The OJ Simpson civil case has nothing to do with double jeopardy, because the double jeopardy clause only protects against criminal trials, and doesn’t do anything for civil trials.
It has more to do with military jurisdiction being completely separate from civilian jurisdiction. If a military person starts a barroom brawl (for example) & gets tried by civilian court, serves a sentence of jail time & pays fines/penalties/restitution, then goes back to their duty station, they can & will be tried by military court for the exact same charges and even (if they served any civilian jail time) have Been AWOL added to it!
I think you will find that O J Simpson only played a soldier, in films. So he was not tried under military jurisdiction.
If he had been, the military would have found a way to make his glove fit. They get enough practice, doing that, with all the misfitting uniforms issued to troops.
You want to know why the skin-tight glove wouldn’t fit? He was already wearing a glove, plus, he was deliberately making his fingers fan out to make ‘fitting’ even more difficult
This kind of thing is always worth raising, as it helps remind DaveB about military regulations. Particularly so if it gets to the point where our (very large) military readership are finding something to be breaking their sense of disbelief.
But that must be tempered both with the fact that Dave is a civilian and that allowing himself to be restricted too much by military protocol would ruin (for this issue) the inter-personal relationships or, more frequently, the comedy potential.
Fortunately there is a very good solution to this situation. Maxima wrote the rule book. And anything which compromised her ability, to apply her own judgement and style of leadership, was thrown out! For very good reasons. The rules which work with near-identical humans, break down, and become useless, when dealing with the vast disparity in power and capabilities that happen with a unit of supers!
Take punishing Harem for example. If she had to go through normal procedures, and sit and wait until a formal decision could be made, Harem might find it too burdensome and simply teleport away. Maxima knows her personality, and capabilities, so applied an immediate non-judicial judgement and on-the-spot punishment.
Their CO (General Faulk) was fully aware of this and did not bat an eyelid. Maxima was operating within her authority, as per Archon’s rules.
The same goes for fraternising with Halo. It is absolutely vital for Maxima to establish and maintain a close rapport with her. And we have seen several scenes emphasizing this. Regardless of how other branches might frown on doing so. Halo clearly has the potential to exceed Maxima in power, eventually. So keeping Sydney loyal must be handled the way that works with her. But normal military protocol, and DD214, would impede Maxima’s options, to do that.
Ergo if it was in their rule book, Maxima and General Faulk will have, several days ago, taken their marker pen to it, and had the amended version distributed through the unit. But I doubt it was there in the first place. Maxima has wartime super-battle experience, as a senior officer, and will have figured out these basic principles years before Archon was formed.
The only type of “fraternising” you get in trouble for is the sexual kind. They don’t exactly encourage Colonels to hang out and play D&D (or whatever) with the Privates, but it’s not against the UCMJ.
And sexual relations are only specifically criminally punishable if they are in the same chain of command. Since Maxima is the unit commander she can’t do the nasty with any of the other supers. Except possibly Dabbler, since she’s a “consultant”, not an Archon member. That’s what Maxima and Arianna were arguing about with the Hiro rumours thing.
Thanks. That is much more in line with what I am used to, with the UK forces, albeit only from having family who served. Mind you any relationship, which could interfere with the unit’s effectiveness, could see one, or the other, reassigned (as opposed to discharged) in the UK services.
]Although, admittedly, that would normally involve a sexual relationship, somewhere in the equation. Or, at least, those few which get publicly reported, seem to do so.
Just an FYI, since it looks like you don’t know from context.
A DD214 is the paperwork that a US military member receives on discharge. It’s occasionally called “Golden Ticket” and “Security Blanket,” but it just means that they’re separated from Service.
Yea, I just looked it up myself, as brionl‘s comment made me suspect that it was not referring to a code of conduct. None-the-less the gist of my comment still stands, needless to say. As Maxima is (very likely, but not canonically) the one who wrote the Arc-SWAT rule book, we are not likely to see her breaking any of the rules.
Unless it involves her temper getting the better of herself, that is. But Maxima is clearly honourable. I have seen an officer who did make such a mistake. And immediately regretted it, was open and honest about having done it, despite it being easy to have covered the incident up. Further making no excuses for the action, and accepting full responsibility. Particularly pertinent as there were mitigating factors, which I was aware of, but that were never raised.
I think it would take extraordinary circumstances for Maxima not to be the one to let the chain of command (i.e. General Faulk) know of her lapse, and stand ready to accept whatever punishment may result.
Almost, but it is sororitizing.
Leave it to Syd to ask all the question noone wants asked.
Great for exposition though.
Wait so with all the aliens and stuff, you’d think someone would know what Maxima is.
So does she know, and is pretending not to know?
He saw her origin story through Deus. She doesn’t know for sure. She probably has some theories though
Turn out she’s actually a magical sailor girl but is too embarassed to admit it.
And to OP. She would ANIALATE those villains
I read analate and was confused. *annihilate
Easy spelling aid: annihilate contains ‘nihil’, which in Lain means ‘nothing’. So, ‘annihilate’ translates to ‘make nothing of’.
But surely “nihilate” would mean to make nothing of and an-nihilate would be the opposite?
Oh, great. Now I have that line replacing the line about villains in the Scooby Doo theme song.
The x-ray of her when half transformed into gold didn’t have any pointyness in her converted ear.
The universe is a REALLY big place and all of time is REALLY long. Since the museum didn’t mark it as a meteor (which are so rare that you don’t get to handle them), it was probably on Earth for a long time, possibly longer than our civilization. If the eggs were rare, maybe even unique, and possibly from far away, there could be no people in contact with Earth that know what it was. Plus, her origin was highly classified, at least on Earth, so they might not have even asked about it (maybe some evil empire wants it or knows a weakness). We don’t even know if other objects of this type (if any exist) bestow similar powers, cause a similar appearance change, or react to other species in a similar manner. Maxima probably the first human to handle an item of this type, maybe if, say, a succubus got splashed, something radically different would happen.
Yes, but with all the aliens from all the planets, one might know about this.
Aww, poor Maxima. So shy looking! And the ‘thing which is never spoken of’ has been mentioned!
If you meant panel seven, she doesn’t look shy, she looks… unsure
Uncertain . . . or maybe sad.
I thought it was more of a sly look. Like, I-know-something-that-you-don’t, look.
Final panel, maybe. Although that would contradict the dialogue, so I would go for ‘defiant’ or even ‘sulky’. But I was referring to the one before that.
The “thing that’s never mentioned” is whether the carpet matches the drapes.
Actually, that one gets asked about once a fortnight. It is one of the reasons Maxima has such little faith in the male gender.
Hang on, why would Ingsol run the pointy-ear club if he has round ears?
If maxima was mutated into an existing race, then perhaps she could.
The only thing we know, is that she was splashed with a geode water, which changed her a bit.
whether the change qualifies her as a new race, or just a freak awesome mutation, we do not know.
this is NOT the post i intended to respond to! just imagine it is two posts up.
Your comment, misplaced though it is, along with Maxima’s expression in panel 7, plus Maxima’s geode water origin sotry and…
*drawing in another thread into the web*
… [proudly spoken] knowing that Maxima used to be a nerd, makes me wonder.
Did Maxima used to have a thing for elves, and did that affect her metamorphose into her super-form? Perhaps she also loved the work of that artist, who famously painted shiny metallic women, in science fiction settings?
So, she was in love with Legolas, Samus Aran and Silver Surfer. XD
“…that artist, who famously painted shiny metallic women, in science fiction settings?”
Hajime Sorayama? (could be misspelled)
Julie Bell also did ‘shiny metallic women’, she is the wife of Boris Vallejo
And his model too, thanks goodness. Don’t remember any hers of that kind. Lots of amazons, though..
Googling that brings up a page full of images of the kind I had in mind, yes.
Was wondering that as well :D
What are these ‘ear’ things of which you speak?
Please please please, can I haz my own pixie fan?
*gets in line behind Yorp to get a pixie fan*
If I had a Pixie fan at work, I might not be tempted to use the Chainsaw of Natural Selection on the majority of my customers. ( I work the gas station of a Wholesale Shoppers Club that shall remain nameless. Think of EVERY youtube video showing IDIOTIC drivers pulling stupid stunts and dumb actions at a gas station. Those happen on a weekly, if not daily, basis … plus the bonus of the customer base being dumb enough that when we DID have the station closed down due to someone managing to catch their vehicle on fire … the idiots kept driving up and asking when thyey station would reopen … WHILE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS STILL THERE )
Yeah, a pixie fan would calm me down a bit.
OH I want a Chainsaw of Natural Selection … along with the Button drop of Natural Selection … and the Open Pit if Natural Selection … clearly labeled .. for the purpose of natural selection …
But yes a pixie fan would cool (and be cool) me down a bit from the plethora of morons that walk though my doors that don’t have a clue … sometimes I really wonder how they managed to both survive to adulthood as well as get their pants on in the morning.
It *has* been kind of hot here for a week or so.
Not allowed a normal desk fan here. Health and Safety. Someone might try licking the blades. We can only use those fancy Dyson bladeless fans, but good luck getting management to sign off on one.
Seriously? o_O
I too used to have corncob-up-the-arse management like that, at some of the companies I worked for. Fortunately I have found a solution to that. I now work for a company which has a very easy-going and relaxed managing director. With no anal corn-cob fetish.
YORP: Can I have a pixie fan, at my workstation?
YORP: Sure, if you can figure out where to insert the batteries, we will even supply those. If it runs on pixie dust, you will have to figure that out yourself, or with your elf.
No, meant about the people who would lick the moving fan-blades
Never underestimate humanity’s potential for stupidity. If management lists that as a reason to refuse you a fan, it means somebody did it, and then turned around and sued because of it.
There are directions.
On the package.
For Wetnaps.
“Open package. Remove WetNap. Unfold. Use”
Both in the manual and on the steering column of my father’s RV is the warning “DO NOT LEAVE STEERING WHEEL UNATTENDED WHILE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION”
The fact that that warning is necessary makes me a little sad for the state of humanity.
Back in one of my highschool (or was it college) business law classes, I remember hearing about a case where some imbecile turned on hius RV’s cruise control, and then left the driver’s seat. He sued after the inevitable accident.
So yeah, people are that dumb. Or maybe he was a time travelor who didn’t realize the self-driving vehicle was still a few decades off.
Either way you can thank him for that warning.
Thank the idiot in the RV company who did not keep appealing the decision, until it reached a court with their heads screwed on right!
Eh, they probably just decided to let it stand, in the hopes that he’ll take his money (and stupidity) and Just. Go. Away.
Stickers cost less than attorneys fees.
The trouble is that it brings the whole US legal system into worldwide disrepute. Unless there are very good reasons for the decision, which are not mentioned, in the details given in this thread, it is a precedent which makes a mockery of justice.
I have had extensive dealings with US legislation, so I know that the majority of it is actually fair and sensible. But nonsensical anomalies, such as this, are what catch the headlines around the world. And give people everywhere the impression that the USA has an incompetent legal system. Not to mention contributing to domestic opinions of the same!
It seems it’s a moot point anyway, as Snopes has this listed as an urban legend: https://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/cruise.asp
Thank goodness. Like I say I have faith that the bulk of cases have fair, generally sensible outcomes. Barring the highly-publicised exceptions, of course. But, as ever, with modern media, that does not give you a good impression of the system, given the lack of publicity for the vast amount of fair verdicts. So I am glad this was just an urban legend.
there are also directions on some boxes of toothpicks, and some books of matches.
I’ve heard that the US military has a 4-page manual for hammers.
Hammers are very nearly as useful as trenching tools, so I can actually imagine there being 4 useful pages on the use of hammers in a military handbook.
You want to lose all faith in humanity take an into to business law course. Some of the cases we studied:
A guy bought a push lawnmower and was holding it up in the air to trim his hedges. He dropped it and cut off three of his toes. He successfully sued the company that made the mower because there wasn’t a warning label on it saying not to use it to trim hedges.
Another guy from the same gene pool bought a circular saw and removed the handguard for some reason. He cut off two of his fingers. He successfully sued the maker of the saw even though it had warnings not to remove the handguard because the handguard was attached in a way that it could be removed.
Another genius bought an RV and went driving with it on the highway. He turned on the cruise control and went in back to make coffee. Not suprisingly the thing crashed as no one was driving it. He successfully sued the maker of the RV because the owners manual didn’t state the cruise control wasn’t a self driving system and you should not leave the steering wheel while the vehicle was in motion.
This class isnthe reason why I seldom think villains in stories that just want to destroy the world or wipe out humanity have a bad idea.
Lawnmower: They should have just chopped off the rest of his toes. Giving him a more symmetrical look, whilst discouraging folks from wasting court time. He should not be mowing, without wearing work boots, such as those with titanium toe protectors. No matter what the heat, I always protect my paws properly!
Circular saw: Fair result. The company could manufacture it either way, and chose an option which exposed stupid users to unnecessary risk.
RV: The case should have been thrown out,* and the guy prosecuted for dangerous driving. Even with present day prototype self-driving cars (which that case doubtless predated), they are meant to be constantly supervised.
In the pretty near future though he will have a legitimate defence.
* Just because the verdicts came out that way does not prevent the judge and/or jury from being stupid too.
As His Imperial Majesty pointed out earlier by linking to Snopes, the RV case is just an urban legend tacked on to a long list of “cruise control = autopilot” myths.
Yup. Earlier thread wise, but later chronologically. I just offered my opinions on what was presented.
Despite not liking having politicians mixed up with the judiciary (such as the way things work with district attorneys), I have a reasonable respect for the US legal system. So am glad that case was bogus, as it does not cast the courts in a good light.
And this is why we should have a clause in our laws that all instructions are to be interpreted as permissive rather than prohibitive- that is, if the instructions don’t clearly state that you can do something with an object, you are to assume it means DON”T DO IT. (there may be a better set of words to use there, but I can’t figure them out right now)
There’s issues like this all the time in badly-worded game rules that don’t have that sort of clause, where players will go “Well it didn’t tell me I COULDN’T use this cannon as a melee weapon” or “there’s nothing in the rules preventing me from pillaging the castle with my legions of sheep-men”. Situations where you get into Rules as Written vs Rules as Intended, or RAW vs RAI.
This is why Law has such a specific vocabulary, and why it’s seems at times so over-redundant- each word in LAW has a single, very specific meaning, instead of the dozens of potential uses those words have in natural parlance.
Isn’t that the way it works now?
“Well, they didn’t say not to lick the rotating blades of the chainsaw!!” <— translated from sign language
https://wanna-joke.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ids-cartoon-try-at-home.jpg
I get a warning from my AV when I click on that link.
Norton is happy that it is OK. Likewise with Google. And my AV let me view it, without protest, or problem.
Maybe a false positive from yours?
Could be.
However, given this warning, I’m more inclined to pay attention to warnings:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/antivirus-software-1.3668746
Indeed, it is why I do not take such lightly myself. Hence checking it out with three different security programs. And following tech news to ensure I am up to speed on any known issues which would compromise such layered precautions.
Mind you the best defence is to keep anything, which does not require an internet connection, on stand-alone machines. Likewise anything financially important.
Ransomware is getting too prevalent, and hard to defeat, to risk otherwise.
I remember someone posted a link to some warnings that made you think. The one that made me wonder at the story behind it was:
On a chainsaw: Do not attempt to stop chain with hands or genetals.
Sorry, that should be genitals.
Removing that warning may help improve the gene pool.
Signs are there because, APPARENTLY, someone needs them.
What you just said fits a particular homily: Anyone who can make something Foolproof is seriously underestimating the ingenuity of fools.
O.o
Adam in Mythbusters season one
https://gfycat.com/BigheartedCookedGerbil
Put it this way, I have a microwave in which the first two warning stickers are
“Do NOT put pets in microwave” and “Do NOT put children in microwave”
Sure, now you tell me!
*Opens microwave, grimaces, closes door*
I think we’ll just chalk this one up to a learning experience…
So you were both the manager and the worker? =OP
He works by himself. Freelance. He is his own master.
Yup :)
Makes it awkward when it comes to sexual harassment :P
Well, there is a reason why it’s also referred to as “self abuse”…
;)
The firm has comprehensive abuse reporting protocols. No such complaints have ever been raised in this company. Apart from one headed “I am not getting abused, why not?”. But that was deemed not to be pertinent, under the relevant ISO 9001 company guidelines.
:D
Please tell me that “someone might try licking the blades” is not their official reason for not allowing a desk fan. (I’m not sure if I’m hoping it is, or it isn’t.)
More likely the amount of dust (and other nasty things) that collects on the blades for further distribution later. The hospital I work at has been switching over to the blade-less types for a while due to ease of cleaning (2-3 min. vs ½ hour) and reduction of dust distribution. Due to the price ($200+ USD, yipes!) however, that switch-over is taking a while. They do pump out some pretty good airflow though.
The reason supplied in my various offices were that such devices had not been checked for health-and-safety violations so could not be used. The arse-hat excuse. The good companies provided an inspection service, with certification stickers, to allow such personal customisation of work space.
The company which used the former, and also stipulated that everything must be kept identical-looking, throughout all the offices, was the last time I worked in the rat race. That being one of the more trivial contributions to me getting fed up with the whole concept.
That makes sense.
Reminds me of using a pre-moistened wipe to remove old thermal paste from a CPU, and the employee with me turned his back so he could honestly say he didn’t see me use it. Apparently the company didn’t have the SDS (Safety Data Sheet) for the wipe I was using.
(I told him, “Do you have the SDS for rubbing alcohol? It’s the same thing.”)
As far as I knew, “bladeless” fans still have an impeller in their base to force airflow, and the ones I’ve seen I can’t discern any filter on the intakes for it, nor easy access to the blade if there were anyway, so wouldn’t they take even more time to clean than a standard caged blade fan?
Way more important than that. They cannot be used to kill vampires!
But they CAN be used to kill zombies!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuWo79u2ffI
I am glad to see serious effort is being put into preparing for the zombie apocalypse.
Effort & desperation, yes…Common sense & safety for self, no.
:D
The impeller is totally enclosed, thus off limits to users and the only cleaning needed is to wipe the ring and inputs off with a soft cloth or brush. Like I said, 2-3 minutes and you’re done. And with the newer ones they are filtered before the air gets to the impeller with a 0.1 micron HEPA filter.
The enclosed impeller will collect just as much dust, and be just as efficient at spreading germs as the conventional open impeller, only now you can’t clean it. Yes that’s an improvement…
The newer versions with the filter is a better design, but I’d really like to know how much impedance the filter imposes on the airflow. Impede the airflow and you need to beef up the motor and impeller to the same amount of air, with an increase in noise.
licking fan blades, is that an american pass-time like licking metal poles in the winter? why would any want to?
Yo that’s the kind of unhealthy work environment you should actively be trying to leave…
Are you allowed to use company electricity? My last corporate gig didn’t allow company employees to use any electricity for anything but work purposes. Anything not provided by the company for your work had to be battery powered.
Yeah, it’s like that out there in places…
I would requisition, from the company, a battery recharger, and a pile of rechargeable batteries. Citing some important office equipment that I needed to power with them. But also using them for any and all personal gear I brought in.
I made it an art-form to irritate management, by staying within their stupid rules, yet still doing whatever I wanted to do. Fortunately I was good enough, at my job, that they had little option but to seethe, and try to find ways to stop others from copying my example.
I had a lot of fun, talking to my co-workers and letting them know what they could and could not do within the rules. The best part was when company policy said two different things that were very nearly opposite – I would suggest they cite the two policies and forward them to their supervisors and ask for clarification.
When you’re in quality control, you spend a lot of time looking at the rules with a fine tooth comb. :D
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41JYaGk2CRL._AC_UL320_SR256,320_.jpg
Get a fan like this. No way someone can lick the blades on that. I got something similar for like 10 bucks. Easy peasy :P
Unaceptable! There is only one proper solution.
Challenge accepted!
https://i.imgur.com/x8RUpO2.jpg
When I first saw the pixie up there on the arm of the chair, bending over and seeming to sort of be showing Sydney her butt, fanning was not the first place my mind went. What can I say – I have a dirty imagination.
Either way I would call this “fan service.”
Ba-da-dish!
Although for real fan service, Grrl Power After Dark, would have her eschew clothing. Then she would get a big fan following…
Is it just me, or are the Saiyans represented here?
You mean the “japaneese” looking flag?
Which banner slash flag would that be? o_O
Ki wielders?
Maeby “japaneese/chineese” gods. Or some sort of mithological race
It’s Japanese and means “world king”.
Dam. Japaneese gods I say then XD
Japanese call Gods “Kami”
Oh, first one second row?
That’s the symbol Goku got on the back of his gi after completing his training with Kaio-sama.
Thank you
Looks like Konami has some presence as well. The flag (our left) of dabbler…
That’s not a Saiyan symbol! It’s Master Roshi’s symbol. God! *hipster eyeroll*
And by Master Roshi I obviously mean King Kai. God! *hipster eye roll even harder*
I know what you mean.
Yeah, knew it had nothing to do with the Saiyan’s, they didn’t even know about the Saiyan until vegetable-head showed up
“the pointy/round ears ratio in that room is like 2:3”
does the dabbler counts, or is that categorized under “else”?
also, that’s two new expressions for Maxima, in panel 4 and 7.
What about panel eight? o_O
I agree with both the first two and the addition. I think this is something that has troubled or at least perplexed Maxima for her entire adult life. If Sydney were more empathic, she might tread lightly here.
Maxima’s ears have always been a point of contention with her.
Pointlessly so, as Maxima has many fine points. But I get your point. Although you were very brave to take point, on pointedly discussing such a prickly subject.
a particularly prickly point too!
Point to Yorp.
Evidently, the subject of Max’s ears has instigated a rather robust & pointed discussion.
Stop pointing at Yorp
*cocks ears at a jaunty angle*
*makes a shadow play of a boat, sailing at sea, and getting attacked by Jaws*
I don’t know if they’re new for Maxima… I bet they go back to her pre-glitter days, before she met a certain geode…
Without looking it up, I am fairly sure her ears were standard issue, when we saw her handling the geode. Her brother likewise.
How do we know that it’s not rounded ears which is the unusual state?
As an Spanish reader I didn’t cach the “paws” pun.
Moving along, on one hand. I love the baners. On the other one, I would love to se one or bougth of this:
1º litle banners besides thouse simbolacing the diferent “nations” of each group. I doudt that every single one of then is 100% united.
2º More abstractal banners. I know that there has been clear image banners and flags all over history. But, those simbols turn up to be used quicly.
And, again, pardon my English.
No need to apologise. You conveyed your intent well. And your English is far better than any of my [bad attempts at] foreign languages. Even whilst living in a foreign country.
*hangs head shamefully*
“Sets up a gallows”.
No, no. The gallows are for hanging the whole person, not just their heads. Try a guillotine first, then a rope.
;)
As an English (American) reader I don’t get the pun either.
As a Dutch reader, I got it on the third try.
Now that we have n=3, we can do some statistics!
seems 50% of foreigners (eventually) get the pun, and 0% of native speakers (not counting the author).
Therefor, Dave Barrack can now be considered an author catering primarily to a foreign audience.
This message brought to you by the Bureau of Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics.
You should see what we can do once we correct for reporting bias!
He he. It slipped by me too, until DaveB‘s blog gave the inadvertent hint, by referring to it as a pun, in his blog.
Mind you I was bilingual Afrikaans and English,* when growing up, so I do not fit neatly into either category.
* Plus fluent in enough other tribal languages that, on the playground, we rarely spoke in English. Much preferring a mish mash, of various languages, that gave us a ‘secret language’, which most (white) adults could not follow.
Pidgin languages are the best aren’t they Yorp?
Woof Woof! Cooo cooo!
I live in the USA (a part of the Americas) and I got the pun. It helps if you just imagine that almost anything Sydney says might have more than one meaning.
I had no trouble picking up on it. I just think DaveB would have had a lot more trouble with trying to make a tasteful way of describing a “pregnant pause.” I don’t think Max as the type of person to tolerate being referred to as pregnant, even for just the humor’s sake.
I’m also American and didn’t get the pun; I just thought that it was just a weird nonsequitor.
“As an Spanish reader I didn’t cach the “paws” pun.”
Same and same.
I’m Australian, and got the pun on maybe one-and-a half tries.
Though I wish I hadn’t – I love Sydney but if she’s going to start with puns … Well, I’m tolerant of most human frailties, but also believe that habitual punners should shot, drawn, quartered, crushed under large rocks and dissolved in acid – and NOT necessarily in that order. ;)
Hear, hear! The order of punishments is correct, but only if the shooting takes place in a excruciatingly painful, yet non-fatal, manner, so that the offender may fully appreciate the rest of their punishments.
While I too didn’t catch the pun until informed about it, I did think that the better nickname for Maxima would have been “Kodiak”. I’m surprised that the trivia buff (read nerd) in Sydney didn’t think of that one instead since that bear has much bigger paws (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_bear#Large_claws_for_digging (46cm) vs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear#Physical_characteristics (30cm).
Oh man, I had always hoped that you were secretly the Sevant C Lord, a programming prodigy.
Err, why is there a noose hanging here? Soo cluttered too…
*pushes a rock, to cover a dangerous health-and-safety acid risk*
Guys… guys… have you not read that notice on never pointing your guns at people? Aaaaaaaaaaa….
*runs away, dodging frantically*
Wild dogs are varmints and, as such, are legitimate targets of opportunity.
*dodges behind OrlahEhontas, before vanishing through a wormhole, then sealing it shut*
[a voice appearing to emanate from OrlahEhontas]
All gun-toting vigilantes are pussies. And I am a pussy-cat, so we should be the best of friends!
[a sign appears]
*Beats Yorp with a Godendag.*
https://cleandungeon.com/article/art/goedendag1.gif
*attempts to cover head with front paws, trips over, and accidentally makes the Goldendag drop to the ground*
Aha! Kato, my trusty minion. Thank you for keeping me vigilant!
*hefts Goldendag, and touches sharp spikes, in surprise*
Although you seem to have picked up a real one of these, in error! Somebody could have gotten hurt. You need to take this back to the base’s armoury, and pick up one of the padded practice Goldendag’s, for next time.
*passes back the Goldendag, and saunters off to inspect the penguin soldiers, on parade*
So you’re calling o-pun season on them?
So, does that mean that you consider yourself to be more prone to Slapstick?
https://figmentforms.tumblr.com/post/146920249217/part-64-of-a-tale-of-two-rulers-new-comic
LOL.
Native Briton here, so native English speaker.
Cracked up before I finished the soeech bubble (got it straight away)
American, and same. Though smirked more than cracked up.
It took me a few read throughs to get what sydney was talking about all of a sudden. And I grew up speaking american! The only real english that exists to which all others are but pale imitations.
True enough if talking about the accent in parts of America. Given that they retained the original Elizabethan accent, despite the English accents evolving into the modern ones, we are now familiar with.
If you want to cast authentic Shakespeare plays, do your recruiting in the American colony. Just be sure to teach them correct pronunciation, and theatric vocal projection, to go with their accent. And don’t let them help writing the posters or schedules, as they will be sure to make spelling mistakes.
I don’t like the color of your commentary on the true spelling of the English language! You do us a great dishonor! Now I’ll just head back to the theater. You just keep your extraneous French ‘u’s out of good words!
OK luvvie.
Which one of them is your English? I’ve been looking for an English myself and would appreciate tips on how to acquire one. And so far as I can tell, that looks like the mess an American would make (and I should know, I am one) :D
For a non-native speaker, your English is perfectly fine, Welcome aboard!
Out of curiosity I tried a few text-to-speech sites with differents English accents (American, Australian, British, Indian, Irish, Scottish, South African) and while the pronunciation changes from one to the other, each one pronounce both words exactly the same. No sure how accurate they are, though.
Example: https://www.oddcast.com/home/demos/tts/tts_example.php?sitepal
Try “tomato” and “Gloucestershire”.
And bear in mind that the voice samples appear to be taken from actual people reading the words. So a blank result presumably means that it was too hard to pronounce (provided a word does have responses, from some of the readers, to confirm that it is a valid word they have in their database).
I always said that as Glow-ches-ter-shire… i’ve been wrong my entire life! Also i’m sad that there are no Welsh accents on that site.. I love welsh accents lol
Try “Worcestershire” :D
up up down down left right left right… I see you konami code
And… Star Fleet? Lol
Star Fleet has time travel – and even has a section that oversees its use. So, for all the visits they keep making to the 20th Centrury (or thereabouts), representation here would make sense.
I was just about to call that one out.
So the faction of arcade machine/ console game monsters? Perhaps represented by Godzilla and King Kong?
*looks around for any big toes, at the edge of the screen*
I am with the AI theore posted down
*climbs on top of the Empire State Building, beats chest, roars, and starts throwing down foam bricks at Alekay*
*Noping hard*
Rampage
Now THIS is a Rampage!
https://www.rampagegame.com/
That brings me back to the good ol’ days of Arcades in the 80’s :(
Maybe the Konami one represents digital beings. I’m sure there is a disgruntled Pidgey or two at the moment.
Notice there’s only one. Clearly someone hacked the universe with a cheat code. God Mode? Game Genie? Or they’re like Halo – they have an entirely unique power source, got to choose their own banner, and went cute.
^ ^ v v Start Select works in real life! Unless your life is based on Super Contra.. then its game over man
man I messed that up lol… I have just destroyed the world I think
Lol.
Whatever you do, Don’t Push That Big Red Button!
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BigRedButton
Why do we even have that button?
A smart Evil Overlord would have a big red button that in actuality disables the system so that nobody can press any of the real buttons…
https://missmab.com/Comics/Vol_362.php
…Somebody should add that idea to the Evil Overlord Handbook…
Yorp has pointy ears…
And they are adorable! /headscratches
*leans into the scratching, and wags tail enthusiastically*
Mmm, Ingsol represents the undead, so why is there a separate skull-emblem flag? No cross-bones so it is not the pirate faction.
Undertale?
Well, Ingsol represents all “extra-living” entitites; as Dave mentions, some seats represent more than one ‘race’, so if the red/black bat-flag represents vampires, maybe the skull are the other kind(s) of
undeadextra-living?Ahh, indeed, I was thinking of banners for the factions, rather than individual races. Interesting that the related ones are not clustered together. Probably more for giving us a feel of the whole, but we can alternatively take it to represent a political decision.
Perhaps a ruling that the component groups, within a faction, should mingle, in their gallery seating, to encourage integration between the entire community? And thereby also lessening the clique nature of being organised via factions.
Perhaps the flags are ordered by date of induction to the Twilight Council, rather than being grouped after the fact. This would likely be the more politically neutral way to do it, since grouping could cause arguments about which faction gets to be place in more prominent positions. “Why do you relegate the extra-living to the fringe? Racists.” There are other neutral ways to arrange them, but you want something that won’t cause too much argument.
Maybe Mumm Ra is one of the extra-living and shows up on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Beware… Mumm-Ra the Extra-Living!
As a devotee of the ‘7th Sea’ role-playing game, I find myself hoping there IS a pirate faction here, if only as a subset of another group. For reasons that should be obvious, they should be kept far away from any Ninja-ish group (whcih is something else that needs to be here).
The Ninja group *is* there. Can you see them? Mission accomplished.
And we can’t forget the Catholic Ninja subfaction, the Nunja!
Ahh, the paradoxical Nunja Inquisition. To expect or not to expect, that is the misquotation.
I’m glad that DaveB can manage keeping out those robotic auto-advertisers from his comments section, because…
…Wait for it…
Nobody respects the Spammish Repetition.
Sounds more like what happens after eating a can of Spam from WWI :P
Looking across the gallery it looks like we have:
??? (Possibly miscellaneous, one silhouette looks like the guy from before)
Nature spirits (dryads etc)
Undead (but not vampires?)
Aegir (or possibly actual robots)
Egyptian (mummies if they’re not undead/ sphinxes if they’re not odyssians/ animal headed gods?)
Elementals
Chinese/Japanese (oni?)
???
???
Vampires
Aliens
Celtic (banshees, boggarts etc)
??? (Directions?/wind spirits maybe)
???
Angels
Obscured
Obscured (maybe invisible men by the hat)
The last one is for Inspector Gadget
bodug has already recognized the arrows as “konami code”. not sure what that exactly is, but i have seen it before, so it is very likely to be a refference.
HOLLY SHIT! ILLUMINATI CONFIRMED!!!
The Konami Code is a cheat-code from the late eighties in many (console) games by the company Konami.
The code has become pop-culture in its own right, and there’s an impressive list of games that respond to it, from ancient (SNES) to recent (Wii, Xbox 360).
Earlier commentors suggested it might be the banner for sentient computers / AI, because of its roots in computer games
I love putting the Konami code into Silent Hill 3… you get the most hilarious and creepy at the same time result.
Like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-yFRjqn9Tc
I just about fell off my chair when I saw that in the theatre.
3rd on middle looks like witches based on silhouettes
Japanese could be ki users as has been pointed out
Directions is actually Konami code so AI maybe
“Invisible men” have silhouettes so probably not that
No AI in this universe per WoG.
Japanese is Kaiou (translated World King used in DBZ for King Kai)
Directions is Konami Code with a Bee but minus an A.
There is ‘a bee’ but the official code is ‘B A’. I’m still looking for the start button.
That is not surprising.
If they need volunteers to help look for it….
A couple seem to be from Tolkien lore. He borrowed heavily from many sources so might be the original.
Going with Miscellaneous too
Mushrooms (or Nature Spirits) – I spy Gumby
Undead (but not vampires)
Aegir – I spy Crow T. Robot and possibly a Fix-It from “Batteries Not Included”
Egyptian (or Illuminati)
Elementals – The left most is a Fire Elemental
World Kings
???
Witches & Warlocks
Vampires
Aliens – I spy Zeiram and a Grey
Celtic (or Nature Spirits)
Insectoid/Hive Mind
???
Angels
???
???
???
To be fair I have an advantage on some of you non-patreons.
A deserved one. :)
I have to say, pages like this is *why* I pay for a Patreon.
[ad mode]Go help Dave on Patreon today![/ad mode]
About the banner without silhouettes I have the normal resolution page but it seems to be some weird texture over the table line, right above the peak of the piramyd. Maybe it’s just a graphic artifact, but I also can imagine two or three very tiny somethings.
Could you or some other patreon check if that texture is there in the high resolution version as well?
I already identified my suspicions about those.
Ninjas. Or possibly thermal elementals.
First one looks like Frankenstein’s Monster – so, Sentient Constructs, non-mechanical? Organic creations.
I thought it was a Mushroom, for fungus people.
I like that the skull looks cheeky/like Papyrus
I was thinking Cyborgs and Androids. What do cogs have to do with a sea god?
Yeah, either Mummies or those animal head dudes from Stargate, or both.
Interesting guess.
Looks like a volleyball.
??? – Note there are no silhouettes
???
Yeah, space was my instinct.
Looks like a Celtic knot, but also like a weird mushroom cloud over Arabic letters. Prob. Celtic though, on account of the small silhouettes – The Little People
Konami
Warrior Princesses? Olympics?
Angels
Magical Girls?
Treasure Hunters/Museum Belongerers?
Oops. Skipped Vampires. Collating best guesses, or whoever guessed at all:
Organic Constructs/Re-Animated
Fungus People or Nature
Undead (Non-Vampire, Non-Mummy)
Mechanical Beings or “Aegir” – clearly a reference I’m not getting
Egyptian of one sort or other
Elementals
Asian/Oni or “World Kings?”
Literally nobody has any idea
Witches & Warlocks
Vampires
Aliens
The Little Folk (Celtic, maybe includes Leprechauns, Brownies, etc.)
Konami Code, whatever that means. Someone who can enter cyberspace a la various 90s shows?
Angels
Magical Girls?
People with artifacts, like Halo
The Tron faction. The original gets the naming rights.
Konami code is for hacker/cyberphreaks i’m calling it
https://youtu.be/bFDGPgXtK-U
You recon waggle dance is actually Konami Code?
SCIENTIST: Hah, see, I have categorically proven that this species of bee is aerodynamically and anatomically unable to fly!
BEE: (tries to fly, but fails)
JOURNALIST: So, how come we usually see them flying then?
SCIENTIST: Oh, that will take field studies. Thermal updrafts maybe? But they cannot take off, under their own power, as we can observe under these controlled conditions.
BEE: (does Konami Code waggle dance, and flies off)
SCIENTIST: …
JOURNALIST: (looks scientist, in the eye, and raises eyebrows)
SCIENTIST: I’ll just go and pack my things now.
No idea/Triangle: Probably Mages, since they’re waiting on a report.
Ts ts.
Nice speculations but y’all are missing one. Second row, fourth flag, directly above “angels” and between “Witches/Warlocks” and “Vampires”.
The ninja flag.
I should have expected the ninjas (to have a flag).
Nice to see Sydney has almost fully recovered from her leg shaking NERDGASM last page………….
(Pretty sure they just ruined her life with this reveal, nothing will ever compare, poor Syd)
Being fanned by a faerie seems to have helped. Which surprises me. Unless she has just recovered from a second nerdgasm, having had another when she woke up to see a faerie giving her smelling salts?
Magic Fae Dust.
It makes you inmune to mind and fisical orgams. Thats why succuby people are in eternal war against faerys
On the whole our community is very friendly and does not pick on typos, especially given that we have folks with dyslexia, where it is cruel to pick on such errors. Likewise, of course, English-as-a-second-language users, such as yourself.
However if the typo alters the meaning, or offers a fun pun, the gloves come off…
In this case, I love the option of reading your comment as either ‘physical orgasms’ or ‘fiscal orgasms’.
I am out of air for the laughts. Fiscal Orgasms. Ariana is certenly a nemesis of the Fae.
Immune to mental & physical orgasms?
You wouldn’t be able to guess that from this very NSFW example:
https://www.bloomingfaeries.com/comic/public/pit-stop/
Smelling salts = faerie farts?
EEEW! Faerie dust, wake up variety. Ladies don’t fart!
Certainly would explain the typical reaction to smelling the ‘salts’
Have you ever seen anyone not sit upright gagging and coughing after having the salts waved under their nose? o_O
I am enjoying the heraldry of those banners.
But what does each of them mean?
Why choose those color patterns?
I hope they are explained further in the comics.
Why choose that symbol?
Why choose that particular design?
Ingsol has indicated that the Twilight Council dates back 200 years. Ie to an era where illiteracy was still common. In ancient times, the solution was heraldry, which is what they have borrowed from, in doing this. It is even more important to do so here as, in addition to that problem, they also have peoples of many different Earthly language groups and totally unrelated ones from beyond the planet.
We know that such remained an issue, even later than the foundation of the Council, as trademarks were later conceived as a solution to the same problem. Namely how to get the illiterate (and foreigners) to recognise your organisation, and thereby build up a brand recognition and loyalty.
Bright colours were used in heraldry, to allow different banners to be easily distinguishable on the battlefield. Likewise for other design aspects. That will doubtless have influence here (both in a large chamber and, from the authors blog, because they do sometimes fight, although hopefully not in the chamber).
The specifics will be affected by the colour ranges that various factions can perceive, and any common culture which will allow them to understand the symbols.
Possibly, if there are things which perplex the readers, and the author takes pity. But until then, you will find a lot of informed speculation in the comments.
Actually several of those banners violates one of the basic rules of heraldry. The one on the top left is an example: azure, a shield vert with chevron sable in chief, the whole bordered or.
There are two “metals”: or (gold, yellow) and argent (silver, white). Some more-modern heralds also count tenne (orange), but orange paint was rare and expensive in medieval times, and in dim light it isn’t much different from yellow. Any other hue is a “color”.
You shouldn’t put a metal on a metal, or a color on a color. Why? Because in dim light the two metals – or any two colors – become hard to distinguish. And the original purpose of heraldry was to identify that fellow over there, three hundred yards away, under the trees.
The top left banner has a metal border, but everything else on it is a color. The one next to it is all colors, and the one after that is all metals. And those aren’t the only ones with problems.
*sigh*
You are obviously not up to speed with Gallifreyan heraldic rules. They are all fully compliant with Galactic Standard GS5037AD101 subsection 3A.
The differing colour perceptions of the various non-human races would also be a thing.
By the way, I should have said, that those were interesting points. Looking back at it, I realise my *sigh* would come across as a frustrated one. Rather than the comedic tone I had in mind.
It’s already been established through several works of fiction that real vampires absolutely LOATHE the Twilight series.
I really do love the sisterly relationship between Maxima and Sydney.
And let me guess, Maxima doesn’t like ppl calling her elf ears.
It aint just vampires that loathe the entire Twilight thing.
My daughter was in high school when the Twilight lunacy was at its height. She and her friends liked copying the following and putting it up in various places, just to freak out the fangirls – https://www.google.com.au/search?q=how+twilight+should+have+ended&biw=1680&bih=917&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwivsq_jkZbOAhVCkJQKHWzNCgYQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=U4CFmlKkDgOLvM%3A
Nice!
My favourite when looking at the variations on the hilarious basic one. But here is an alternative mind-f**k.
My favourite comes from Ultimate Avengers:https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/0/308/1686659-ultimate_avengers_016_pg_05.jpg
This is *MY* personal favorite, when it comes to TwiShite… *eg*
https://headtrip.keenspot.com/d/20080505.html
Ooh, I have never seen the original Twilight storyboard before. Amazing how they translated that so well to the final films!
I am looking forward to the meta sequel.
I do have to wonder about that. After all, if the Twilight series gets vampires and werewolves totally wrong, presumably that includes the information on how to kill them…
I have an even better idea about how it should have ended: with the publisher issuing a rejection slip.
Harsh.
“I blame it on Twilight. In real life, vampires only sparkle when they’re on fire.” – Larry Correia, author of the Monster Hunter and Grimnoir Chronicles series.
I blame Twilight on Joss Whedon.
Without light, there cannot be darkness.
The sparkly nonsense though is all down to them.
I loved the monster hunter series. Its one of the few series I read set in the “real world” that I didnt find annoying. (I generally prefer my fantasy to involve fantasy worlds as well as creatures)
I see King Kai’s symbol and what looks very similar to a Federation Eidic pin.
Are Son Gokuu and Data going to make appearances? ;)
If Data did show up he would have to decide if he fit best under the Federation group or the Mechanical group.
FYI, the triangle and ‘swoosh’ symbol is more Starfleet. The IDIC symbol is a circle surrounding a triangle topped with a globe. (or was that the Deathly Hallows?)
Like so.
Also resembles the Peacekeeper symbol from Farscape:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/PKsymbol.svg/2000px-PKsymbol.svg.png
I don’t have any evidence at hand to support it, but my theory is that Roddenberry based it on the design on the back of the dollar.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Dollarnote_siegel_hq.jpg
In Nimoy’s biography he saw it at the time as ‘a cheap ploy to sell replica merchandise to fans’. I guess this means that Roddenberry was part Ferengi.
That last bit is almost certain.
Mr Roddenberry pulled a number of dick-ish and/or exceptionally skeevy moves in order to maximise his own financial return from Star Trek. Such as the original theme song. Alexander Courage composed that and a lot of the original music. Roddenberry went behind Courage’s back to wrote lyrics to the theme (GHASTLY lyrics), juat to claim a share of its earnings. Needless to say, Mr Courage then refused to do anything else for Roddenberry.
I love Star Trek in pretty much all of its forms. But I give Gene Roddenberry only basic courtesy as the original creator. IMO, TOS owed just as much (if not more) to the people working with or for him, such as Gene Coon, DC Fontana, WM Jefferies, and others.
Deathly Hallows was a vertical line inscribed within an upwards isosceles triangle inscribed within a circle.
I was just saying that the symbol looks very similar to the IDIC (only ever heard it said, never seen it written).
Something I just noticed, two symbols to the right of King Kai’s symbol is one that looks like some sort of mutation of the Elder Sign of the Lovecraftian mythos. Maybe a corruption of it.
You got it right for never having seen it written. it is IDIC, which is actually an acronym. It stands for “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations”
https://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/IDIC
From Sydney, I suspect this is code for, “You’ll have to tell me eventually because I’ll badger you about it forever if you don’t!”
Only when Maxima feels comfortable enough, to trust Sydney with her adolescent crushes and fantasies. Which likely cloud her informed speculation, as to why she looks this way (given that she does not know definitively).
**BADGERS!!!**
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/494
I wonder if Maxima’s pointy ears were the results of that geode she opened in her teen years?
Well, she didn’t have the Spock-ears prior to drinking the Geode-Juice
“They do have a strong positive correlation temporally, but that does not necessarily imply causation.”
Had a stats teacher in college who said that at least once a week (some weeks, once a day).
Wait, is that… Gumby above the Mushroom banner? o_O
And we have spotted at least two members of the Angelic Host (or maybe we shouldn’t blink around them…)
No, it is Gumby Dammit!
He is a big, big star!
Treat him with some respect!
::takes a drag on a ridiculously large cigar, turns green, and falls over in a carbon-monoxide-inspired paroxysm::
Whatever ya say there Pokey.
Max has some nerd cred. What she needs to do to get back at Sydney is to tell her “When you fainted we called out ‘Is there a doctor in the house?’. A tall guy in a floppy hat and long scarf came over and took care of you until you woke up. Too bad you missed him. He just left in a big blue box.”
Oh if only they’d had someone dressed up as Dr. Who pretending to be on the Council just to pull Sydney’s leg….
Now that I look more closely, that hat on the lower right banner is starting to look awfully familiar.
And we all know that at some point in the evening Sydney is going to take a selfie standing in front of the Halo banner.
And it does look like the end of a long scarf, poking out beyond the chair which is blocking our view.
*updates notes to read: “Timelord faction”*
Some thing learn in about the 2nd week of Basic Training. Never make a remark about the looks of some one higher in your chain of command when they are in ear shot. Never do this.
Syd is in day 4, she, by all rights should have learned this in between panels 3 and 4. Even if all she can do is girly push ups, she should be doing them until Max’s ears look normal, or at least Syd will say they are. A drill sergent with dichromatic eyes can be a very scary thing when he takes off his sun glasses and says “See any thing funny recruit? Any thing at all….” There is no good reply to that.
Yeah but as we have repeatedly seen, this isnt pure military, far from it. Things are way more relaxed than standard.
Frankly, if I were in the army and a sergeant with Heterochromia did that to me, I would most likely say:
“Funny? No, sir! Fascinating? Yes, SIR!”
I am intrigued with odd eye colours. There was a girl I was friends with in High School whose eyes, I kid you not, were *TAN*. Not brown, not yellow, but a perfect shade of khaki tan. Another had eyes the exact shade and luminosity of flawless Amethyst.
I suppose it comes from the fact that I noticed early on that my father’s eyes are blue, my mother’s are brown, and mine are hazel (which you wouldn’t expect from that combo). Genetics are such interesting things. :D
I would substitute “sergeant” for “sir”. And omit everything which might get me doing push-ups, for the rest of the day!
The aim is not to try and get one-up on your superior. It is to avoid having your square peg hammered hard, to fit it in the round hole, which the army wants you in.
I can believe it, on the eye colors.
Met a young lady in college whose eyes were grey under fluorescent lights and vivid violet under sunlight and blue-grey under incandescent lights. Totally fascinating eyes (which was good, ’cause she wuz ka-ray-zeeee ! ).
Met another young woman whose eyes were honey colored (technically, amber, but very, very light amber). Met her three times and never saw her again after that – very sad to me, she was intimidatingly lovely in every regard, and I had worked up the courage to ask her out – right after hte last time I had seen her.
The most striking eyes I have ever seen were on a husky. Way more vivid and deeper blue than these.
If I ever met a girl, with eyes like the former’s, I would propose on the spot!
There’s also the extremely pale blue eyes of actress Meg Foster, which she is known for.
Remember the “mood rings” of the 70s? I had a friend in high school with “mood eyes“… as long as his eyes were blue, everything was fine. If they ever turned emerald green, someone was about to be hurt. They only turned that color when he was intensely angry.
Wait, you went to school with Bruce Banner? o_O
Whoa, how did I miss that? Does that mean MSpears is actually Betty Ross?
*laughs* I know, right? But everyone’s eye color changes slightly when the blood vessels in the eyes dilate. Mine go from blue to steely gray.
Yeah, but green when they are angry? o_O
In hindsight, it might have been the other way around, from green to blue. It was 30 years ago, so my memory may be faulty.
So, Betty, does that mean that the movies got it wrong, and Dr Hulk turns into the Incredible Bruce Banner?
Yorp! How did you guess the truth?
https://credible-hulk.tumblr.com/
There was this blind girl I dated in high school whose eyes were swirled white and pale blue. They were freaking gorgeous eyes.
Maxima is no drill sergeant and can only just resist Sydney’s puppy dog eyes. She hasn’t been enforcing military discipline with Sydney, or even with any of the others. Heck, look at the behavior of Dabbler, Math, and Harem. They’ve been punished for basically none of their antics.
Harem got an atomic wedgie and is being forced to audit (retake) all her basic classes, with Sydney. Surely that is enough cruel and unusual punishment?
Math and Dabbler are both civilian specialists, not military. Maxima can have their pay docked. Or fire them. Neither would care about the former. And Archon needs them too much to do the latter.
So Maxima has to reason with them, or come up with some other creative solution, to address the discipline problems.
This is simply the result of their being too few supers, to meet the needs of the US government (let alone the private sector). These supers are like any other A-list celebrities, in modern Western society. They know they can get away with far far more than normal civilians.
So the rebellious ones will push it as far as they can, even to the risk of being fired. Because they know that even then, the powers that be need them too much to actually get rid of them. There would be no one to replace them, not with abilities approaching theirs, anyhow.
It is worth pointing out that Dabbler and Math are the second and third most powerful members of the organisation, after Maxima herself. Making them amongst the most powerful individuals on the planet!
Simply let Syndey come up with the punishments. The mere thought of it should put a damper on the antics.
What Yorp said.
Max and certain of the others are professional military, sure. But Sydney and a number of others most definitely are NOT.
Furthermore, this is NOT a ‘standard’ military formation where there are some officers and specialists, and everybody else is a faceless mass of more or less interchangeable redshirts. Essentially, everybody in ARCHON is a specialist in his/her own right, and entitled to respect accordingly – just as with certain elite units such as Special Forces teams. In such situations, a certain amount of informality is entirely reasonable.
Maxima is Princess Zelda reborn.
She is more Ganon [Power] than Zelda [Wisdom]
What kind of drink does the Twilight Council have ready for her in panel one?
A (virgin) bloody mary?
The blood of a virgin, Mary?
Unfortunately, she just opened a can of Blitzkrieg Soda. (the can is even purple!)
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1257
So… why does Maxima have pointy ears? Inquiring minds want to know (even if it’s none of their business)!
“My original vision of this page included the big panel with a bunch of little word bubbles with pointed ears in them aimed at about a third of the silhouettes….” Would any of those silhouettes happen to be of shades and would there have been two of them?
When they did the scanning, they pinned her up using her ears. True Fact.
If you had written “pause” instead of “paws”, I might have gotten it without explanation.
Agreed. Although the preamble would still be confusing. Combining your suggestion, with a slight edit, would make it even easier to follow.
“That was a huge pause. On account of that I am going to call you Polar Bear, from now on.”
It still takes a moment to work it through, but the reader has been given the clue that a pun is involved.
As The Joker says: “If you have to explain the joke, kill ’em all!!” or, well, maybe paraphrasing him, just a little (there was an episode of the animated series where Harley explained a joke and Joker got very angry)
:-D
Mind you there is a difference between explaining a joke and both making the reader know that there is a joke, in the first place, and making it easier to get it. Trouble is, with the frequency that Dave makes pop-culture references, it was just as likely to be one of those, which you did not get.
Clearly a fair number of readers (there will always be a silent proportion, so you can only estimate how many) who reached the end of the comic page, without understanding what the joke. So it was Dave, by letting folks know there was a pun, and various commentators, who were doing the explaining.
But, if he had used ‘pause’, readers would still be wondering what a pause had to do with a polar bear
No one has mentioned the big blue blank banner near the door. Does this one display the insignia of the insectoid species that see into the ultra-violet range?
I can see a battlement, with three boomerangs being thrown down from it. I am trying to recall what that may signify, but it eludes me. I am sure it will come back though.
*starts patting forehead, to see if any antenna have sprouted*
*peers hopefully, at back, in case of metamorphosing some wings*.
Or perhaps it’s a banner with scents instead of pictures for creatures with bad eyes but good nose. Like dogs for example. Yorp, I always suspected you were part of this group.
You guys just don’t hang out with enough furries or bronies, that sort of punning is just par for the horse
So are you calling them attention horse?
Neigh.*
* [Translated from the original “Woof”.]
The closest thing to a furry or a bronie that I’d be willing to hang out with is:
https://pepperminthelmet.com/comic/brokemon/
Oh…
*shoulders slump*
*picks up crate of Cuke™ and box of Yorpie Snax™*
*walks, reluctantly, away from MidnightDStroyer‘s place, tear in eye*
Fairly sure you, being a natural-born fur-wearer, don’t count as a ‘furry’
panel 6. top balcony on the left third row with yellow flag with the skull. undertale perhaps?
Kinda reminds me of King “Lewie” from “Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic”
And on the last page there was a representative of the Demons and people were asking if that meant there would be Angels. In the gallery there is a banner that shows a Halo, and the figures above it have wings.
Angels (or at least some angel-like being) have already been shown. They do appear to be rarer than demons on Earth considering they don’t have their own representative on the council like the demons do.
Maxima was interrupted in her introductions, so they may well have a faction, rather than just being an individual race. The advantages that the demons have is that they have many (genetically related, but otherwise distinct) races. So are able to fill out a faction, on their own.
However, we do not know if the angels are likewise varied (biblical descriptions would say they are. but those silhouettes do not match such). So they may be as rare as you think. But that is yet to be determined.
Doesn’t this mean that Ingsol and his friends could sue the author of the books for copyright infringement?
sadly no copywrite is only good for 100 years at the moment ,thanks for that disney :(, and even then they would have to have written a book called the twilight council then they could legally have claimed that Meyers trash would confuse people
Not to mention, you can’t copy-right a time of day (hasn’t stop idiots from trying to copy-right DNA though)
xero is right on the money here. Merely holding the copyright and/or patent isn’t enough; in order to sue someone for using it, you have to be able to prove that there is a significant chance of “product confusion”.
For an example involving literature, there is the lawsuit between Todd McFarlane and Palladium Books in 1995. That’s when Palladium published an RPG called Nightspawn, and was promptly sued by McFarlane for the use of the word “spawn”.
Had the case gone to court, McFarlane would’ve lost. Nobody is going to confuse his antihero “Spawn” for a role-playing game called “Nightspawn”, nor would anybody have confused Spawn with any of the characters in the game. Neither the PCs nor the enemies were made of necroplasm, and were not from hell, nor are they wearing a living symbiotic costume… and that’s just for starters. The point is that there was zero chance of confusion, and McFarlane didn’t have legal ground to stand on.
However, Palladium (which is already notorious for missing publication dates by months) decided that rather than spend time and money defending the case in court, they would rather spend that time and money developing new product. So, they quietly changed the name of the RPG to from “Nightspawn” to “Nightbane” and McFarlane dropped the lawsuit.
HEY check out the banner in the top tight corner. Illuminati ACTUALLY confirmed least in the comic
Personal theory time. The reason they are meeting is, now that archon has gone public, they need to discuss the ramifications this holds for them. Especially with dabbler straddling the line of about a half dozen of their groups. :p How is public reception going? Does this signify a chance to come into the light of day eventually? Is this going to threaten uncovering them before they are ready?
Very likely to be high on the agenda. Plus a few other topics too.
I do not see any cards, chips or kittens on the table, so I think your theory is sound.
I would rather think that the vampire contingent would be the most reluctant to let the Twilight Council “come into the light of day,” though…
I could see spontaneous fiery protests, if that were to happen.
Sydney also needs to be told about them since her truesight allows her to see through various illusions, cloaks, and glamours. They probably should know something about her so they don’t get jumpy when she stares at the goblin in the corner, though they are reluctant to reveal her level of true-sight. Still, I think that this meeting is a semi-regular event.
I would hope that they had a meeting about the super-reveal long before the event (it wasn’t exactly a spur of the moment thing, it was planned). How things are developing post-reveal would still probably be on the agenda.
Keep in mind the reveal was rushed a bit. Iirc, arianna had it done so they would be the first government team announced instead of some other country. But even if it had been planned, im sure everyone wants to compare notes on how its going and if anything unusual ahs popped up since then.
Yeah, if it’s one thing Dabbler is really good at, it’s straddling the lines…
:P
Konami Code for…. Immortals. At least i hope so… there’s only one figure there so hard to tell.
When you mentioned immortals and the figure is a small girl with pigtails it brought a possible tie-in to a character from EGS. https://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1035
Probably depends on the legal system.
AFAIK copyright doesn’t cover everything: for example, there’s a concept called “threshold of originality”.
They might have been able to register “Twilight Council” as a brand but AFAIK brands are generally limited to a few branches of trades or conceptual areas. That is, you can’t just register a brand name and then sue everybody because they’re using it. It is required that there’s actually a danger that people might confuse your thing with the thing of other persons using the same name.
On the other hand, Apple has successfully sued other companies for their use of ’rounded corners’.
https://fortune.com/2015/08/19/apple-patents-rounded-corners/
Justice by biggest budget for lawyers.
Sometimes I do yearn for the good old days, before we had lawyer readers. Sooo much simpler when we could solve the problem with a wall and a machine gun!
And then there was Apple’s attempt to sue Microsoft over the use of the trash can for deleting files…
… until an attorney from Xerox tapped them on the shoulder, said “Excuse me”, and pointed at the 1981-model Xerox Star. “If anyone’s going to be collecting royalties and licensing fees on the trash-can icon…”
That lawsuit disappeared rather quickly.
Also, Harley Davidson has successfully sued for copyright on other motorcycle manufacturers who try to copy the distinctive sound of HD’s engines.
So when is one of these attendees going to jump up screaming. “The spazy blonde girl has the ‘Spheres of Infinite Ultimate Destruction’!!!” (or other ominous name). I mean with literally everyone who is anyone Meta, Alien, Mythical or Mystical on the planet sitting there, someone has to recognize them.. And if no one truly does then that seems to be an even bigger issue.
So, 17+ banners, and we’ve only gotten names for 8 or so groups.
Squee!
Have a read through the author’s blog, above. There are multiple races, grouped under each of the factions that Maxima started to introduce Halo to. Each of those races take their turn in representing the rest of the faction. So there will be many more banners, which are currently out of view, as they must represent the races, rather than the factions.
Great expressions in the last panel.
Center row, far right:
Me: Hm, what’s that big squiggly?
Brain: Thaaaat’s a penis.
My thought was mushroom cloud but I think it’s a tree.
It looks like a tree, with a humanoid silhouette incorporated into it. Perhaps the dryads? But it does lack any greenery.
Maybe a bone, half buried in the ground?
DOCTOR: Please tell me what you see, when I show you these ink blot cards.
(Patient responds, each time a card is flipped over)
PATIENT: Naked woman.
PATIENT: Couple having sex
PATIENT: Two naked women
PATIENT: Oh my god! Doc, how much for the set please?
No, no, no, it’s…
Doctor: Sir, you seem rather obsessed with sex.
Patient: Me?! You’re the one with all the dirty pictures!
You’re welcome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoAlf0-U7EA