Grrl Power #478 – Clover DNGAF
Fun story, when I designed Clover (as in Clover honey… honey badger, clover honey badger, hah hah I’m clever you guys.) I made her haircut look like badger stripes, coming down over her eyes. Only, that’s the way a regular badger looks (one might say, a vanilla badger), not a honey badger. Womp waa. I guess if she wore her hair like a honey badger it’d be a bottle bleached crew cut. But then she’d almost definitely have to be a high school girls’ volleyball coach or a ladies tennis pro. Hah hah! Stereotypes, y’all!
Clover being a honey badger isn’t a result of the previously mentioned genus drift that sometimes affects weres, instead more simply, her mom is a honey badger as well. Usually the offspring of a mixed species union is one or the other, but occasionally bizarre hybrids have been known to happen. So someone could conceivably be a were-jackalope for instance, but it’s pretty rare.
Lycans have enhanced attributes based on their animal form. Most in the Carnivora Order, and especially those in the Canidae Family and the Canis Genus have a considerably enhanced sense of smell, as well as better night vision, though most suffer from reduced color sensitivity, i.e. they can’t tell red from yellow. This is hugely pronounced in their hybrid forms, but still present in their human forms to some degree. Various species have other abilities based on their particular species. Kat’s hearing is off the charts, and Clover has tremendous resistance to toxins and disturbing pain tolerance.
BTW honey badger ears are weird. Not “the male seahorse gives birth” weird, just, they’re not sticky out ears like most animals have. They’re even less sticky out than human ears.
Happy Thanksgiving to American readers, who will be largely be doing thing other than their usual routines today so comments might be a little slow, at least until everyone decides they need a break from their families and sneak away to the get 10 minutes of screen time.
Be sure to check out Wearing the Cape: Team-Ups & Crossovers. Sydney’s first Crossover! I’ve made a dedicated blog post for the book, please comment there. If you got it already, there’s an updated Kindle version that fixes some weird text formatting stuff in Sydney’s chapter that was showing up on some readers, plus a minor edit for clarification. Also, the paperback is available now as well, at the same link as above.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $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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I like the fact that Sidney is fan-girling in the background of the last panel.
I would do the same in her shoes. Well not fanGIRLing of course. Fanboying for me. Very manly fanboying.
With some very manly squealing.
squeeing, not squealing. Quite different.
I wonder how you squeal in a manly way?
I did… Were-HoneyBadger takes what she wants!
Honey badger don’t give a f–k.
Ask a Viking!
You punch a wall afterwards.
While drinking beer and growing a beard.
All at the same time
You get axes, power armor, and miniguns if you shell out for the deluxe pack. The BOOM bonus box is also an option.
On ya chestnuts
While roasting them over an open fire?
Manly squee: “Oooooooo!”
Dogly squee: “Howoooooo!”
Doggy Toy,” Squee, squee, squee!”
Remember that Sydney wants to marry Wolverine, and Clover performs a very wolveriny clawattack
She’s also straight, IIRC but I could see some uncertainty arising maybe.
Well if a woman does not fit her criteria, then how about a manikin? It does actually have Wolverine claws! Plus there will be a whole bunch of hairstyles to choose from, at any department store with a display window. She is bound to be able to get suitable sideburns, at one of them!
Nah, too creepy.
How about if we use a marker pen, to give it a manly five-o-clock shadow?
Nope. Most manly facial hair = Mandelbrot Mustache.
Googling that I saw a variety of images, some disturbing but none matching your comment. Bar one.
However the only reference to it (which came up on my results) was a Pinterest topic, which seems to have been inspired by it. However as that program requires me to log in, even to view more than the top of the page, it puts me off from even mild curiosity about it.
Oddball thinking time: If there were a superhero named “Mandelbrot Man”, what would his superpowers be?
fractal form?
The ability to act in the microverse simultaneous to still being in the normal universe?
Further, should the turtle, on which the Earth sits, decide to start mating with some passing giant space turtle, the hero would be able to hold the Earth up, on his shoulders, until the turtle could resume normal service. All the while, still being able to carry on a normal day job, on the surface. And adventuring in the microverse.
I think this has been done at least once before. I am sure I read something about that in an atlas.
Her ringtone really should be: https://youtu.be/S8vTHgVxiKM
She looks like she’d smoke at a P.O.D. Concert, t-shirt and brass knuckles, down in the mosh pit.
well … the best Music for this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIyixC9NsLI
Actually posted a version on the first page, and another badgery song on the second page
Oops i guess? I didn’t have time to read all the comments so that’s why i posted it.
No worries, yours was a different version :D
My Dearest Manuel,
With the greatest respect, I will see your “Badgers Badgers Badgers …” and raise you Bill Baily’s “Ripped apart by Badgers” :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTtg17JKLV0
Kind Regards, Andro.
:-)
*dances with honey badgers*
Take that, you lightweight pussy, Costner!
On the last page I made three predictions.
1) Her were was not a wolf (Ding!)
2) Her hair color was a hint (Ding!)
3) She was a were-skunk (Buzz!)
I got two out of three.
Plus I (and everyone else) predicted Sydney would lasso one or more of the varmints with her lighthook.
Yep, and considering a full strength shot of skunk spray will stop a mountain lion, and is basically a super tear gas I just wonder what a were skunk would do…
All I can say is this: When I was in the Air Force, one of our mechanics was given the callsign A.B., which was short for “Ass Blaster”. One fart and he could clear an entire room. There’s an apocryphal tale about how once, while he was on leave, he got himself a prostitute. He farted, and the smell was so bad, she put her clothes on and left without getting paid. (No idea how true the story is.)
I would imagine a were-skunk would be something along those lines, if not worse. Even a lowly human can detect skunk spray at just 10 parts per billion.
P.S., contrary to widespread belief, if sprayed by a skunk, the best remedy is not tomato juice. Use a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide (3%), baking soda, and dishwashing liquid.
Effective against real live foes, yes, very much so; effective against automatons like these ones, though, I rather doubt…
Honey Badgers have a similar attack, may not be as strong but it’s similar
So do ferrets.
Pretty much the entire Mustelidae family have those anal glands. That’s why people who keep ferrets as pets almost always have the anal glands removed. While they can’t spray, they still have an incredibly strong musky odor. The honey badger is a mustelid too, but is the only member of the Mellivorinae subfamily (the European badger is Melinae and the American badger is Taxideinei)
Skunks (from the family Mephitidae) have a far more developed version of those glands. They’re hesitant to use them because they only have enough for 2 or 3 sprays, and it takes about 10 days to recharge. If you see a skunk stomping on the ground, or doing a headstand and pointing its backside at you, back away slowly.
“Mam sit DOWN on the ground! I am an armed police officer and I have a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide (3%), baking soda, and dishwashing liquid!
Please just wrap this towel around your waste, and put on these cuffs, that I am about to throw over to you.”
around your waste? Eew..
Hey, glad excretion is stinky stuff. You don’t want to pick that up with your bare paws!
Ooh so Were Weasels are a possible thing? (Unpacks old direct drive turntable and sets up Frank Zappa’s “Weasels ripped my flesh” for a pre-emptive soundtrack)
My ferret does. And yes, she smells, but she is so cute that I don’t care
One of my school friends kept a whole range of ferrets and weasels, and I agree that they are lovely. Except for if they choose to sink their teeth into you! But that is just a matter of being very gentle with them, and paying attention, if they are not happy about something.
The senior technician in the Zoology department when I was at university once said that if she thought the ‘tube’ (i.e. underground railway) was likely to be crowded in the evening she took the department’s ferret home overnight, and that usually got her a clear seat.
I don’t see why. My friend used to quite often bring one of his pets in to school with him. You would not even have a clue that he had done so, until lunch time, when it would stick its head out, of his clothing, to have some food! Very quiet, with no tell-tale odours, giving the game away, and most politely mannered.
Now walk into a tube compartment with a tarantula on your shoulder, and you will find you have the entire compartment to yourself!
‘I just wonder what a were skunk would do’
If it is a male, probably start talking in a French accent and do something that would get him arrested for sexual harassment.
*snickers* Nice. A Pepe Le Pew reference. (I grew up on Looney Tunes.)
Did you already know that Pepe was an honorary member of the JLA?
^_^
And there is a Pepe le pew movie “in development”. The mind literally boggles (it’s ok, I have a low boggle threshold).
Live action?
If so, they can count me out for and on-set advisory role. Or anything which would require me getting within 20 yards of the leading actor.
He is? Knew that Daffy was a Green Lantern, but didn’t know about Pepe
Back around 1999 or so there was a 4-issue ‘Superman/ Bugs Bunny’ crossover series, in which Mr Mxyptlk (spelling?) and a ‘Dodo’ trickster had some fun moving Loony Tunes characters into the main DC universe: Pepe, Daffy (initially as “the Duck Knight”), Bugs, Elmer, Taz, Tweety Pie and Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, Speedy Gonzales, and a few others. The ones whose names I’ve listed ended up helping the JLA against a local problem, as well as against the two tricksters, and were all given honorary JLA membership before they went back home… and I think that it might have been “canonical”…
^_^
Sounds like it would have been fun, not sure how canonical it could be if you also had Duck Dodgers of the 24 1/2 century as a Green Lantern
Sydney casually takes care of the Big Guy well enough to be able to watch Honey Badger Clover turn the Mani-bot into refuse.
Clover kicks you-know-what, but Sydney does as well, without the drama [for once].
… As long as Sydney doesn’t get too distracted. Which may be her kryptonite…
Having her shield up makes her over confident.
And funny and cute.
Of course, as one could expect:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wwe8eZ6gODE/maxresdefault.jpg
https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=105236
Also, Dave,did you say you want more Bloody Roar? Maybe this will be close enough:
https://gematsu.com/2015/09/killing-bites-game-tgs-2015-trailer
Well now we know where DaveB got the idea. ;P
When will people catch a clue that cheetah have distinctive ‘tears’, so far, have only seen Mr Fred Perry who remembers
Then there is a good chance that DaveB will remember, being a Mr Fred Perry acolyte.
And I shall call it Loli Roar.
I would very much like to see some sort of mushroom-based creature team up with our were-badger. preferably fighting against a snake.
That is … unusually specific.
CLOVER: (lighting a cigarette): Looks like Hissing Sid is about to eat Timid Toad.
MUSHROOM BASED CREATURE: (doing the truffle shuffle): Don’t worry I can distract it!
Ms. Scoville’s in love!
I would approve of that new convention.
Dabbler will be up next with dual swords, and stripper grade armor. Surely another squeee level event…
Not being poison immune, I think Dabbler should skip dueling with swords and become a sniper. Put a shot through the bloody hand print. If the one Clover just shredded does not show any signs of re-assembling.
She seems to not give a £2€k
¡ɹɐǝʍs ƃuᴉʞɔnɟ ʇ,uop
Pound2EuroK?
USD1,061.80
(GBP2.00 @ ROE1.25) + (EUR1,000 @ ROE1.06) = USD1,061.80
Okay, there were four mannequins to start with. One blew up, one bound by the lighthook, and one torn to shreds. I’m not sure if it can put itself back together after that. Still that leaves one other mannequin. I guess it could be fighting Dabbler and Icon off screen.
This also proves that the orbs, what ever they are, aren’t magic, as they aren’t being drained by the mannequin.
Icon is magical and has not been drained. Not only has he been in just as close a proximity to the manikins, as Halo, he has also been hit by the ‘magic draining spike’. Likewise Dabbler’s swords are magical, did strike the manikin yet failed to cause it to absorb its powers and self-destruct.
The only evidence we have of their powers affecting magic is specifically against spells. Magical items are clearly not directly affected by them, so if the orbs are magical, they would not be any more at risk than Icon.
This is logical mind, as if they could drain all magical items, in the vicinity, then they would drain each other and self-destruct as soon as they got close to one of their fellow manikins!
Note to readers: it’s OK to smoke when you’re immune to toxins that can kill a human in seconds.
Also, that move has gotta have a better name than that bunny knee (sounds like bunny ny) move. The Clever Cover Clobber?
The Quicker Slicer Upper?
The Hangover from hell?
The Badgered Badger?
I’m sure not hearing “oh no it’s a snake!” from Clover…
Umm, She puts the wind in its willows?
…
Ok, I got nothing.
Honey-Cut
The Ginsu (slice and dices anything)
Just… as long as it’s not the Ginyu Force /shudder
Ginyu Force rules!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezrbyf6t9mY
They won’t share the chocolate parfait!!! THEY MUST DIE, AGAIN!!!!!
The Normal Badger Uppercut?
It’s also okay to smoke if you are an adult and can make your own decisions!!
I was thinking more along the lines of Sagat back in SF2…
BADGEEEER Uppercut!
(y) dammit wrong social media platform. +1 Nope, that’s not it, either. Well, you get the idea…
Lazy Cleave.
the Honey Shot (as opposed to the money shot)
I know I’m late but I have to offer “Honey Punches of Throats.”
Now, that’s a good one. Made me laugh, because Honey Bunches of Oats was (and still is) one of my favorite cereals.
Clover’s Cleaver.
You can call it ‘ouch’
Or doing it the easy way. As in the easy way or the hard way.
I realize its probably more Mongoose. But……
HONEY BADGER DON’T GIVE A FUCK!
“instead more simply, her mom is a honey badger as well” well at least one Honey Badger did…. with a human?
She’s Gregor’s daughter. The were honey badger did it with a were direwolf
Her father is hot werewolf king Gregor, but they were probably in human form when she was conceived. Probably.
She was still a were honey badger, even in hyu-mon form
AAAAAND now I have the image of Gregor and Clover’s mom in Were form on their honeymoon…THANKS FOOMF!!!
nah, her mom is a Were Sabertooth. ” Yeah, if your mother knew you were smoking, she’d bite my head off. Literally.”
Except, WOG says Clover’s mom was a werehoney-badger (although, the actual WOG simply says she was a honey badger, nothing was actually mentioned about being a were-anything… >_>)
Let us just say it was very strongly implied, given that the preamble was about lycanthrope genetics.
I know Honeybadger don’t give a fuck, but the dialogue balloon….I was ABOUT to. Not “I was to”. I think. I’m no english major buuuttt……Meh. 2am Friday after Thanksgiving..WHY THE FRACK AM I AWAKE? >.> Lookin’ awesome though!
You may be a major butt, but was wondering what Sydney was in the middle of saying, maybe she was saying “I was too…” but the second ‘o’ was forgotten (apparently that’s a common error amongst normal people)
I think it’s right as it is. In my mind – cluttered and disheveled as it is – she was going to say, “Oh, you got her? Cause I was totally going to get her!”
That makes sense as well
I’m not fluent in English but for what I just read in several English language forums “I was to…” is unusual but grammaticaly correct:
I was to go to America at the end of the week.
I was to be Empress. (a book by Stephanie Princess of Belgium)
You thought I was to die… (lyrics of “Worth” by Anthony Brown & Group Therapy)
This night my mind was filled with Halloween – there was to be a pageant representing our county’s agricultural products; I was to be a ham. (To Kill a Mockingbird quote)
Syd surely was to use (:P) whather verb next: “…cause, I was to… help her/take care of it/jump in/give him a light hook enema/….”
whather = whatever (don’t ask me)
Basically, “I was to…..” is a shortcut way to say “I was going to….”
Which brings up on of my favorite, though extremely obscure riddles: What is Harper Lee’s favorite drink?Tequila Mockingbird
Okay, haven’t had enough”
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Sam and Janet.
Sam and Janet who?
Sam and Janet evening, you may see a stranger…..
Or, as Ignoble pointed out, Sydney may have been in the middle of another word (in his example, ‘totally’) and stopped mid-word
Beg your pardon but if Ignoble already said it, and you already concurred, what’s the point of to repeat it?
For those who missed it by 30 minutes
I see, but Ignoble’s post is 7:09 AM and mine is 7:38 PM :)
Oops! Hadn’t noticed the AM PM part :/
Here ya go.
=OP
Yes, that’s was the overall interpretation, but at least in one site it was told that depending on the context it could as well means other variants like “I was planning to”, “I was about to”, “I was supposed to”, and a couple others that I don’t remember now. Don’t ask me, though :)
Whilst I agree with the cut-off word interpretation,* I do not feel that this one pans out. “I was to…” would be something that you would say if you had been tasked with doing something. At a stretch Sydney may be referring to her orders, in the previous battle, ‘to take the aggro’. But it is not something that springs to mind.
Beyond that, none of the various examples cited by Duende Sociopata would fit contextually in this situation.
“I was to…..” is a shortcut way to say “I was going to….”
Not in my experience, but if it is an American linguistic pattern, then it is fair enough that Sydney would use it. I would expect it to be “I was [required/expected] to…”
Unless it is an Americanism, I think it is just a typo and that “I was going to” was intended. Or, if Sydney was feeling guilty about being distracted, when an ally was hurt, it might have been “I was too [slow]…”. Whilst this is common in written English, it is not common in spoken English, as the two sounds are distinct. Hence why I do not think that it would be an intentional representation of natural spoken English.
Personally, as the line does read very awkwardly, I would have just omitted the “to” altogether. The less analysing of dialogue needed, the easier it reads.
* Although it certainly did not spring to mind as being that. If using the technique of cutting-off mid-word, to indicate an abrupt change of thought, it is better to avoid doing so when it turns one word into another one. Due to the ambiguity and confusion it creates. So, whilst I agree that Sydney could have done this, it is not the best choice, from a writing point of view.
I may have mentioned here in the past that I am myself a very amateur and obviously unpublished writer. I have to admit that if I were writing it as a word that had been cut off, I probably would have typed “to-” rather than “to . . .”
Here! I have a novel idea! Let’s ask the person who put those words into Sydney’s mouth in the first place! DaveB, would you please tell us what our heroine was about to say? Pretty please?
If he sees the message, he may well do. But it is unlikely at this time, as he is probably working on tomorrow’s comic. Or one of the future ones, if he is keeping his buffer going.
Will you please stop making sense?
Some of these discussions remind me of something I heard about some ancient Greek philosophers and how they would rather debate the number of teeth a horse had rather than open up a horse’s mouth and actually count them. =OP
They debated that point on QI once, and came up with an interesting counter-argument to the logical stance. Namely that if you count the teeth on A horse, all you have done is shown how many teeth THAT horse has AT THE MOMENT. Unless you contextualise it with wider knowledge that has been acquired you could end up making a definitive statement that ALL horses have that number of teeth. Without realising that, for example, the horse in question had a pair extracted.
Even if you counted all the horses teeth, in your area, you may still be making a similar mistake. If, say, it is common practice, in that region, to always remove a pair of teeth from foals. So, whilst physical examination is called for, it is wise to listen to the debate, so that you learn any wisdom about things to look out for, or to avoid, whilst doing so.
Of course debate does not always give the best advice. For example “Never look a gift horse in the mouth” is one that cost Troy dearly.
The bunny had to be saved by the predator. Not even working together just straight up distress damseled and saved…
ZOOTOPIA LIED!!
reminds me of a old PnP game. dnd 3,5
playing a group of evil characters bendt on conquest and destruction, turned out ot be the most hillarious game we ever played as this misfit group of people, despite their power, always seemed to end up in hillarity and comedy everywhere they turned.
My character a Blackguard (fallen paladin) was the pure rage front fighter, the mage a vampire, and a druid with a connection to a shadow entity.
i was just a pure human, dishing out pain but not really having anything special like vampyrism or weird shadow creatures that influenced and granted powers.
when the dm solved that little problem.
Assaulted by werebagders. Got the disease. Now even more fueled rage and destruction but with bagders.
that campaign made us laugh harder than we ever did in any game
I once heard that one GM got tired of hearing his players complain about wanting to play evil PCs, so one night he let them do so and they ravaged the area, sewing death and destruction. The next session the found out the area that they had ravaged had been their own town or whatnot and the people they had killed had been relatives. I can’t remember it all, but it seems that was the last time they asked to play evil PCs.
We used ot play evil parties reasonably often. Simply because it makes an interesting challenge. Provided you have a group of role-players, of course. If you have a bunch who get together and cooperate because ‘that is what you normally do’, then it is a lesser experience.
Good parties will tend to cooperate, when facing a just cause, ‘because it is right’. Whereas with evil parties, expecially of mixed or chaotic alighments, need to have far more interesting dynamics for a party to even form in the first place. Plus how much can you trust the person watching your back, if they are evil.
As a DM evil parties can be really fun, because half your work is done by the party. Either scheming against one another, being paranoid that the others are ‘out to get me’ (which they probably are) or otherwise creating discord. Something that is normally the DM’s job to do, to make things more interesting. Sometimes you do not even need to let the group set foot in a dungeon, before you get a TPK!
Hope there’s enough left to get fingerprints off that bloody hand print.
I think DNA would be easier to get… if they can find one of the larger shards.
I think it’s more likely that the DNA in the blood will NOT belong to the person who placed the fingerprints…How many enchanters do you know that are willing to use their own blood for that kind of magery?
Depends on the story but it certainly happens. Especially if the point is to link whatever it is to themselves. Isn’t there like a whole roleplaying class that burns their own blood for extra spells and metamagic feats?
Rifts blood mage so yes
werevolrine…that explains so much…just let her destroy them SHE was born to be badass and do a better job then everyone else. you don’t mess with wolverines.
or badgers
Is that a hat on your heads? Or are you standing on your heads?
Plus what is with all that blood‽‽‽
After this,Maxima would no longer be amused by Sydney’s ADHD-fueled antics,but instead will have her confined for long periods in the Archon stockade(Maxima is also a Provost Marshal).
While there,Sydney meets an old acquaintance of Maxima’s and tells a different tale of their time in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sydney learns from that said acquaintance that Maxima was just an Airman Second Class and assigned to a kitchen detail…!
She NEVER destroyed that mosque,just scorched General Faulk’s dinner.
She learned that Maxima’s promotion to colonel only happened AFTER she joined Archon!
Should Sydney keep this to
So Sydney learns that Maxima is really Captain Peacock?
Well, Max is certainly capable of dealing out some Major Pain…
After what? What has Sydney done to have her sent to ARCLeavenworth?
What not?, other than acting sensibly… Any regulations happy superior would jail her on a daily basis.
General Faulk is wise not to employ anybody who would alienate ‘the talent’, that way. Archon needs them more than they need the job. Sydney, for one, could be employed for vastly more in a huge range of private sector roles. With a wide enough choice that she could opt for one that suited any and all of her quirks and peccadilloes. And the private sector is well practiced at catering for the weird whims of famous people, such as eccentric A-list movie stars and other celebrities.
Yes, but what about her armadillos? o_O
They must be bathed in asp’s milk and fed off of a golden tray, of course. If you have a good agent.
Yes yes, impressive were-badger… but the “My weapon is ineffective?” reaction from the mannekin is revealing in its own way. If it’s not a “The joke is more important than consistency”… then that’s not a mindless golem. That’s a thing being piloted remotely. (Or possessed, I guess.)
Possibly magic AI. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes, and I expect that they’ll lose another sigil or two just to make things interesting….
Could be semi-autonomous with the controlling mind only focusing on one of the when it starts throwing up “error messages”?
Only just smart enough to be cannon fodder.
I don’t have a family (they’re abusive and I moved from California to Pennsylvania to get away- totally unknown life and circumstances > known life but guaranteed abuse, ya’ll) but I was busy writing my own stuff and watching Futurama for… okay its Netflix so multiple days in a row without end.
Anyway I just wanted to say THANK YOU to Dave for a werehoneybadger because that’s the best thing ever, and to ask a question- if you get a rare hybrid breed and one parent is a werecondor and one is a fire demon, would they become a werephoenix?
I doubt it, for two main reasons:
1) DaveB has already stated all were-beings in the Haloverse are mammalian.
2) Genetics doesn’t work that way, except perhaps in Alchemy.
Here I thought that was a FMA reference!
Perhaps the weresharks are just very good at hiding?
They must be super-ninja were-sharks, if they are good enough to hide from god!
But do not despair, there can be sharks, which turn into humans. They just do not do it with the aid of the werevirus™. So sharkweres are possible (natural sharks that have been infected with a different virus, which turns animals into humans). Likewise a race of intelligent mutated/alien/genetic experiment/magical abomination sharks, which are able to transform by using magic/technology/preying* to the shark god.
Then, of course there are the transformer robot sharks, which can become mechanical humans. They are good at hiding, in technological environments, pretending to be real humans (who may be roleplaying as sharks).
* Sharks don’t pray.
Very sad that you don’t have a family, to be with, at a festive time of year. But very glad that you are safe from such a horrible situation. I hope you manage to find many good friends, in your new life, and make a happy family, of your own, in due course!
And always nice to be perked up by this comic, but especially when times are rough.
That’s official. Werehares are the worst kind of weres.
Why? Kat did a damn good job until Manny cheated and poisoned her with it’s disconnected arm (so, that’s double cheating right there!)
There is no such thing as cheating at war.
I you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying….
*Snarl*
Careful you! I happen to be very fond of Kat!
Easy ther bunny lover. You can be fond of whoever you like. But that doesn’t changes the fact that Kat couldn’t dispatch even a single foe.
She did damn good against a magical cheat when she’s only been a were for a couple weeks
Almost forgot: she has had almost ZERO training!!!
Who’ve told you such a thing?
Kat herself, she said she was only recently turned and still getting used to hair in places she never had hair
With that reasoning Max didn’t either.
I like Kat more than Clover, Anzar for the same reason I prefer Batman to Superman and, for that matter, Sydney to Maxima. It’s really easy to be a big hero when you know your powerful and all but invincible. You’ll notice that Clover didn’t even try to dodge that poisonous stab to the belly any more than Supes ever tries to dodge bank robber pistol fire or Maxima tried to dodge those beams from Hex. Nope, true bravery is when you know you’re vulnerable and yet jump into the fray to help others anyway.
As for not dispatching even a single foe, Kat put up a remarkably good fight – bashing up the Creepy Evil Mannequin while easily blocking all of it’s attacks. Indeed, she was clearly getting the upperhand by “disarming” her opponent! I do agree though that it was sloppy of her to hold the severed arm like that where it could hurt her, but then she didn’t know it could hurt her if it wasn’t still attached to the bad guy. Perhaps what she should have done is grip it by the wrist in some way that wouldn’t let the palm spike or fingers get her and use the arm to club the Mannequin into submission? I dunno if the arm could have crushed the head or at least messed up the handprint enough to do this though.
Perhaps this needs rephrasing, Guesticus, because she’s obviously had some extensive martial arts training. She hasn’t been a were-rabbit very long and probably isn’t yet a member of the Semper Vigilantis, though, which means she probably hasn’t had a lot of practice or training in how to use her new were form to it’s best advantage in a fight.
+1
In addition to training with her new form, Katrina is going to need training on how to fight supernatural beings. That is a whole different ball game to any martial training and experience she may have had in mundane life. Every sparring opponent and any real scraps she got into would have been against human opponents.
This means that Kat is at a considerable disadvantage to anybody (like Clover) who has been born behind the Veil and has had a lifetimes worth of experience. Knowing that certain types of races have particular weaknesses, and that others have strengths that you must avoid, and being able to assess an unknown foe by comparison to the nearest known supernatural species are all invaluable skills she is very much lacking, at the moment.
So, yes, it is very unfair to write off a clueless (in supernatural terms) rookie in comparison to a seasoned veteran Vi (which we can take Clover to be, as she was pictured in the ‘imagined’ scene, when they were described). If Kat lives, she will learn how to make maximum use of her superior speed, leaping abilities and the like.
But, yes, non-carnivore weres are not as powerful as their carnivore relatives. However I totally concur with Bunny Lover on the counters to this. And I bet that Hurricane Katrina will be much more effective than the Slow Eviscerator Were-sloth.
You are correct, meant to say that she has had zero hero training, let alone against supers or similar: she knows how handle herself in a fight, but not against animated mannequins
“non-carnivore weres are not as powerful as their carnivore relatives”
Hr’rmm,,, Were-elephants, were-rhinoceroses, were-hippopotami?
^_^;
When comparing their were-form to a standard animal of the same type. Per Dave’s explanation, in his blog above above.
But, yes, point well made that the weres you listed will be powerful. However if they gain relatively no extra powers, by comparison to say a were-tiger, then the were-tiger will be the more powerful lycanthrope. Let alone a were-liger.
I’ll be honest here – with the slow-windup, I honestly thought Clover was a were-sloth till I read the splurge : )
Poor Kat’s face in panel one :(
Obligatory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIyixC9NsLI
That exact same clip was posted near the top of this page
Maybe it’s obligatory that it’s posted at least twice?
On the same page? And there are several different versions out there
*discreetly slides over a chill pill*
It is a good clip and folks want to share, even if not everyone has time to read through the comments. It is good to let folks have their fun, even if it is repetitive.
*makes willpower roll, to resist linking to the 10 hour looped badger song*
Alright i will say it… Ultimate Hufflepuff
Use this ointment, twice a day, and that will clear up in a week or two, with nobody the wiser.
Are the claws on the back of the manne-hand in the last panel fixed in place, or do they get extended like a certain hirsute Canadian? I didn’t see/hear a ‘snikt’ in the panel anywhere.
1) They appear to be back of hand, especially in the last panel where it is clearer.
2) Possiby no *snikt* because of copyright laws, maybe> =OP
Whoops, “>” should be “?”.
Copyright doesn’t apply. Trademark, possibly.
manaquinn: … ??? !?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Now the question is: can the mannekiller reform from that damage? A torn-off arm and such is no problem; how far does that reforming ability go? Does the fact the handprint was shredded influence the situation?
And Sydney’s squeegasm makes the panel.
And what the hell is that green “SQUIRT” on the mannekiller in panel seven?
Been explained several times: it was Manny checking to see if the tank was empty
Clover had been stabbed, in panel 1, with venomous* claws. So the next six panels are the manikin waiting for her to collapse, or die, from the poison. With the final one, of that sequence, being, as Guesticus says, a weapons check, to ensure the claws’ venom delivery was still working.
* Even though we do not see that bit, or even any blood, and have to deduce it from the wound we see in the final panel, or by remembering that, from the attack on Kat
Okay, I missed that since it didn’t look like she got stabbed with claws, since the ones on the left hand shown in the later panel look like Wolverine-style/placed on the back of the hand…but in the preceding page where Kat gets it, the torn off right arm appears to have poisoned fingernail claws.
Honestly? I’d’ve preferred it if the SQUIRT was the mannekiller somehow piddling himself at the expression on Clover’s face :D
I’m guessing the stabbed-through-the-hand mark is the animating bit, so probably not. And yeah, the squeaking sidney in the backgorund makes it,.
I’ve been thinking about Sidney in combat. I keep thinking how vulnerable she’d be to any kind of confuse spell, or distract, minor mind-control powers…. anything that got her to drop the shield ball. So, she really needs some proper Armour. And she can fly and carry weight doing it, so it can be Really Thick Armour…. and some kind of harness would let Varia hang on to the back of her and use one, possibly two of her orbs…. so…..
Mecha Sidney, ACTIVATE!
Fairly sure Sydney would not be as susceptible to Confuse as someone like Harem or even Maxi would be, and, Frank Quitely, almost everyone (expect magic-user types) would be susceptible to mind-control powers
To be fair, her force field blocked the aggro aura, so its entirely possible that, at least while she’s bubbled up, such spells would fail to breech the shield.
I am not sure you have worked this through properly. If the armour is there to protect Halo, in the event that she has been tricked/enchanted into dropping the orbs, then she will not be able to fly. Plus she is physically weak,* so armour heavy enough to require use of the Fly Ball will render her pretty much unable to move, under her own power. A potentially deadly handicap, in a combat situation!
Sydney’s armourer has thought through her encumbrance capacity and has sensibly provided her with regular Archon-issue Kevlar+, enchanted by Iron Cloth, the super-tailor, to be much more effective than even enhanced Kevlar. Importantly it is light enough to allow her to run, at full speed. Which is (generally speaking) by far the best thing to do if she is unable to access her super-powers, in a super battle!
* Note how lightweight she had to keep her utility belt, despite wanting to fit in everything that Batman does. Despite hauling boxes of comics around, on delivery day, Sydney otherwise lives a fairly sedentary lifestyle and does not have much in the way of muscles.
Whilst Halo will improve, with basic training, she is not going to be put on a body-building regime. Her strengths lie in her mind, and her control over her orbs, so sensible training will maximise her practice in those areas, to get the most out of her super-powers.
FUGGEN REKKT, SON
I always assumed that all cigarettes were snake innards flavored.
Actually they are flavored with the tears and bile of people who whine about others doing as they please and not as the whiney people want.
Like I always say “people who whine make my dog think they are whining about her, that hurts her feelings. Now maybe if you apologized to my dog I could convince her you weren’t whining about her”
No, they’re “ammonia and arsenic and benzene and butane and cadmium and formaldehyde and naphthalene and tar and toluene and about 3,990 other chemicals out of which 43 are cancerous” flavored. (There are about 600 ingredients in cigarettes, and at least 4,000 in the smoke.)
So, Keith, your right to mess up your lungs ends where my right to outlive your sorry ass begins. If you want to whine about people who whine about wanting to live longer, then go smoke your cancer sticks in the privacy of your own home.
I side with Keith…until it is *proven* that smoking, eating bacon, masturbating, playing videogames, or whatever the Boogeyman Behavior of the Day will lessen the allotted length of my, his, your, *anyone’s* life by so much as a single second, I support the right to smoke, eat bacon, masturbate, and play videogames…all at the same time, if you want.
It is *suggested* these behaviors may cause X, but without a time machine, you have no idea how long you, I, or Keith will live with or without these behaviors. What is conveniently ignored by anti-smokers is too numerous to list, but chief of them, in my opinion, is the fact that planes, trains, and automobiles pump more dangerous chemical byproducts into the air than if every single smoker lit up at the same time and chain-smoked a pack.
Second, *every* behavior has an element of risk. Sleeping in a bed heightens the risk you will suffocate with your pillow…extremely rare, but possible. Showering increases the risk of slipping and breaking your neck. Still rare, definitely possible. Getting in your cancer-spewing car to drive to your health-conscious organic grocery is *incredibly* dangerous.
So lay off the smokers, please. If they offend you so much, stay in your smoke-free home and enjoy your risk-free(r) life. It’s my theory the anti-smoking crowd are desperate to do *something* to make them feel like they’re having a positive impact, and smokers are a safe, easy target. Most smokers will put out their cigarette if you tell them it bothers you, or move to the side. Meanwhile, violent crime, the economy, unemployment, terrorism, religious intolerance and society as a whole is an exploding toilet…but by gosh, at least those darn *smokers* aren’t gonna be as much of a problem!
Seriously, worry less about smokers and go donate blood. Volunteer at a homeless shelter or VA hospital. Do something positive instead of acting like the world and everyone in it has to cater to your preferences. The world does *not* revolve around you and absolutely does not care about your comfort or security. For your future reference, it revolves around *me* and since I’m a smoker, that means *you* are wrong for *not* smoking and there should be a law requiring it. When I ascend to my rightful position as Grand High Poobah of Everything, there *will* be such a law, and it’s inevitable, so get ahead of the curve and fire up the Marlboro
Yes, me ascending to Grand High Poobah of Everything is *just* as guaranteed as me getting cancer from smoking. Don’t believe me? Fire up that time machine.
Better yet, go do something positive to lift your fellow man, instead of castigating others. Light a candle to repel the darkness, don’t sit in the dark and grumble at smokers.
Statistically… and I emphasize statistically (because as we all know, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics), it’s already been proven that heavy smoking takes about 10 years off your life. My dad died at the age of 64 because of it. I’m not even 50 yet, and I have COPD because he was a two pack a day smoker for the first 30+ years of my life. So I know first-hand what smoking can do to people.
And you can ask just about any doctor or nurse who works in the Emergency Room what smoker’s lungs are like… they’ve seen it. On the other hand, as a comedian (probably George Carlin, but I’m not sure) points out, at least it’s the last ten. When’s the last time you saw a five-year-old say “when I grow up, I wanna be an invalid?”
Eating bacon? Well, someone (no idea who, but it was just a few months ago) said every strip of bacon you eat takes about 8 seconds off your life. If that’s true, I should probably already be dead. Masturbation? If it makes you go blind, or grow hair on your palms, you’re either doing something very wrong (or maybe very right, depends on your point of view).
By all means, smoke if you want to… in the designated areas. And if I ask you to put it out because I have COPD, then respect my wishes and either put it out or go somewhere else to smoke. Not every smoker does… I’ve had some of them deliberately blow their smoke right in my face just because I told them it was bothering me. (I even said please.)
Problem is, anti-smokers are trying to make even private homes smoke-free
Believe it was mum’s grandmother smoked every day, and lived until she was in her 90’s
What about those who don’t smoke at all, have no contact with smoke or smokers and die in their 40’s?
Here’s a fact for you: you are born with the lung cancer gene!!
Have you considered maybe you moving somewhere where there isn’t someone smoking? Why should they have to move just for you? o_O
Here’s where you and I are in agreement: What people do in the privacy of their own home is not anyone else’s damn business. If I caught anti-smokers trying to ban smoking inside privately-owned residences, I’d tell them what they can go do with themselves. (Which will be something painful and anatomically implausible.)
Now, if it’s a rental property… the landowners are well within their rights to ban smoking in their apartments or rental houses or whatever. But a good landlord would have screened their tenants in the first place.
I shouldn’t have to move to the “smoker’s area” to get away from the smokers, though! That’s why they build those smoker’s areas in the first place… you’re supposed to smoke there, instead of hanging around in front of the hospital entrance.
It’s all homes, private or public, regardless of the owners personal choice
Question is: what are you doing hanging around the hospital entrance long enough to be bothered by smokers? o_O
They even tried (or succeeded) in making it illegal to smoke in your own car
I think it’s nobodys buisness if you want to smoke in your car as long as you don’t harm anyone else. But anyone who smokes with children in their car deserves to have their cigarettes put you know where.
The main problem I see with smoking in the car that could make it a legal problem is: Where do you put the cigarette butts once you’re done? Far too many people (even if it’s only a couple) will just toss it out the window, littering and causing a potential fire hazard.
Don’t need to hang around the entrance to be bothered by smoking. Just passing through is more than enough.
Guess you didn’t notice when I said I had COPD. I was in the hospital for an outpatient procedure, so I was still recovering from anaesthesia. Obviously they don’t want you to drive in that condition. I was waiting for my ride.
Obviously, why I was there is really none of your business. But in this case, I don’t mind answering.
As for “tried to make it illegal to smoke in your own car”, I decided to look it up. There are a grand total of seven states that have laws regarding smoking in your car when children are present, but there is no national law regulating it.
Arkansas – nobody under 14.
California – nobody under 18.
Louisiana – nobody under 13.
Maine – nobody under 16.
Oregon – nobody under 18.
Utah – nobody under 16.
Vermont – nobody under 8.
Overseas, you can be fined 50 quid (about $63) if you are caught smoking in the car when there is someone under the age of 18 present, in England and Wales. I don’t know about other countries.
And as far as “smoking in your own home”, it’s only illegal in one place: San Rafael, California… and only if you share a wall with a neighbor. (Which means residents of apartments, condos, duplexes, and multi-family houses.) Anywhere else in the U.S.? What you do in your house is your own damn business, as it should be.
Not in the states, nor England, so try again
We know that smoking is an intrinsic part of hobbit culture. We must respect the cultural traditions of other folk.
Well up until the point where their traditions require us to suffer harm or death. So we are free to ignore many goblin and orc cultural practices.
You are very welcome to visit my buisness where smokers are neither welcome as customers nor as employed. I prefer it if they keep healthy and spend their time and money on work or buing my stuff instead of taking smoke breaks outside the entrance where everyone is exposed to their habits.
I realise this seems harsh and unfair to smokers but I got to make a profit and thus I need to choose my customers. I am quite certain that this has worked well for me though and it will be even more profitable in the future. Smoking belongs in the past. Embrace the future or not, that is up to the individual.
1) Ok…. when even the fucking Nazis called out the health hazards of smoking… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-tobacco_movement_in_Nazi_Germany
2) Google image search “Lungs” and “Body Worlds”
3) Then search for “Miner’s Lung” and compare the three…
Some are camel flavoured
Never smoked, on budget related grounds. I’ve never understood those who say, “What you are doing does not affect me in the slightest, but I don’t like it. You must stop.”
The problem is that it DOES affect others, that smoke doesn’t just vanish when its exhaled it pollutes the air harming others. Smoking isn’t something that only affects the smoker and people with lung problems it could literally be a death sentence breathing that second hand smoke. One apartment I lived in the neighbors smoked so bad it clouded up the hallway AND seeped into my apartment making it hard for me to breathe, the landlord had to actually install weather seals on my door to keep it out. I have a right to not be forced to breathe someone’s toxic smoke because some smoker has a ‘screw you I’ll do whatever I feel like and if it hurts you I don’t care a bit’ attitude. THAT attitude from far too many smokers is why some anti-smoking people want to ban it period: can’t hurt others by smoking if you can’t smoke at all.
Let me put it this way. I have been asked to repair a Playstation 3 that had been in a house with an entire family of heavy smokers. When I opened the case, there was a hard brown shell covering everything. I couldn’t even chip it off with a screwdriver!
No, that is not some sort of anti-tampering measure that Sony took… it was a layer of solidified tar, because they were smoking while playing their games (sitting about a foot away from the console), and it was being sucked in by the cooling fans. This took slightly less than a year, because the console was still within the warranty period, but only by a few weeks.
“Sorry, but a shell of solidified cigarette tar counts as deliberate abuse, which voids the warranty. I can fix it, but you’re going to have to pay for it.” They were not happy. (And I wish smokers would think about this: If the smoke from your cigarettes can do that to a Playstation, what do you think it’s doing to your lungs? For that matter, what do you think it’s doing to MY lungs? But you just can’t convince some people.)
Back when I repaired computer monitors in the 90s I saw similar things, some monitors were lucky it was just the cases that were discolored. You’re right though that the smokers just don’t see that, no matter how much you show them what that smoke is doing they just ignore it. Heck I remember in 1st grade the pictures of smokers’ lungs we were shown and thinking ‘how can anyone do that to themselves?’. They just don’t care what it’s doing to them or what it does to others, all that matters is that addiction.
Have you seen the damage that cars and other engines produce with their toxic omissions? Or is the view from your rectal canal that narrow you can’t see anything else? o_O
And how many people are running their car inside their apartment, did MSpears attempt chip off a layer of car exhaust from the inside of a playstation? How much damage to your lungs does the “normal” exposure to car exhaust cause (I actually don’t know this one, might look it up)? I’ll throw your comment back at you, have you seen the damage that cigarettes have caused with their toxic emissions? or is your view so narrow you can’t see anything else (paraphrased closer to my wording).
One thing I don’t get about tobacco, many of the problematic chemicals are said to be ADDED before the consumer gets them. No matter how much money the whole business makes, that should be regulated or stopped, and the lack of action puzzles me.
Yes, cars, factories, power plants. Those are far more damaging to the environment than smokers, that’s why there’s regulations on how close to residential areas the buildings can be, and how the toxic waste gets disposed of to help protect the environment. Cars have emission regulations on how much pollution they have to filter out.
The reason more isn’t done about any of this? Money.
Another point: They are ALL bad for health. Cigarettes should not be completely ignored for cars and factories, nor vice versa.
Look at it this way, to clean up cigarette problems, people just need a different addictive emotion-enhancing pastime, and there is a plethora of other chemical and active choices with fewer health consequences. To clean up cars required technology to advance to the point where many people and products can be transported long distances without using a gasoline-burning energy source, and then the technology must become cheap enough for widespread consumption. We are finally getting electric cars that can drive people around enough for work, still not enough for vacations/road trips, and that doesn’t extend to planes, ships, and shipping trucks. Plus, we don’t have enough clean electricity sources to completely balance the emission cleaning from cars. Which sounds like a more effective use of effort?
Okay, looked it up, car exhaust is about as bad for people as cigarette smoke. Most items in a car exhaust vs cigarette smoke search are about diesel fuels, which is generally accepted as worse than general gasoline. It appears to have less airborne particles and carbon monoxide per unit of measure (not my own research, won’t be, and didn’t look up full specifics). A car however produces a far higher volume of exhaust at a far more constant rate than any smoker. The driver of a car normally doesn’t ever directly breathe from the exhaust pipe, and cars are generally in places where the environment gets more trouble than the occupants. Cities and places with high congestion are also far worse (just look at China’s smog problem) than small cities/less congestion. Just don’t forget that they are ALL problematic for health.
YES, I have seen the damage the exhaust of cars and other engines do with their emissions. It’s still an invalid comparison, for two main reasons:
(1) Nobody deliberately sticks the tailpipe of a car in their mouth, sets the car on fire, and sucks the exhaust into their lungs.
(2) While car exhaust does contain a lot of pollutants, it doesn’t contain polonium, arsenic, DDT, cyanide, formaldehyde (that’s EMBALMING FLUID, in case you didn’t know)… and of course, both cars and cigarettes emit carbon monoxide. That’s only scratching the surface.
You’re trying to convince me that cars pollute. [sarcasm] Naww, really? [/sarcasm] Tell me something I don’t know.
I’m kinda surprised no one has suggested they simply take a squeegee to that hand print.
it’s probably connected to whatever magic keeps them moving.
It actually has been suggested a few times that cleaning off that hand print would bring them to a stop, but the counterpoint has always been that it’s kind of hard to wash something clean when it’s busy trying to kill you.
clearly you’ve never seen me wash my dog.
valid counterpoint and i must have missed the wash it off comment
I suggested a firehose.
That is an unsafe way to wash a dog! A garden hose is not too bad, if the dog enjoys it, but a fire-hose is far too powerful!
*hackles raised*
Psst, I have not seen any fire-hoses in the chamber or corridor beyond. They either use magical alternatives or are extremely lax on their health and safety!
honeybadger don’t give a shit
On the contrary, honey badgers give a shit fairly often…Probably while squatting down next to the bear in the woods & doing the same thing…
;)
Reminds me of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
CJ: “Does the pope shit in the woods?”
Cesar: “Why do you keep asking me that? What the man does with his business, is his business!”
It reminds me of current Turing-tests, where you mostly hear AI’s trying too hard to convince you that they are human.
Relax silicon-dude, we accept all sorts here. Not being human is a positive advantage, in this community!
Mr Puppy: just read in the local paper about allegations of poor families in Romania getting the equivalent of $6.70 per delivery of 1000 Kinder Surprise eggs, have you heard anything about that?
I have not. But, whether that sounds outrageous to you, or not, both Romania and Bulgaria are very poor countries. The two poorest in Europe. Such that an unskilled laborer might earn BGN7.00 per day (GBP3.03 / USD3.79 / NZD5.38). Or a shepherd BGN5.00 per day. These are just from my experience, rather than looking up what the official figures are nowadays.
In areas where foreigners are present, this can change dramatically. So labourers in my village might expect BGN20.00 a day, from rich employers, with no idea of the going rate (or however much the gullible are willing to pay out). But go a few villages over, where there are no foreigners, and even the gullible foreigner rate drops dramatically.
So it would depend on how long it takes to deliver those. If it is less than a day, then they are actually getting double the normal rate. Or treble if you consider that it is not hard labour. If it takes more than two or three days, then it is exploitative, in the extreme.
Given that such minimal wages are hard to live on, and undercutting them can prove to have fatal results, very easily. A neighbour died recently because his family could no longer afford the cancer drugs he needed. And I know of others who died, in the region, because they could not afford even relatively cheap treatments (by Western standards).
I should point out that whilst Romania started out poorer than Romania, they have swapped places, as the latter has embraced free market principles more readily than Bulgaria, which clings to a lot of Communist era bureaucracy and restrictive practices.
So I imagine their national average wage, in Romania is probably higher. But the salaries for the very poorest will probably be comparable. I do not hear of any locals getting work in Romania, and the border is very close. With free movement of labour, I am sure they would commute, if the differential was sufficient.
Wasn’t so much the rate of alleged pay (figured the amount, while low for here, was possibly within normal range for there), but the alleged child-exploitation
Didn’t really believe it as the Ferrero spokesperson was unaware of it (yeah yeah, no surprise that an evil exploitive company spokesmuppet would deny everything, right?) but it’s far to easy for tabloid rags to start chucking around allegations like this and the gullible readers accepting it as solid fact
Oh, that is entirely possible. Whilst it is rarer in Europe, than some countries, as the E.U. has, and strictly enforces, rules on human rights. But the poorer a country is, the more likely it is for that to happen. If your dad is dying of cancer, schoolwork will take a lesser priority than doing whatever it takes to keep him alive.
Romania did actually have very good administration of child protection laws, at one point. When it was all centralised. But a few years ago they switched the responsibility to local administrators. As many village and town mayors have little or no interest in child-exploitation rules, children school attendance figures plummeted (in such areas). So it does not surprise me that similar problems carried over into child labour.
That is actually one area where Bulgaria has (as far as I know) done better. Whilst it did have appalling conditions in orphanages, early on, part of the process of gaining entry to the EU required them to bring such institutions up to E.U. standards. So I understand they are much improved (compared to previously, it is still poor, and therefore basic, but not brutal).
But the point I grumbled about before, their dogged sticking to bureaucratic rules, does have some benefits, and this is one. If the rules say children must all go to school, that is well enforced.
That said though you do still get a lot, of children (in the villages), who will beg for money or food, when not in school. But if they are hungry, that is not something you want to regulate against. Whilst corruption is so bad that E.U. aid cannot effectively reach those in need, you have to accept that people will do whatever they can, to stay alive.
Both countries have a long way to go on that front. Shining a light on the failings is good. But will have little effect unless the corruption is torn out, at the roots. But that can only be done by the countries themselves, as the E.U. cannot force such changes on reluctant countries. Barring some big protests, in Bulgaria, I have not seen any signs of progress, on that front, since I have been here.
The point was ‘alleged’ abuse and such, and, until it has been proven, will continue to believe it is simply some hack ‘journo’ with an agenda
With the way I’m feeling I think I’ll get Clover angry so that she will put me out of my agony. My pain meds (Norco 325 mg/10mg and Morphine Sulfate 30mg) aren’t stopping the pain.
That sounds really bad. I’ve had have incapacitating back pain for short periods, but nothing a couple injectables couldn’t manage. I’m sorry for you :(
You have my sympathies. When conventional pain killers are not working, I have always suggested using the unconventional options. The most effective of which being hypnosis and self-hypnosis, through meditation.
Given that these techniques are successful enough, for some people, that they can remain conscious through surgery or childbirth, under situations where a general anesthetic or epidural would normally be required, they are very worthwhile exploring. Especially if it gives hope, when in such dire pain as you are experiencing!
If you have doubts, just think on how people are able to walk across burning hot coals, provided they enter the right state of mind. These are very powerful techniques, well worth checking out, under the supervision of someone suitably skilled.
There are other alternative medicinal techniques which could be turned to, as well, if the above is not successful. Of which the one that I hear the most positive feedback about is acupuncture. Whilst I am highly dismissive of a number of ‘alternative medicines’ that is one that does have a long history of successful use for pain relief.
These, by the way, are not things which attempting to debunk helps. The fact that all of the above do provide pain relief, to many people, is sufficient cause to ignore any such counterproductive attitudes. The best route is to try them and see if it helps you personally.
It does take great courage to struggle on, in the face of such extreme pain though, whichever routes you attempt. I hope that you continue to do so, and take heart at the possibility of relief from unconventional medicine.
When my pain has been at it’s worst I’ve seriously contemplated using my power saw to remove my leg.
Did she punch him so hard, she turned his left hand into a right one?
… Yeah, sure why not, let’s go with that, it’s easier than trying to explain all the time
:-D
I have a friend who is left-right dyslexic. You literally have to point which way he needs to turn, if navigating for him. Because, if you just say “turn left” or “take the next right” he will either get it wrong, or get flustered, trying to figure out which is which, and end up going straight on.
Weirdly enough though he had no problems with “port” and “starboard”.
Not that I am suggesting that Dave has a similar problem, as there is a more likely explanation to paw. Hands are tricky to draw, Dave probably just uses his own hand, as a reference. Getting it into the right angle and pose.
However he would not have been able to position his left arm in the appropriate position, for that detached limb. So the natural one to use would be the right. Then, having to deal with all the other tricky issues, such as clarity of the action, lighting, differences for manikin arms versus human arms, and so on, makes it easy to forget the need to mirror the hand, to match the one that came off.
It may be worth DaveB investing in an angle-poise mirror, which can be positioned at any angle, to aid in inverting any such images, in future. Not just for hands, but any reference where the source is the wrong way around. Albeit that flipping an image on, the screen, is very easily handled for someone with art programs open. And I know Dave tends to google reference material. So it may be an unnecessary expense, if it would only be used rarely.
Here! Here! :)
I have that, lots of weird mistakes with my dentist, my physical therapist, my dance coach, and in those particular situations when “a little to the right” become crucial :P
When I drive and need directions I ask my co pilot to say “your side” and “my side”. It was an idea of my first partner that I find easier and safer than to look at where the other person is pointing to.
I’ve read that the natives of Bali simply use north/south/east/west/etc, using the relative positions of the islands’ main mountains to recognise their current facing, instead of left/right.
And I have a friend who is not left-right dyslexic, but he is so bad at directions, he once got lost in a bathroom with two doors. (AND, his friends had to make post-it notes with N, S, E, W on it and stick it on his monitor when he was playing a role-playing game.)
Almost forgot this scene from “Gods Must be Crazy II” where it shows honey badgers can be tenacious buggers when they finally do give a fuck (they also can be very loyal and act better than a guard-dog if you manage to befriend one)
Sweet piece. Sad ending though.
*sniffle*
*writes note: “Dear Santa, I guess you probably read Grrl Power, to see who has been naughty and who has been nice. Honey badger plushies are now on the ‘approved list’. Thanks. Hope you patch things up with Mrs Clause. Give Rudolph a hug, from me.*
Yeah, he made such a friend, but he knew he had to let him go and return to his wife and children, Honey Badger will never forget his strange two legged friend and the adventure they had :p
I’m starting to wonder what a were-rhino, hippo, or elephant would look like and could do.
Well given that elephants do genuinely have better memories than us,* if that is enhanced, they will probably have photographic memory and the complimentary perfect recall, needed to make best use of that. Plus they will have phenomenal strength and even dexterity, with their trunks.
But, to offset that, they will find that people will be reluctant to talk about them, in social situations, to the point of excluding them!
Nobody talks about the elephant in the room!
* For the things that matter to them, namely remembering members of their society. Tests have shown that an average elephant is able to remember significantly more of such than an average human.
Totally reminds me of this ad from the 90’s :D
And this clip is both sad and heart warming at the same time ;(
They should have brought me along for the musical accompaniment.
Yea, I liked that one. And it is true. In as much that there have been documented examples of that kind of thing actually happening (albeit not quite to that comical degree). Elephants are able to recognise and remember different humans, just as easily as they can other elephants. And abusive ones will be a high priority to recall. You do not want to have an animal, that powerful, holding a grudge against you!
And there is this clip about a trainer and elephant reuniting for the last time after not seeing each other for fifteen years
Aww, that had me misting up. It really saddens me to be separated from Buffy for even a month, when on my travels. I could not abide the prospect of any longer separation than that!
Crows can do that, too.
Crows (and the rest of the corvid family) are a lot smarter than many people give them credit for. In fact, if you look at the brain-to-body-weight ratio, corvids are equal to that of most great apes and cetaceans. Those who are curious should watch some of the videos demonstrating the latest research into avian intelligence, particularly corvids and psitticines (parrots). I guarantee that all of a sudden, calling someone a “bird brain” won’t sound very insulting anymore.
The coelurosauria include both tyrannosaurs and birds (in a much closer family than other Theropoda, let alone the rest of the dinosaurs.
Given that, do you think T-Rex would collect shiny car parts, to line its nest? Could a T-Rex pick the lock, on its cage, just using a hairpin, in its teeth? Or, with all the extra brain power that it has, compared to a Crow, would it be able to debate whether a pillar falling, in a petrified forest, could be heard, if there was no dinosaur to hear it?
poison on the were-honeybadger well once this is over shes going to probably take a nap
Like she wasn’t going to anyway :p