Grrl Power #495 – Any stealth employed at this point is just for practice
Pixel is extremely unusual in having disparate power sets. Not necessarily unique, but it’s hard to get scientists who can study her without being read in on the whole lycanthopy thing. Of course there are some who know the whole shebang, but even so it a complicated field even more complicated. There’s so many variables they need extra alphabets to notate them all.
As a recon mission goes, this has long been a disaster, but they’re just doing due diligence as far as Arc-SWAT and The Council are concerned. Standing on the roof opposite your target and lighting yourself up against the horizon, obviously not ideal, but in Sydney’s defense, she only just started actually shouting on this page. Ok, the thing about the hacking of the bladder was kind of loud too. Pixel’s not too worried though. Even if there are husks there, she’s confident she can at least avoid them, and the rest of them will be safe under Sydney’d shield if it comes down to it. Still, Sam Fisher would be disappointed. As would Corvo, Garrett, and “Marked Ninja” who is the main character from “Mark of the Ninja.”
Speaking of which, anyone named Mark should automatically have the middle name “Ofthe” Sure, Mark Ofthe Jones doesn’t sound quite as cool, which is why under my rules, only people with cool last names would be named Mark. Hunter, Drake, King, Magnum, Voldemort, you get the idea.
BTW that stamp on the first panel says “T&A POSE” and has one of four X’s filled in. I know it looks like “tea pose” but that’s just the particular font’s ampersand.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like :)
This page colored by Keith.
Check out Wearing the Cape: Team-Ups & Crossovers. Sydney’s first Crossover! I’ve made a dedicated blog post for it, please comment there.
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This strip gets better all the time! (See what I did there?)
No, it was far too camouflaged to be seen properly.
I’ve often seen a cat without spots but never spots without a cat.
As a janitor, I see spots without a cat all the time.
I agree; any strip that starts with stripping…
It has finally been mentioned.
OMG
Some of us probably hope the Valentine’s Day incentive will be “Dabbler Approved – XXXX”
Please… The sort of stuff Dabbler is into? You’d need a four-dimensional holo-matrix to display it, and your brain would be ruined for anything more exciting than cold oatmeal afterwards.
Oatmeal *shivers in anticipation*
“That’s my Fetish…”
Cold oatmeal mmmmm
Naked oatmeal wrestling…
…”Because it’s the right thing to do…”
– Quoted form a TV commercial.
“Sydney has the same stealth stats as a mardi gras parade.”
Yep, pretty accurate. Her noise levels when excited are pretty on par and she has the lights to go with it.
Personally i think it´s rude to think a Mardi Gras parade could not be more stealthy than Sydney.
Especially with all the nuns and topless women. I am assuming the topless women will not include the nuns.
You’ve never been to a Mardi Gras parade, have you?
.
.
.
.
BTW, do not google “topless nuns” without privacy mode. [Because, yes it is a thing.]
I saw on the news that an order of nuns will be in the New Orleans parade this year, for the first time in a very long time. The rest I am relying on various videos I have seen regarding that time, so I may have a few misconceptions. I have not been south of Pennsylvania, so no, I have not seen such a parade in person; they are not such a big thing up here in Canada; we are more looking forward to the pancakes and Lent.
OMG! Waaaaaaaaaay to accurate!
Didn’t even notice the Dabbler stamp until you mentioned it in the blog bit. >.> Guess I was too mesmerized by the pretty pink kitty?
DUDE! You missed a prime opportunity to say “pretty pink pussy… cat”.
What a waste.
Me also.
…and her stealth stats should be inversely proportionate as a giant pink sultry were panther and as invisible jaguar. Extreme much?
It’s unclear from the context what Krona is doing, but given her power set thus far, it seems like she might be saving in case she needs to reload? But you know… with reality, instead of a game?
To say that would be a powerful ability would be an understatement.
SAVE SCUMMING!!!!!
By this point, the Chibi Squad’s powercreep level would leave Maxima in dust.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBRn6Eb9GaI
Who needs super powers when you’re The Commander and can reset time any time something goes wrong. :P
reminds me of a great XCOM comic
*Pair of XCOM troopers approach a position*
Viper:”I can’t wait to kill the humannns with our ssssuperior technology!”
Sectoid: “yeah.. but we can’t win”
“why not?”
“they have save scumming”
“What’ssss that?”
*Sectoid shoots and kills one of the troopers. a second later the two troops pop back up where they started*
*Viper tongue grabs one while the sectoid shoots the other guy*
“That’sssss messssed up.”
Could be a save point, can’t tell if she’s a bad liar or just baffled by all the Sydney. A delayed purge of her browser history, or just recording the whole thing for laughs later?
Well obviously she has to survive to reload someone.
Also we have no idea if it just warps them out or completely reloads them or if they keep their memories
Yuna casts Reraise.
I like to go old school here. Terra cast Life 3
So, someone has been reading our complaints about how a pink jaguar isn’t exactly stealthy, hein?
An invisible jaguar, on the other hand…
I’m sorry but I didn’t see the problem.
Bad Tail! Don’t Hide The Boobies! Bad Tail! Bad!
Was thinking the same thing, it’s not like we could even have seen anything from that distance :(
That’s probably Krona’s doing. You know, implementing a “convenient censor” algorithm in case she needs to go humanoid again…
Patreon supporters can zoom in much further though.
Still can’t see anything
As of panels #7 & #8, no one can see anything…
That under-comic quip. I can’t help but think it is soooooo appropriate for the page where a giant pink humanoid jaguar transformed into a giant pink non-humanoid jaguar and then turned invisible. It’s just… the contrast of both page and stereotypes. So good.
Or it could just be that Dave wanted to have an excuse to have Pixle get naked, when invisibility could have just been her power.
Having her shirt going along a foot above the ground with nothing apparently inside it might draw some unwanted attention.
This cannot be the reason for her disrobing, because the collar disappeared along with her. It’s probably more that her shirt and pants are stretchy enough to expand when she goes from her ~5’0″ human form to her ~6’6″ jaguar form (and I still call BS on that unless Reed Richards exists in this universe), but they cannot shrink down and otherwise change form enough to accommodate a cat body.
-Krona likes modding people’s underwear, as was both stated and shown.
-Since the band disappeared when she did, it makes sense all her clothes would have, or at least that associated with Archon, so that’s why she took the shirt and jacket off. Maybe she had a bra (the ‘test’ would say she doesn’t need it in normal form, and supers don’t need it because they aren’t restricted to… stuff) and underwear on, but, well, Krona.
-Maybe it’s actually Pixel thinking that a jaguar wearing clothes would be really ridiculous, so she took them off because of the form she was assuming. Even if she’d be invisible anyway… or the invisibility doesn’t affect her clothes except choker.
Pixel may simply have a limit on how much external matter she can make invisible. Be that by mass, volume or whatnot. If so, it is clearly quite restrictive, at the moment. Probably giving her the choice between the choker, and all its high-tech communications, GPS etc and a thong.
I imagine, in due course, if that is the case, Pixel will work on improving her capacity.
I think it’s appropriate when a busty woman takes her shirt off.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
If I had Krona’s powers, I’d abuse the hell out of them.
I’m also confused as to what she did on this page though. I wonder if it’ll be explained later (so spoiler territory if it is said in comments) or if I’m just blind to what is going on.
Same here on what Krona did. Did I just miss it, or will we find out later? (I am currently in a pre-caffienated state, could be a lack of processor power on my part).
I think she masked Sidney’s yelling. She was expecting Sidney to do so and blocked it from being heard off the rooftop.
Probably not, or there would have been no need to remind Sydney that this was a recon mission.
Also, that would not match up in any way with what she said while doing her BIP routine.
I suspect she made a restore point.
She was just creating a Deus Ex Machina trigger, no need to worry
I am thinking that Deus is not part of this little adventure.
A non-determined checov’s spell.
Pixel still has her collar on…
If She can enter「Stealth」 mode with her collar on, then why would she need to remove her clothes?
It’s not like its going to restrict or impede her movements.
Plus, she might need them if she needs to go to bi-pedal mode again.
I don’t think it’s a matter of being unable to cloak them too so much as a damage and mobility issue. Clothes for a tiny little girl, even if they do stretch to accommodate her large bipedal cat form, don’t really fit and tailor to a large quadruped cat form. Seems like it would be like running around with your shoes untied in a way. Sooner or later you’re gunna faceplant because they’re not made to be worn like that.
clothes make noise and catch on stuff, plus they really aren’t designed with the mobility and/or musculature of an animal in mind.
Everyone knows, invisibility only works while invisible
Must have had a very bad day when wrote that :double_facepalm:
Meant: “Everyone knows, invisibility only works while NAKED!!”
It is almost like Kel Mitchell’s character from Mystery Men. Only invisible when no one is looking at him and his clothes fall off when he turns invisible.
Yeah, his character was one of the ones was thinking of, the original “Invisible Man” was the other
Or there is the ‘invisibility cloak’, from Eric the Viking. Basically the wearer was the only one who believed it actually made him invisible.
And life needs things to live.
Yeah, pretty much this. Plus she’s not exactly bashful in her hybrid form either.
Thank God for that!
The collar might be specially designed to turn invisible with her, like Violet Parr’s costume.
Who else was wondering why there was a panel break between the rosebush and the buildings?
(heh)
Because those are not roses. That’s the leopard spots turning invisible like the a cheshire cat. The panels show her vanishing.
*sigh* Yes. That’s the joke. You done good finding it, we’re all real proud of you.
You missed the opportunity to say “Well done for spotting it”. Although it would have made the sarcasm a bit less punchy.
I’d go full Nigel Thornberry on that……
….
…
I have no idea what that is supposed to mean but I assume it involves a well timed “Smashing” and all manners of things that could be labeled under “Documenting Nature” and even some “for science”.
what I want to know is why Sydney isn’t fondling her true sight orb. The one that would let her see the magical auras though things? Even if invisible Pixel Kitty has lightsabre claws, when the door opens anyone will be able to see that the DOOR IS OPEN. Also why are you going in via the door? If there are traps here, that’s where they are going to be.
Well, this IS Sydney’s very first, for-real recon party. She might be forgiven for forgetting a few things.
Also, that thing is TOP TOP secret. Not sure if Krona is allowed to know about it. I’m not even sure if Pixel knows about it, honestly.
Top Secret on that orb went out the window when she used it in full view of the cameras during the first super battle at the diner. She used the comm ball (Which I am now going to refer to as the combo because I said so), to create a double of herself and talk to Vehemence. Source: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1422
Likely it was all over the news with a live broadcast thanks to Suzie News.
Plus the Twilight Council do know that Sydney has truesight, as it was mentioned by the vampire chairman.
Let’s also remember that she can apparently see magical objects through matter as well. By all means, she should be able to do a quick scan of the building and see glowing items through the walls.
This was exactly my point. Also it lets her see these things and no one else so its not like her using the ball will give anyone ant idea what its being used for. At the first battle Vehemence could see that Sydney was blocking his spell with the shield, but not that she could see the aura itself. It was established that remote Sydney couldn’t doesn’t have any extra perception capabilities only Sydney Prime can see the full monty with the commball. Pixel probably knows the capabilities because of being in ArcLight. She is also commanding Daphne so she ranks as well.
Pixel will certainly know everything about the orbs, that Archon have learnt, as she is in charge of examining them (with Dabbler’s help). The ‘seeing auras through walls’ bit though she may not know, as Halo only just discovered that, just before the fight.
Clearly they have not had a formal debriefing yet, having been sent out immediately on the next mission. Although it is possible that Sydney has mentioned it, when those orders were being issued, or whilst in transit to this location.
Plus we know that Sydney has held back some information, about the orbs, from the outset. Depending on what that was, and her motives behind it, she may or may not have decided to share that extra information with Archon.
You never know what the future may hold. If Maxima is removed from command, through some devious political trick, or some other misadventure, then her replacement might dispense with the ‘no whisking away’ policy she enforced. In which case having a few capabilities which Archon do not know about could be pivotal in retaining her liberty.
Likewise if Halo ever has to deal with a rogue member of the team. Perhaps an evil duplicate of Maxima or just Harem goiong all-out traitor.
It’s getting late, isn’t it? Cause I think Sydney is getting dark rings of fatigue around her eyes… Which, fittingly enough, the german wikipedia says is also called Halo
Technically, I think we’re still on day number 2, or maybe 3. I’m more sure about day 2 though.
It’s still late at night though. We don’t really have a time frame here, but given the club scene, it’s probably really late. Most clubs don’t really get populated until after about 12 or so from what I’ve seen/heard of most places.
Let me correct that for a moment. Meant good clubs and real restaurants. They seem to be keeping more of a night life.
Fairly sure it’s Day Three: first day ended in the Restaurant Rumble, Day two was the Nightclubing, so this makes it Day Three (well, maybe the morning of Day Four?)
Day four…
So that fading out thing; apparently Pixel is a were-Cheshire Cat.
Heheh, indeed.
Ok, by now, Pixel’s various powers are getting a little confusing…What she can do, when she can do it.
At this point, I just don’t see where she’s coming from…
;)
Or where she’s going for that matter.
I’ve often seen a cat without spots but never spots without a cat.
Pixel must have increased flexibility in her jaguar form to manage that brokeback pose in panel 1.
Not really. I can manage that same turn no problem and I’m incredibly out of shape.
Same here, do it almost every day refilling the kettle and placing it back on its stand
It’s harder if you try to put your buttocks in the position Pixel’s tail is in…
I expect the Escher Girls would raise a fuss over it.
So we’ve got a invisible pink leopard (obviously a relation to the invisible pink unicorn) with laser claws, a genre savvy girl with an (as far as we know) unbreakable shield who can cut through tanks, a reality hacker, and a teleporter who can literally be in 5 places at once. If there is anyone in there, this is either a totally level inappropriate encounter (for them), or that factory and the surrounding area is going to be toast.
Very possibly both.
Pretty sure that was guaranteed outright. Look at what was thrown at them as cannon fodder. What would presumably be stored in any kind of base at that point should basically be able to level a city block.
yeah, this has got disaster written all over it. And all this just two days after the big fight with V & co. Man, Arianna might just need to level up her spin skills a bit to get through this one. :-)
If Sydney has to light off the PPO, it will be disaster++…
a man was arrested once in the old west for wearing a suit made entirely out of paper
when asked why he was behind bars, he simply replied:
“Rustling”
groooan…
He used to own a newspaper but it Folded.
Most guys who saw him tried to read “above the fold,” while most gals wanted to read below…
He thought they wouldn’t recognise him, but his disguise was paper thin.
Voldemort isn’t a last name. The way it works, as illustrated in the movie quite well, is
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE ->
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT.
Mark of the Riddle is still kinda cool, but…
Which is why they had to change his name to include ‘Elvis’ in the French version, so he could write “Je suis Voldemort”.
Well, I hope that collar gives immunity to magic. If Pixel’s seriously trying to sneak up on a mage using only invisibility, she’s in for a world of hurt. Even a first level mage with any intelligence will detect her immediately.
Then again, the place could be empty. heh
Doesn’t have to be magic. Guard dogs, thermal sensors, pressure plates, or anything that doesn’t rely on visual imagery will still track her just fine. Invisibility, less useful than it “appears”. :-)
All other things being equal, if I were trying to sneak in someplace I’d prefer to do it as an invisible cat, which also means nearly silent, than as a visible human with a questionable silent mode.
If I had to sneak in somewhere, I’d do it as a skaven.
Quiet as a mouse, and absolutely battle-ready.
Well, Black Star Approves of this approach.
“YAHOOH, IM BLACK STAR AND IM HERE TO MURDER YOOOU!”
Greatest way to start an assassination ever.
Well duh, The assassin should always be center stage!
Even that’s better than the “Leeroy Jenkins” approach.
At least he has chicken.
So happy someone made a Soul Eater reference. I wonder if Dave will put in any human chainsaws? That guy was cool.
Taking Panel #3 with the previous strip, Krona obviously considers Sydney a complete idiot.
Not saying that I blame her…
what’s T&A short for again?
Tits and Ass
Tanks & Ammo
Turtles & Aardvarks
Tracts & Admirals
*Starts singing ‘my humps’*
*gives Viirin a thump* No! Bad!
Through deductive reasoning “Tits and Arse”. Hence Dabbler approving of it.
If Pixel reverts back to her human self,won’t she be naked???
Is this a problem?
Could be intentional, to warrant a spanking.
They’ve got a guy for that, Corporal Punishment.
True. Warrant officers generally would not be the person to do that.
That’s the general theory. Or a major pervert might anyhow. if somewhere private enough.
Not at all. She’ll still be wearing her collar.
As long as the others don’t run off with her clothes….!
Why the hell would anyone put Sydney on a mission that requires stealth? Last time I checked she needs her meds to function somewhat normally and if shes on her meds right now the dosage needs to be upped by a hefty margin.
In real life Sydney (as a recruit) shouldn’t be there at all and Max could find herself on charges for assigning her to an active taskforce, but fortunately the Grrlverse is way more flexible on military law than real life.
Still, Sydney was assigned to this squad my Maxima and than means it’s Max who will bear the brunt of any complaints/charges should things go bad (of course in proper commanding officer tradition, she will then “explain” to Sydney that in the military it’s not only water that flows downhill, but I digress).
Push comes to shove, if this all goes south due to Sydney, it’s Max who will take the kick. Rank hath its privileges, but with great power comes etc, etc. https://xkcd.com/643/
Despite her inexperience she has shown both intelligence and power savvy not to mention a list of powers that would outclass most supers.
Well, recall that Maxima was dead-set against the idea, and it was only through pointing out how useful Halo’s power set would be did she allow it. Begrudgingly.
Regardless of Sydney’s powers & that she’s shown a high degree of ability to figure things out quickly, Max is also aware that Sydney’s not exactly consistent with it…And she’s also not trained or experienced enough to make the most of her abilities. That’s why Max was so reluctant at first.
She does well after SHTF, not before…
A higher dose would be meth, they don’t write prescriptions for that.
Some characters discussed that on day one, but I can’t find the page.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/416
Not anymore they don’t. They used to. Riddlin anyone? I used to have to take that.
Sydney is probably taking something that would be considered “outdated” today.
If you’ll recall the first few pages of the comic (DaveB’s flash forward of the current story arc), the parking validation sticker in the window of her car indicates that it’s valid until “May 2005.” Since that page would have been several months after this page, we can figure that the current time in-comic is somewhen between late 2004 – early 2005. We really can’t figure on Sydney’s meds being more updated than what was in use at that time.
No, that’s “May 2011”
They actually said that she was taking Adderall for her ADHD. Adderall is a stronger form of Ritalin, and is designed to last longer. I maxed out the dosages for Ritalin as a child and they had to switch me to Adderall after I stopped showing any reactions from Ritalin. Also it should be noted that Ritalin has been shown to cause long term damage liver and kidney functions.
Marc Hunter is close enough, isn’t it? Even found an appropriate song of his: Magic
Dragon songs are like wizards, they are ALWAYS appropriate!
So she’s a Druid? “I’m invisible. I’m invisible. I’m invisi-visi-visible.”
Light manipulation, not really disparity just manifests differently depending on form, could be psychological or something else.
Noise doesn’t matter. The screaming of the elder vampire while his blood is being drained is going to cover up any noise they make.
Now we need someone to transform her into different animal/halfforms just to see if see has different power in that forms.
Wait… didn’t Varia touch her at some point offscreen?
Not officially >_>
But Varia is in the process of cataloging all the powers that she gestalts(?) when touching other people in ARCHON.
That was also where they discovered Pixelicious’ liking to being spanked
More for the Rule 34 “Voting Incentive” fan-fiction. This would be Mk VI, but given it’s only a slight change so it might be Mk Va
MK V “vote incentive” Rule 34 fanfic.
In the shower we have Dabbler , Max and one or more Harems. Dabs and a couple of Harems are finishing up the “buff to a high shine” part of the clean spell, which requires more contact than a spell would normally need, but it’s a Dabbler spell, so there is that.
Out in the locker room, Pixel is laying on a bench naked, while Sydney has wrapped her (lightly) with the light hook to the bench. The loose end of the light hook is giving Pixel a spanking (of what ever level of strength Pixel likes, while at the other end, so to speak, Pixel has her head laying in Krona’s lap. Krona and one or more of the Harems are giving Pixels pettings and/or ear scritches.
The new part is in bold
s/bold/italic/ Forgot what the em tag does, and didn’t see the b tag in the allowable list. My bad
Well. If I learned anything frm TV tropes, that mystery addition ‘just in case’ will be used in 4 pages, max.
And now I have the Pink Panther theme stuck in my head.
It is kind of appropriate for sneaking around. At low volume of course. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OPc7MRm4Y8
The way things are going, I’d sooner play “With Catlike Tread.”
I approve of Dabbler’s approval!
Of course, I’d have to see some examples of different rating-levels Dabbler would use before I could make an accurate judgement call…
O.o
I’m pretty sure “XXXX” would cause reality to implode…
Big naked pink werekktty…
Rowr!
Don’t mind me, just gonna sit here and admire the scenery…
As of panel #8, I have to ask…”How?”
:)
Actually, having someone make a commotion/distraction is a great way to provide cover for another person who is trying to be sneaky. It’s why magicians use cute assistants, and why pickpockets often work in pairs. One of my brothers-in-law got pick-pocketed in Portugal. He said one guy kept bumping into his left side in a crowd, and he would turn to look at the guy. Only later did he notice that the wallet in his right pocket was missing.
Your in-law got robbed by an outlaw?
Cats. Pah
More like cats ‘paw’.
Unless you are talking about Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, such as graphene. These do have delocalized electrons in sp2 orbital hybridization and this may lead to unusual absorption of light. If she could generate a covering of these around herself, this could possibly be the source of her invisibility due to its nonlinear diamagnetism. (How did Star Trek ever come up with its own technobabble without Wikipedia?)
…..was that a save point?
That’s my leading theory.