Grrl Power #547 – This kiss is on my list
Not sure how Dabbler’s going to study the problem if they can’t be in the same room, but no one ever said being a super hero was easy.
So here’s a case of bad planning on my part. It’s easy to miss, but Dabbler is covered in lipstick on this page, only Jabber’s lipstick is nearly the same color as Dabbler’s stripes. There are some things in this comic I plan quite far ahead, but the color schemes of these two as it relates to a joke several years in the making did happen to slip through the cracks this time.
This page was a real pain to write, mostly because Dabbler’s discussion of the Aethershpere went off on a real tangent and was, I finally realized, a crazy and irrelevant info dump. So I cut that discussion out for a future comic. Maybe one day Sydney will ask Dabbler to teach her magic.
Whoops, I forgot the XXXX on Dabbler’s choker. I’ll have to add that in later today as it’s already 2 am. :(
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Betting 1:10 internet points that Jab is just sexually repressed and now has an outlet for an excuse.
Taking bidders!
I have doubts that someone that dresses like jabberwokky does with a see through mesh netting top, has priors for violence, and who has kissed girls in the past is “sexually repressed.”
Plus the full length tattoo across her chest
So I have a taker then?
Yep
To quote Jabberwocky while under Dabbler’s influence…
“I’m not even into women… well, one time at a party… well, most parties” definitely sounds like denial and sexual repression to me. At least denying her sexuality for who-knows-what reason.
So normally uses alcohol as an excuse but now dab gave jab a better one with the spell
Sounds like a reasonable hypothesis. Now, we just need to perform some testing.
By that reasoning, HAREM is sexually repressed because she requires proper lubrication (liquid courage) first. And Harem is clearly not repressed either.
Not quite as deshanti admits to being interested when not “drunk” while JW is trying to say she can’t feel like she does now, however she already sunk that by confessing to do so at partys where her mind is not in normal process, but alcohol does not cause attraction it only reveals impulse that would be hidden.
Agreed.
I’ll take that bet ;) The yandre is strong in this denial
Yanderes are psycho. She’s just has regular anger. But I see what you mean.
Dabble propably used the Kiss on someone with Sexual Repression before. Likely more then once. And it never had such a effect.
I think both her Analysis and her “quick cure” approach are genuine. Of course Max has to make it complicated.
Got curious, had to look for something in an old episode, and came across this:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/457
So, we know who two of those silhouettes are, and their powers and equipment. But who is the guy with the sword?
DaveB has already stated that that silhouette is Zeph, he used to be a bit of an adventurer and has a collection of ‘minor’ magical items. That is his “+5 Vorpal Blade,” to quote DaveB.
Should work especially well on Jabberwokky then, right?
I did recognize (as many of you) the Sword of Eternia, Sword of Omens, Zabimaru, Master Sword, Glamdring, Glaive, and so many more things, I think all owned by Deus, but I didn’t recognize that sword which is why I had to ask. Thanks.
Shouldn’t being under a mind altering effect invalidate any legal agreements Jabberwokky signed?
The effect she’s under is unrelated to her legal issues.
Doesn’t matter, a person being under any mind altering effect when signing is grounds to invalidate a plea deals and other legal agreements.
And this is worst then most because it could be argued that the reason Jabberwokky agreed to it in the first place was the mind altering effect making her want to be with Dabbler.
Honestly Ariana should be in a full blown panic right about now because this is a worst case scenario for her.
This. Jabberwokky’s recruitment would indeed be negated by the mind control effect, just like having sex with someone who is drunk is statutory rape — since they are unable to legally consent to anything while drunk, the fact they did say yes is utterly irrelevant.
Underage sex is illegal for a similar reason under US law — legally, someone the law considers too young to be able to say yes effectively did not say yes, and sex without consent is rape.
The laws regarding consent while intoxicated differ from place to place. Most notably, depending on where you are it matters whether or not you became intoxicated voluntarily.
Logically speaking, if a person is held accountable for crimes they commit while voluntarily intoxicated (like killing someone in an accident) due to it being their responsibility to not do something stupid after they got themselves wasted, then there’s no reason that they shouldn’t be incapable of giving consent, as it’s their responsibility to not do something stupid after they get themselves wasted. Whereas people may be absolved of crimes they commit if they were drugged by someone else, because they aren’t the ones that made the decision to mess with their minds in the first place, and are likewise incapable of giving consent.
“no reason that they should be incapable”, rather.
Except there is a logic gap between ‘committing a crime’ and ‘having a crime committed on you’. Whilst you are correct that definitions vary, that recognition is spreading rapidly and more enlightened countries are shifting from ‘”no” means “no”‘ to ‘unless they say “yes”, it means “no”‘.
Somebody who has fallen unconscious cannot give informed consent. Having sex with them will be rape. Barring unusual circumstances like someone giving concent in advance. Presumably someone with a phobia (or similar) about sex, but who is willing to drink themselves unconscious for their partner’s sake.
Even then such concent would be limited to what was directly discussed. If their partner then decided to invite friends to join in, that would be conspiracy to rape, on the partners behalf, and rape on the friends’ part.
I would not rely on your definition in the U.K. or U.S.A. as there have been people convicted using the basis I have described. Albeit that American law varies by state, I do not know which ones might permit rape of unconscious or dead drunk people. Although I would rather not go to the states where such may be acceptable. I do like to drink, but I don’t like to get raped, so will give that possibility a pass.
I don’t dispute ‘unless they say “yes”, it means “no”‘.
What I’m saying (and some laws thankfully agree with) is that “yes” means “yes” so long as they haven’t had their mind tampered with involuntarily. If they voluntarily impair their mind they’re still responsible for the decisions they make and actions they take while in that state, because they’re a logical consequence of the actions they committed while not impaired (namely, the decision to become impaired).
Furthermore, what of consent for other, non-sexual interactions? Like buying things with money? Without consent, taking money from another person is theft, thus logically, if a drunk person can’t give consent, then you can’t sell anything to them because that would be stealing. If Taco Bell could face repercussions for selling “food” to drunk people who regret it later they’d go out of business overnight!
Or perhaps lending your car to someone to drive you home, or paying for a taxi. Without consent that’s joyriding+kidnapping, or theft+kidnapping. Would letting someone in your house be trespassing, or breaking and entering?
Actually there is a legal principle that already covers this. If a friend needs to borrow your car, and you are not around to ask permission, but would have given it to them, under the circumstances, then it is not theft.
The same applies to the above, except that you are there but unable to give concent. However because they know you, and know you would give concent, they can go ahead.
Of course if they call it wrong, and it turns out that you are not happy with the decisions that they made on your behalf, then their actions may be prosecuted. In particular this gives defense against, say, a boyfriend taking a drunk girlfriend off to his sex dungeon. When that is something she would not give concent to.
Again no, for the same reasons. But with the same caveats. If you are a burglar hanging around waiting for drunk people to invite you in, this is not something they would normally concent to, so your excuse that you had their permission is not a valid defence. They were not capable of giving informed concent.
I have actually been in the position where a friend had to break into our house. He had just deserted from the Foreign Legion and was convinced that their agents would be in hot pursuit, so had to get out of sight. We were not home, so he broke a side window, on the house and entered.
Even if the police had been called, by neighbours, and they decided to prosecute, they would be unable to proceed. We would have supported his right to do that retroactively. And made it very clear to him that we were perfectly happy for him to have done that, plus supported him.
Even had the agents turned up, and insisted that the police prosecute him, so that they could have him extradited as an undesirable criminal, we would have been able to legally prevent that.
If somebody is hungry it is reasonable that they will want to buy food. Using the same principles as above, along with common sense judgement, it can be seen that this is legal. Where of course people would not give concent is to paying more than the usual price. So if someone offers a 50 bill in payment, and does not get change, then that is theft.
If someone is at a bar or party getting drunk it’s not very unreasonable at all for them to leave with someone to have sex with them.
Furthermore, “they wouldn’t normally do that” is no defense against committing crimes while voluntarily intoxicated. By intoxicating themselves they bear the responsibility for decisions they make while in that state. And no, there is no logic gap between these. Both can be described by “they got drunk on purpose, then they decided to do something that they regret later.” However, in one, they hurt someone else and then get punished for it, whereas in the other they hurt no one and then later decide to punish the person they didn’t hurt for their own bad decisions.
Also, after looking over some summaries on consent laws in different states I feel I should clarify my position somewhat. If they’re so impaired they don’t actually know what is happening at all then they can’t give consent because they aren’t making an informed decision. But if they know what’s happening, but they’re making a stupid decision by consenting, then they’ve given consent (though of course it can be revoked for any future action) as long as they voluntarily put themselves in that impaired state.
No, a stupid decision, even in a place where the choice could be conceivably be made, or even has been made before (earlier or at another party) does not count legally as consent. Legally, even after the fact, people can still get screwed over, even if they think they reasonably have permission
The entire conversation is moot however, as in this case, Dabbler is not human, or even an earthling, thus not subject to any earth regulations or realities unless she wants to be (or are part of her deal to be on earth)
Firstly, I was clarifying what my view is, not necessarily what the legal status is, and secondly, a lot of state laws specifically state that intoxication can nullify consent IF they become intoxicated involuntarily, which would imply that voluntary intoxication does not nullify consent.
Also this specific conversation is moot, but not because of anything to do with Dabbler. If JW was impaired it may invalidate whatever agreements she made, it doesn’t matter who Dabbler is. The reason it’s moot is because this specific tangent is about voluntary intoxication, whereas JW’s was involuntary.
It is if one is incapable of giving concent. Although you go on to clarify it later, there is no point bringing up this point at all, in this context. The only point this relates to is ‘at what stage does one become too inebriated to give concent? If you have not reached that point then you can give informed concent. If you have passed it you cannot.
Bear in mind that I was opposing your stance of:
“Wasted” pretty normally being used to indicate someone who is dead drunk, would thereby be unable to give concent.
Further your repeated points about having done this voluntarily are not even appropriate to the situation, as Jabberwokky did not volunteer to have her mind/emotions controlled. This is not the victims fault, so why keep bringing that up?
Likewise in bringing in the point about a drunk person being responsible for her crimes. Being raped is not a crime. Not unless you are living under sharia law, in some barbaric country. This is not an appropriate way to argue the case.
To reiterate, the only point that matters is if a person is in a state where they are capable of giving informed concent. Prior to this point their actions are their responsibility. After this point if they commit a crime it is still their responsibility. But there is no equivalency in having a crime perpetrated against them.
Just because someone has passed out on the ground in front of you does NOT give you the moral right to rape them! It makes no difference whether you are someone they know or a complete stranger. They cannot give concent.
This is not like them mugging you whilst drunk or on drugs. In that case the mugger is making decisions in a state that they put themselves into. But if they are unconscious you cannot possibly hold them to blame. Nor can you if they are conscious, but not able to understand the situation, nor make any rational decisions.
If you have raped them they damned well should see you behind bars! Stop blaming the victim.
I must point out that your concluding paragraph is correct. But, having researched that you should not have left the bulk of your comment a support of rape.
Further your “…. I feel I should clarify my position somewhat…” is not saying “I got it wrong before”, which is what you should do if you support crime, by saying it is legal, then subsequently find that you are incorrect.
In conclusion if you are unable to tell if someone is not so drunk as to be incapable of giving informed concent or not, then do not rape them. This is a choice you can make. The one who is performing the action. As opposed to the person who is having it inflicted on them.
So if you are in a situation where you want to have sex, don’t get so wasted that you cannot make sound judgement calls. Or expect to be punished, if you get it wrong.
In the context of a rape victim, not a mugger. Before some twat decides to take it down that line again.
Oh. That’s the problem. Yes, I should’ve said “drunk”.
Instead of responding to comments based entirely on a miscommunication, I’ll ask this: rereading the conversation, bearing in mind that I did not mean someone so drunk as to be unaware of what’s happening, and that I believed you to be defending the stance that a drunk person can’t (in a moral sense, not legal) give consent under any circumstances (as the original person I replied to seemed to), do you still have objections to what I have said?
Because rereading it myself, bearing in mind that you thought I was including people drunk enough to be unaware, it sounds really bad.
It’s being brought up because this discussion tangent has nothing to do with the comic. The person I originally replied to compared the comic’s situation to one where the intoxication WAS voluntary, which I replied to, and is the topic of this discussion tangent. As I already stated in the comment right above the one you made,
Also this being the first time I used the tags I hope they worked right since there’s no edit button.
I guess I should chill a bit. Comedy comic and all.
*wags tail, in a friendly way*
She’s only under a mind altering effect when Dabbler is in sight. The legal issues are unrelated to Dabbler as they were committed prior to the battle at the food and as such have nothing to be legally revoked.
We aren’t talking about the crime, we are talking about the plea-deal Jabberwokky signed and her recruitment.
With the discovery that she’s still under Dabbler’s mind whammy both of things would be invalidated.
And that’s not even counting that Jabberwokky could probably sue them.
Of course we are NOT talking about the crime AT the food. They are declaring the priors.
The discussion touches both sides ,the priors that dabs influence was not part of and the plea deal that dabs influence may or may not have affected as we don’t know if JW was aware of the lingering effect or if it made any difference in her choice and behavior before she saw dabs again. I agree that the lingering effect would drive arianna to demand JW reread and sign the deal after the effects are removed to prove the choice was made in a sound state of mind as was assumed to exist the first time through.
The problem isn’t going to be Jabberwokky, it’s going to be her Lawyer.
Because any Lawyer worth their salt would use this event to get Jabberwokky a much much nicer plea deal since they now have legal leverage against ARC that didn’t exist when the original deal was made.
this is providing that A. the lawyer finds out. and B. that he can move faster and be clever enough to outwit his client. since the lawyer in question is likely a public defender…. well lets not hold our breaths shall we? disclaimer I am not saying that public defenders do not do amazing work in difficult cases. it is more that public defender offices are understaffed to a criminal level.
Jabberwokkey has priors, that means she knows the legal system at least somewhat through osmosis and knows when she needs to talk to her Lawyer.
Further given how much media attention Super’s get, it wouldn’t have been hard to find a high quality lawyer willing to take her case on the cheep.
“this is providing that A. the lawyer finds out. and B. that he can move faster and be clever enough to outwit his client. since the lawyer in question is likely a public defender…. well lets not hold our breaths shall we? disclaimer I am not saying that public defenders do not do amazing work in difficult cases. it is more that public defender offices are understaffed to a criminal level.”
Or phrased another way, Arc could be sued for violation of constitutional rights under color of law — which is also conspiracy against rights under color of law, a federal felony. The US constitution makes certain guarantees, and the above statement violates them and/or implied violating them several different ways.
Exactly the problem, Shenron. The priors will still be there regardless of the “sweetness” of the deal. I suspect she will still have extreme dislike of Dabbler after the situation is cleaned up and the influence Dabbler did not intend to leave is gone. It will merely be a “do you still agree to these terms” situation. The worst she has is “she disagrees” and then the legal system still has it’s fangs on JW. At which point ARC doesn’t have to deal anything.
This is a lose/lose for JW but a win/lose for Ariana whom we can expect is lawyer enough to include super powered influence in her standardized contract negotiation setup.
Actually that’s not the worst JW has, she could in fact sue ARC for violating her constitutional rights with the whole plea deal signed while under a mind altering effect thing.
Then force the whole thing to go to court where any sane judge would invalidate pretty much everything due to the way the US legal systems works along side Dabblers inability to testify due to her status as an Alien/Demon.
Or even just completely ruin ARC by taking the story of Dabbler using dangerous possibly permanent mind altering effects on her to the press.
So yea, realistically Ariana should be very sweetly asking JW “what can we do to buy your silence and make this whole thing go away”.
Except that she was already under a mind-altering effect? Kevin was using his power on everyone. Provably! The altered state of consciousness defense has been dismissed in the presence of her priors for violence; she demonstatibly defaults to violence even when not being influenced.
Vehemence’s power was provably limited in scope. Dabbler’s mind-altering affect on Jabberwokky though appears to still be working, hence she has been through the entire process ‘under the influence’.
Archon were unaware of that, at the time, however it was one of their personnel who created the effect in the first place. As such they are culpable. Arianna should be examining this very carefully, and if she concurs, they should immediately seek what remedies may be available. Such as getting any impositions made on her legally lifted and petitioning for JW to be given an immediate pardon.
In particular Jabberwokky should have someone capable of giving informed concent brought in to act on her behalf, as regards looking after her interests. So a significant other or anyone who it can be shown she has designated such a role to in the past. And that person should have a lawyer provided, at Archon’s expense, to ensure they are aware of any legal ramifications.
And if no such individual is available the role should be given to a court with suitable jurisdiction.
The more proactive Archon are in clearing up the mess, the less the penalty that might be imposed on them.
“Actually that’s not the worst JW has, she could in fact sue ARC for violating her constitutional rights with the whole plea deal signed while under a mind altering effect thing.”
Yes, the win/lose situation. She sues, the plea deal is then dropped in favor of a regular prison sentence. Her presence is then set from compulsory to involuntary imprisonment.
Choose wisely if you wish to have the deal thrown out.
I am working on the assumption that she does actually want to remain on the Arc SWAT team. She seemed to like fighting (contrast that to Barberian who clearly did not). Presumably contributing to her prior rap sheet.
Now she has the choice of reverting to that lifestyle, but being aware she is on Arc-SWATs radar and they clearly are capable of dealing with super mischief. So her days of freedom would be numbered.
Or she can sign up with Archon (without being under mind altering powers) and be able to legitimately fight. Much like Math. And get paid shedloads of money for it.
Of course if she is just after the money, but not the quality of life (doing things that she enjoys) then she could go down the suing route.
But she will not be earning endorsement money for the ‘collect them all Archon range’, or hair care products or sports trainers, or getting VIP guest appearance fees at Club Oonz, or well all the other perks of being a super hero.
She could try to promote her own stuff of course. But the big name sponsors are less likely to give the top money to a low-end-sort-of-villain-who-has-been-beaten, as they would to a member of the elite hero team.
only while Dabs in sight? where’s it say that? and that would require proof, I’d expect. No reason to think she can’t think of Dabs when given the offer to be in remand near Dabs.
I think they would’ve noticed if Jabby was muttering stuff like “That beautiful purple skin! I MUST KISS IT!!!” before she arrives at ARCHON.
And this is why I said they assumed her to not still be under dabs influence the first time with the agreement. JW was not showing what anyone else could identify as altered thought process and that implies her mind was clear enough to make a choice. Am not saying the spell had no effect before seeing dabs but was mild enough to not make visible changes from a normal behavior pattern
“Obsession” is gonna be a hard sell for “mind altering affect”, otherwise banks are gonna have to ban newly wed couples from buying houses if it’s a blanket “no legal consent on ANYTHING”.
Not to mention, pretty much 95% of people have some level of mental disorder, which this would fall under more than intoxication. Especially since even IF they were 100% honest about Dabbler’s suite of abilities, Wocky by all accounts should not be under it’s effects by the point that she was signing anything.
It’s an outside effect imposed on JW not a pre-exiting condition.
Not just that however, it’s an outside effect imposed on JW against her will.
I can’t post a long thing right now since I’m at work, but having sex with someone who is drunk is not automatically rape, and is definitely not ‘statutory’ rape (rape of an underage minor, in which case even non-intoxicated consent doesn’t matter since it’s rape by statute). What drunkenness does, however, is eliminates the defense of consent if one person makes an allegation of rape. Also, in general, rape of an intoxicated person can only be alleged against the person who initiates sex, in most states (I am not knowledgeable of EVERY state’s laws on this, but at least 10 states, including the three which I have taken and passed the bar for, are like this). In any case (and in any state), there must be an allegation of rape by a victim – it doesnt just happen automatically like it would in a statutory rape case.
I don’t think Dabbler’s mind control or lust inducement would automatically invalidate the unrelated agreement to join a super team in exchange for not going to jail. The difference in my mind on this would be what the control does and whether it was exploited deliberately.
Like, if I used mind control to make someone unable to resist chocolate ice cream, and they sign a contract to work as an engineer for some company, they could not later say that their work contract is invalid just because they were at the time under mind control that makes them eat chocolate ice cream.They would have to prove a link between the two incidents that proved that they were related; for instance, if the company offered chocolate ice cream as part of the contract thus making the person unable to resist signing.
So, in the case of the comic universe, if she wanted to sue her way out of the contract, she would probably have to prove that the effects of Dabbler’s kiss had an impact on the contract negotiations that changed the way that she would have responded to the contract. One could argue that the knowledge that Dabbler is on the team may have had such an effect; but you can also argue that since she was not negotiating with Dabbler, nor was Arianna aware of the lingering effect of the kiss, there was no bad faith action involved.
I do. Without reading any more of your point. No matter how finely crafted. This is on the principle of ‘without a shadow of a doubt’. Even Dabbler has no idea why this has happened, or its scope. So we can only hypothesise about how great or how little an effect it may have had on her judgement.
Which means that there will always be ‘a shadow of a doubt’ that she was in her sound mind when she agreed.
The public prosecutor should be informed of this situation. And they would be obliged to drop all charges, for anything JW after Dabbler’s use of her power.* Likewise any agreements that JW made should be considered null and void.
JW would then be as free as any of the other innocent bystanders who got caught up in Vehemence’s aggro aura.
Separate to that they should also work to cure her. Assuming they do so, and it can be ascertained that she is fee of mental or emotional compulsion, then there is no reason why she cannot sign a new contact of employment with Archon. But of the same kind as Sydney has, rather than as an alternative to prison.
* And probably before too, as JW could have been especially prone to Vehemence’s influence, extrapolating from Dabbler’s power going wrong to his similar one doing the same. Just as the other innocent civilians walked free, so should JW.
Even if her priors indicated that she might be prone to join such an attack, if she was unable to make a rational choice then she cannot be held culpable. For that matter this principle would be true even without the weird side effect. If an average super can be affected by the aura and get off free, then her past character has no bearing. She has equal justification for being found innocent.
Only if evidence can be found that shows JW, for instance, agreed to the attack even before meeting Vehemence, could there be grounds to treat her differently.
shadow of a doubt is the criminal standard. For any sort of deal, the standard is more likely to be the preponderance of the evidence [as low as 50.1%].
True. But the type of deal that Jabberwokky is here on is in lieu of being in prison. Doubtless with all sorts of contingency clauses about her going back on remand and facing trial if she fails to obey the terms of the arrangement.
So whilst this may follow the legal basis of a contract, and thereby the level of evidence required, as you indicate, if she is actually innocent, that type of deal would not be applicable.
Which means the root thing that needs to be re-examined, in light of Jabberwokky’s apparent greater than normal vulnerability to mind/emotion control is whether she should have even been treated as a criminal in the first place. And this is where the ‘beyond a shadow of a doubt’ comes into play.
I do not think she could be held accountable* for any criminal actions, regardless of her priors, because she would not have been of sound mind, as a result of Vehemence’s aggro aura.
And without that then any deals made with the district attorney, based on a presumption of her guilt, should be torn up. They would never be examined in a civil court, other than to confirm this, in the event that the D.A. failed to do that automatically. And that would just be a matter of a judge making a ruling based on the lack of any criminal charges.
I think the contract would be declared null and void. Plus, if it came to that, I agree with the other commentator who indicated that J.W. would be due all sorts of compensation.
* Barring additional evidence showing her culpability, such as the emails I mentioned.
Yup, you made good points. These would only work if it could be categorically proven in court. That will not be possible as the only people who could do that work for the organisation which is a party to the dispute.
The only other independent body, which could confirm her situation, with any degree of accuracy* would be the Twilight Council. Who do not officially exist.
And even then both Archon and the Council have indicated that they do not even know the basis of how super powers work in general. Thus they could not possibly testify in court that they knew how this one side effect happened, or its limitations, without it getting thrown out of court as implausible.
no-a-the “agreement” amounts for “we don’t throw you in jail as long as you do as told.” Our lass, under mind effect or not, can get out of this agreement at any time just by saying “No”. As far as she is concerned, there is no agreement to get out of. It is her option whether she wants to be in jail or not.
b-“drunk” is a positive defense. She must prove both that she was drunk and that it limited her ability to make a decision. The law often helps you out with assumptions like passed out or unable to stand is sufficient proof, but it is still something you would need to prove. And since the nature of the mind control here is most hazy, showing that it affected her ability to make any relevant decisions is going to be very hard.
c-“Love” or “lust” is not legally the same as drunk. I can easily be drunk enough that whatever money I give I can get back. However if I am obsessed, that money is gone. She may have to be careful and not say things like she will move in with me if I buy her a car, but if she just says she would like a car, and then drives it, and some other stud, out of my life, all I get is experience.
d-“drunk” is less binding on third parties. And “lust” is even less so. I can whine all I like about how she conned me, but I still have to make the car payments [at least unless I can show she had a deal with the car seller to get me to buy].
I don’t think that will be the case. They will have evidence from many upright citizens, including a dozen police officers, a lawyer and a journalist that they all felt the effects of Vehemence’s Aggro Aura.
Further that they found the compulsion to be irresistible (on the most part) given the fact that they were attacking fellow police officers and innocent civilians. And that the effect stopped the instant Halo raised her shield around Vehemence.
Yes it will be a lot of work, due to the number of witnesses and other complications. But no, I do not think it would be hard proving the mind/emotion affecting aspect, in this battle. Not in a world where the government has publicly recognised the existence of supers and super powers.
Not to mention that Vehemence has been locked up on the basis of using precisely that power. Which will require proving the same kinds of things, thus supporting resolving the issue for J.W. too.
I was thinking of Dabbler’s contribution here, but no, the aura will not get Jabber off.
Vehemence’s power had to be built up. While it was strong enough at the height of the power to overwhelm most everyone, it was thus quite weak when the attack was being planned and started. Thus Jabber committed several crimes worth long time in jail when not, or barely, under control.
Having some priors hurts her too. The analogy is with entrapment. You can walk if the cops lure you into crime, but the cops can argue you didn’t need much luring and if the judge buys it, as he often will, your walk is cut short by the cell door. Jabber’s record would mean she was willing to do the crime anyway, and thus outside influence is irrelevant.
Your subjective argument is one that will be very hard to prove. And, regardless, the very fact that she is under any degree of mind/emotion control gives her the necessary ‘shadow of a doubt’ which means that the courts are obliged to find her not guilty. To the degree that I do not think it would even be given to a jury to decide. It would be ruled as such by a judge.
If we had a comprehensive knowledge of how these powers worked, and had means to reliably adjudicate that the effect was too weak to impair her judgement, then it would be appropriate to pass this to a jury, to weigh the specifics in this case, versus expert testimony, plus scientific reports detailing the effects and how a cut-off might be determined.
Whereas, as it stands, there is only the subjective opinions of the jury, as even the experts do not know such things definitively (we have had statements by both Archon and the Twilight Council that they do not know how super powers work, for example). And magic does not officially exist, so it does not matter how well known that is in non-human society.
Hence why the judge would not be able to put this before a jury.
I am more familiar with UK legal proceedings than US, so am willing to be corrected if the following differs in America.
UK courts will not disclose an accused’s priors to a jury, during a trial.* Simply because it is necessary to establish their guilt ‘without a shadow of a doubt. Just because they have done similar things in the past does not mean that they did so again here. It makes it more likely, but the level of suspicion that raises should not influence the facts presented in the case.
Everybody starts a trial with the presumption of innocence. Only should she be found guilty, would the judge then take her priors into consideration, for sentencing.
* Obviously there are exceptions, where knowledge of details of the prior cases (such as similar modus operandi) would help deliberations. In which case the judge has to balance that against the risk of a miscarriage of justice which can occur if a jury decides ‘well she was guilty of crimes previously, so she must be guilty here too’.
I think that we can take it that no such similarity will exist here. Given that anyone who had previously conspired to commit grievous bodily harm to, or attempt the murder of, police officers, would not be considered as a viable candidate to join the police.
Entrapment is very broadly discredited as a legitimate law enforcement technique. Simply because it has to be very carefully conducted, under controlled circumstances, in order to show that no undue influence was made on the defendant. I see reporting on more cases being thrown out due to ‘entrapment’ than being convicted successfully by that means.
No such controlled circumstances exist here. The only way to categorically prove that JW was guilty is if it can be shown from actions taken prior to coming into contact with Vehemence (and that timing must likewise be proven incontrovertibly). Anything after that is tainted by the uncertainty that she is no longer of sound mind.
“Not guilty by means of temporary insanity” is a get-out-of-jail-free card that will easily work after that point.
Maxima’s face…especially panel 5…
Is it just me or has Max been looking much more Asian in the last few pages? Something around the eyes seems off
DaveB seems to be working out how her face works without black outlines. Getting there.
So Jab’s tied to the Red (if this were DC)?
Maybe. Fits her power set.
Google does not tell me what that is. Is it a derivation of the red string of fate, that originates in Chines legend?
They’re talking comiceese again. Help, Pander!
*eyes rolling in distress*
The Red as far as I can remember is a sort of cosmic force in the DC Universe that connects all animals. Various animal-based superheroes power’s are connected to this force. Such as DC’s Animal Man, who can imbue himself with the attributes of various animals by his connection through The Red
Oh, so it’s like the Speed Force!
…You know what would actually be kinda cool? If DC introduced enough of these universal ‘superpower fields’ to make it a unifying feature of their comics. Like, Kryptonians and others who fly are connected to “The Lift” or something. They already have the Lights of the Lantern corps, and the Speed Force, and apparently The Red. It could be a refreshingly new way to look at the DC universe.
I was thinking Lantern Corps. There is a full rainbow of colors connecting to various ideals (no other word i’m coming up with covers life, death, willpower, greed, rage, etc.). Red is the color of rage, which seems to fit Jabberwocky.
Looking up “The Red,” it does fit Jabberwocky’s enhancements taking from animal characteristics, so she ties herself to two reds it seems.
Although the crusader doesnt seem to be an animal:)
Say that to the Saracens. ;-)
Lantern:
Green Willpower
Red Rage
Yellow Fear
Blue Hope
Orange Greed
Indigo Compassion
Violet Love
Black Death
White Life
That would explain all of the references to ‘”the Green” there are in Injustice 2 by Poison Ivy and Swamp Thing.
Yeah, the Green and the Red are like two similar and equivalent life forces, one for animals, one for plants, which various super heroes of those themes draw power from.
There is also The Clear (a fish specific version), The Grey (fungus and natural decay) and The Black (also known as The Rot, but more…Death focused, I believe)
Actually the Rot encompasses both the Black and the Grey – death and decay, respectively.
“The Clear (a fish specific version)”
‘The Clear’? Please tell me you’re kidding. [checks] Oh god, you’re not.
From https://dc.wikia.com/wiki/The_Clear
“The Clear, sometimes called the Blue, is a force which connects and pervades all aquatic life and oceanic themed elements in general within the universe”
Yorp, The Red is basically the force which connects and pervades all animal life and micro-organisms in the universe (it’s how most animal-based superheroes have their powers, like Animal Man, Vixen, Beast Boy, B’wanna Beast, etc). The Green, on the other hand, is the force wihch connects and pervades all PLANT life and is how most plant-based superheroes have their powers (Poison Ivy and most notably Swamp Thing, who is the protector of The Green). There’s also other things like The Black, The Grey, The Blue, etc.
Also Solomon Grundy would have been part of The Green but he got tainted by The Grey. Hence… zombie.
Thanks. Likewise to the others who leapt to my rescue!
So is there ‘the brown’, ‘the yellow’, ‘the pink’ and ‘the purple’.
*looks pointedly at orbs above*
Not that there seems to be much of a match, such as with the PPO.
I only know about the green, the red, the rot (which sometimes incorporates the black and the grey), the grey, the black, and the blue (aka the clear). The green, the red, and the rot are supposed to be the three fundamental forces of life tho.
How would Grundy have been of the Green? IIRC he was a corpse dumped in a swamp. Wouldn’t he have been of the Grey but Tainted by the Green?
Dabbler has… two navels?
Yes. Succubi use complex factories as part of their birth process. That is bound to have some unusual requirements.
So do you think it’s a 120v or a 240v outlet?
*cocks head on one side quizzically*
More like a nutrition and nanite supply port. That would allow alterations to be performed internally, much like we might use keyhole surgery. Only requiring much more complex capabilities, due to the complications of bridging compatibility between totally alien (literally) life forms. Plus it might serve as a conduit for magics which require contact, or the like.
I think Dabbler’s cybernetics are unique to her, rather than something we are likely to find to be a species trait. As electrocuting babies would not be in their interests, your suggestion would be an unlikely alternative.
We don’t know. Give it a lick to check the charge. =D
I volunteer!
Mmmm… 9VDC.
With a distinct, well rounded grape flavor and a musky finish. :P
:-D
Ahh, that tangy tanine taste, how well I know it.
The real stuff is too dangerous for doggies. I purposely allowed thorny undergrowth to remain around the vineyard, in my back garden, to deter my Jack Russel from going near the grapes. She hated even long grass let alone thorns and prickles.
A minimum effort solution, on my part. Unsightly, but the grapes are sour ones only suitable for dry wine production (or the local tipple, rakia). However I don’t like dry drinks, of any sort, so they are useless to me.
One day, if I can afford minions, I may have them replaced by nice sweet eating grapes. Perhaps even just grafting the tops of the new varieties onto the lower parts of the old. Not sure how well they would take on such old vines mind. But, barring that aspect, such is pretty normal practice in vineyards.
She got the second one upon her graduation from the navel academy.
I noticed a headline the other day about a guy seeking the right to be employed as a belly dancer, despite his gender.
That is one navel I do not have even an academic interest in.
Yeah, this is a subtle reference to a Gene Roddenberry stunt… back in the day NBC had some really absurd limitations on what could be shown on TV, so Star Trek had to modify costumes whenever they showed side-boob or underboob or navels. As a result, when he later made the Earth 2 television series, he had the mutant women wear side-and-under-boob revealing costumes, and gave them two navels, to poke at NBC.
Over 180 comments and not one of them has the phrase “dispel magic” in it? It seems like the obvious suggestion to me, and I’m kind of surprised Halo hasn’t at least asked why it wouldn’t be possible.
Because magic gone wrong is more complicated than that. If it was within its normal duration, that would be the appropriate route. But with the complications of it interacting with a super, and one who’s powers seem to draw upon a magical energy source, then it is not a normal magic.
And if Jebberwokky’s super power is magical based, how might dispel magic affect her? At the very least this would likely require ‘remove curse’ and even that might not work because of the unknown nature of super powers. Plus likewise her apparent super powers might be the result of a magical curse. Again putting JW’s powers at risk.
So this is something which justifies research, before randomly firing off counter spells.
There’s also the possibility that this is the gateway to all magic and by eliminating her connection to it you effectively ruin the universe, the cover spell that is currently in place, any and all super powers that derive their source from this regardless of if they’re in flight or not…
A valid point. Still doesn’t explain why the inexperienced yet nerdy Halo hasn’t brought up the possibility.
Well the ‘inexperienced’ part does give one clue. Sydney has just gone through sexual trauma herself, and this situation is similar enough that she may well be struggling to cope with it. So her thoughts are +likely to be elsewhere than her usual nerd-focused paths.
Plus there are only so many panels per page. That may yet come up. And any lengthy delay in doing so would be down to the previous explanation.
Also Arc Dark might have already examined things, or the note about trying to dispel it might have been “off camera” (we are outside the lecture hall already * halo is on lasso duty, so time has passed since she jumped dabbler)
Also, on possibly a completely different point on this subject. While the kiss from Dabbler might have a magic style effect, that does not actual require it to BE a magic spell, which would be dispel-able. It might just be an ability that is completely physical based, so its not one that can be dispelled.
It would seem that Dabbler got her peanut butter into Jabberwockie’s chocolate. That’s the Reeses’ cup explanation of how competing schools of magic interact.
Heck no leave the lesbians in
I’d like to say I noticed the lipstick before I read Dave B’s anecdote. Though to be fair the reason I noticed was because I noticed Jabber’s lipstick was slight smudged in panel 4…which is actually strange how I caught that first.
Nicely spotted. I kept getting distracted by her ‘wings’.
Two navels, three fingers (per hand), four arms, four horns…
… I think that vampire, from Sesame Street, will have a field day with Dabbler.
I think when examining Dabbler you may have gotten, um, ‘distracted’. You need to add an opposable digit to the set of 3 fingers you mentioned. It would also behoove you not to forget her split hooves of two digits each, for a total of twenty manual and pedal extremities.
We can also clearly see that her fingers have
two joints https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/626
and three joints https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1346
depending on Dave’s mood for the day.
I’m not seeing it…
Can you point out where in the page of the second link she appears to have more finger-joints? Because I only see the regular amount there should be on a normal hand (minus a finger).
My brain got my words wrong. Bad brain! I meant to say 2 or 3 finger BONES with one and two joints respectively.
Personally I count thumbs separately to fingers, and am happy to stand by that. Whilst thumbs are just specialised fingers, that specialisation makes such a profound difference, for things like tool use, that it is worth categorising them separately.
A species with five fingers would have very different capabilities to one with four fingers and a thumb, using my conventions. And such do exist, so it is a worthy distinction.
or three fingers and two opposing thumbs.(such as 2nd thumb instead of a pinky finger)
This subject brings up the disquieting idea of exactly how many joints does Dabbler have per finger……
Ok, so we got Aethersphere, Aethershere and Aethershpere. Are the second and the third mistakes or is Dave just messing around? :p
Yes.
Theyre all mistakes. He actually means ethersphere :)
It’s pronounced “airbawl” because the letters that are not silent are invisible.
Ahh, like the silent ‘p’ in swimming pool.
He means Bob. The aethersphere/aethershere/aetherpshere/ethersphere is most commonly known as Bob.
So sayeth me.
No, the truth is that she simply gets all her magical nutrition from a diet of aetherpear.
This is Gherbhcatularious. Which is of course pronounced “silly” and has the visual appearance of melodious exploding sigh.
Ahh, cream cheese, why did’t you say that in the first place?
Aethersphere, a magical source built up and linked by the collective intelligence of a planet…hmm,
sounds like the Dream Lands, which would fit the name Jabberwocky rather well. The chaotic realm of mad figmentations born of man’s wants and desires, gods in their own realm, yet bound and limited and even restrained by the thoughts of those mortal dreams.
The Dreaming, the Faelands, Astral dimension, Mirror Dimension, etc. etc. I think would be more ‘dimensional locations’ rather than ‘spheres’. The Aethersphere sounds more like the Magnetosphere- a field effect generated, not by a rotating iron core, but by the gathering of conscousnesses in a single place.
Sort of like Trapar in Eureka 7.
Sounds like noosphere.
Wow, I am surprised that this is being taken so quietly. I hope that civil liberties groups get into gear fast and stage massive protests, to nip this in the bud!
If this spreads and becomes the norm, it will not take long before the ‘optional’ becomes ‘compulsory’. And you can bet that there will be the usual subtle pressures put on staff to conform, even with it being optional.
Let alone when banks start to do the same. Eventually it will reach the point that, if you want to get cash out of an ATM you will have to either accept being ‘marked with the number of the beast’ or starve!
Well it’d be easier for law enforcement to find you if you can’t buy anything without triggering a location. Personally I would reject such a device but we already have slightly more bulky formats of device location enforcement in place which include ankle monitors among other things.
Personally would reject it still. I’d rather not put random combos of electronic or mechanical devices into my body.
I am fine with cybernetic devices, I have two sets inside me at the moment. It is the requirement to use such to gain access to goods, services, employment, medical care, or as use to prove your identity. That article indicates that particular one has not got a monitoring device (or so they say). But that is yet another red line, to me, rather than the only one involved.
Ankle monitoring is fine, as that is an external device. But this is worse than compulsory identity cards, in terms of danger of persecution!
“Please just step into this identification booth”
With, of course, anybody who matches the minority type the government wishes to dispose of getting a fatal electric shock, and dumped down the disposal chute. Nice and efficient way of identifying and disposing of unwanted elements of society. Even without the tracking device to hunt them down, if they try to avoid being rounded up to be put in death booths.
You’re sounding a little old there, Yorp.
I’m not nearly so sour about the idea. It’s given as an option, and I see it less like a Big Brother device, and more akin to, say, credit card transactions, or direct deposit. It’s meant as a convenience device more than anything else.
It’s important to remember the differences between ‘chips’ in these situations. The ones they’re offering to implant are literally just little transponders with a range of maybe a meter, that say a string of numbers to devices that are calibrated to listen. It’s no different than the ‘tap to pay’ things in certain smartphones.
To go full 1984, you’d either need readers in literally every doorway and street lamp in the country, or a much more complex device implanted- one with an actual long-range transmitter.
As it is, this is basically just a key-card being glued to your hand so you can’t drop it in the toilet.
What they are doing is starting us down that path. Now is the time when we can stop it easily. A single company can be boycotted. Civil protest can push them out of business.
Fail to do that and we will gradually see the elements I describe spreading around the world. And not so gradually once the banks get involved. They probably have schemes just like that sitting waiting until someone else takes the risks of testing public opinion on the matter.
If you are a gay person in a homophobic country, a minority religion in a country with a state religion or the member of a political party that might get outlawed, you really want to stop such practices spreading around the globe.
And those who care about protecting others should be concerned about them too. Your attitude smacks of complacency. “I feel secure because I am in a majority position and/or in a stable secure country where persecution is unlikely”.
But just this week we saw Russia upholding the outlawing of Jehovah’s Witnesses plus we can see the crackdown on any political dissent in Turkey. Whilst the USA and EU remain silent bar the odd token complaint. Too scared that Turkey will not keep all the refugees that they are presently accepting. So are willing to watch innocent teachers, policemen, politicians, university professors and the like have their jobs stripped from them, be thrown into jail and tortured.
Having chips in your hand, that you cannot drop in the toilet, to evade being rounded up more easily, will expedite the process.
Using forged papers to escape persecution is morally justifiable. But if you have a chip in you that is not an option. Even cutting it out will leave a scar that will alert the authorities to that fact.
Not old, so much as learning from the mistakes of history. Plus paying attention to the abuses going on around the world today. And being able to fit the pieces together about where this will take us, if left unchecked.
The longer we wait, until the more abusive aspects become apparent even to the less astute the harder it will be to stop it.
Ignoring Yorp’s conspiracy theories for the moment, do we really want to be in the position of having to wear lead-weave gloves every time we go out to avoid credit card fraud? “Contactless” payments are already a significant security risk and these sound far less practical to shield from unwanted transactions.
No conspiracy theory. It is a logical line of development, following normal trends. Embedded security chips are self-evidently superior forms of personal identification, if one ignores the civil rights perspective. It is blatantly obvious that banks, employers and governments would want to make use of the better security they offer.
Fairer organisations and governments will make them optional. Totalitarian ones will make them compulsory. I live in a country where it is obligatory to carry your identity card (or passport if a foreigner) with you at all times. With a heavy fine if you fail to comply. But even people in the ‘optional’ countries will find it harder to obtain goods and services over time.
This is because it will offer convenience, and very many people will take it up. And because it is easier and more reliable, any new schemes aiming to maximise efficiency or “protect us against terror” will optimise the process for these customers.
The others will have to put up with longer ques and less and less things (like ATMs) that work for them. Having to go further and further to find one that will accept an old-fashioned card. Try leaving your phone at home for a week and see how easy it is to find a payphone anymore. They have practically vanished from public places!
And if you are referring to the ’rounding up of people’ I can point you at calls from politicians on both side of the Atlantic to inter Muslims. So if you are not concerned about secular people being rounded up in Turkey (which is happening) then have a thought about how the current climate could see interment happening in the US or the UK or various other EU countries. Not just the traditional totalitarian ones.
Seem too unlikely? Well the USA has already done that, with Japanese people, in WWII. No conspiracy. History.
That said though you do make a good point about the contact-less systems, and in particular about the inability to prevent the leaking of data when you do not want it to. Plus that is a more cheerful topic.
As I have pointed out previously I am fine with cybernetics, it is just personal data and compulsory ID that I have an issue with. So your question does direct us towards a solution. One that is more costly than the simple chip though.
Numerous companies are working on brain controlled devices at the moment. Even without personalisation there are ones with wearable headgear which can play basic games or control simple devices. Plus there are various prototypes which have demonstrated that wearables can be powered by the user’s own body.
Implanting a sensor, which will allow a simple ‘on’ or ‘off’ message to be thought is well within our capabilities. Combine that with a chip which only makes the data readable when it gets a verified ‘on’ signal (strongly encrypted needless to say) and you will be able to protect your personal identity.
Connecting that to the chip in the hand would be challenging mind. Embedding a wire would require costly surgery. But I am sure a selection of practical solutions could be found, and I would be surprised if there were not viable prototypes of one sort or another that could be considered for their cost-effectiveness.
Obviously the totalitarian countries will not wait for such to mature. But I think the civilised ones should. That way we could turn our identity chips on, when we wanted to use a cash point, or access a secured building, or tell the police who we are. Or we could invoke our constitutional right not to and block it from making the data accessible.
This though is only an option if we stop the spread of the insecure variety now. Otherwise we end up following the creeping route to a totalitarian society.
One other consideration: no matter what security measures are applied, they will be broken. encryption, with increasing key sizes, buys only time, not security. Increasingly faster, more powerful cpus guarantee that brute force attacks will eventually become practical. If you doubt this, look up “rainbow tables”. It’s a tough read for those new to cyber warfare topics, so I’ll bottomline it: modern hardware + rainbow tables = every possible password less than 18 chars can be brute forced in under a minute. If any company’s (unsalted) password hash table is compromised, so are all of its passwords. And that’s the situation today. Doesn’t matter what’s on that chip in your body, it won’t be secure for a lifetime. and when the external computer system it’s designed for gets hacked, you can’t even take the simple precaution of changing your “password”. This is also the fatal problem with all biometrics used in this way.
Most medical implants need attention, be that modification or removal and replacement, periodically. So security should be upgraded to the best available at the time.
This is a current issue in its own right.
I have a friend with a pacemaker, and he had to be very insistent with the GP on seeing the details of any connectivity it had and vetoing anything he felt was insecure. Which was most of the options available.
He had to compromise and accept one where his personal data could be accessed insecurely. But which had no mechanism of stopping his heart from working, through hacking or some kind of malware.
He, like myself, is sure that such will come. But chose not to be one of the victims.
The nasty part about keeping biomed secure, is that in an emergency any doctor anywhere anywhen must be able to access it.
So, you’re left with methods that only screen out random noise. Which still should happen, and doesn’t always happen today. It’s a frustratingly complex issue, sad to say.
Yes but they only need to access it in person. Actually attaching things to him or whatnot. Not remotely. Some of the implants did allow that, and the surgeon was promoting them. So he told them to forget that idea. None of the supposed benefits stood up to scrutiny, against the risks.
Whereas there are good reasons for being able to remotely monitor his heart and call him in if he is in danger.
Of course a guy just got convicted, in the UK, based on the evidence of his pacemaker record contradicting his testimony (basically proving he was being active when he said he was at rest or vice versa).
But my friend is an upright citizen, so is not concerned on that front. Whilst he would prefer that they secured his data, he decided that the privacy issues were a lesser concern to his health.
And none of the employees have heard of the newly common recording a chip to steal the card and false print a card with the same data theft?
… the tech to do this has been around for @ 10-15 years, although as a bleeding edge novelty( it showed up in a ep of CSI:Miami) this is the first employer to offer -not mandate – it to employees .( though putting the chip in a “cheap” ring would have the same effect )…
Someone wants to rob you, they can take your card and go. They want to raid your workplace and they may even tie you up.
But an implanted chip… easy to get at with a sharp knife. Not so much fun for the person with the chip.
But if you just record the data while leaving the card the person would not see how the charges occur immediately causing them to not cancel the card so the thief don’t lose access
If you want to keep the government from reading your thoughts you need to wear a tinfoil hat. Now, if you want to keep the government from reading you identity you need to wear a tinfoil glove.
:-D
unwrap to fap and the govt gets to see all yer pron.
Yorp, lemme put it this way: All someone has to do is request exemption due to their belief structure and it no longer becomes mandatory. (At least in the US)
Almost all science fiction that has augmentation implies that in the future, everyone will have hundreds of body mods and shit, which completely ignores that there are a number of faiths that state such things to be wrong, meaning the devout among them would not do such a thing.
I have no problems with augmentation. I do have problems with a company imposing it on their employees. And ‘optional’ kind of goes out of the window when people who ‘volunteer’ get put to the top of the list for promotions, and those who do not instead go on the list of best candidates to be made redundant.
But I seem to be in a minority here. I will just go over there and hang with Cassandra.
Your concerns about the distortion of optionality are valid and storing important data (like card details) over an easily accessed wireless connection is an insane security hole but taking your objection to the utmost extremes makes them all too easy to mistake for fantasy.
Yea. Most people have difficulty seeing further than the next step.
But feel free to point out any flaws in the logic of the steps I have outlined. All of the technological ones are inevitable. Barring civil protest.
It is only the risk of persecution and genocide that people find unlikely. Much as with inter-war Europe. Nobody then thought that a democratic western country would act in such a way. Aren’t calls for interment enough of a warning signal that this is not fantasy, but a real risk we must guard against?
Here is another story to crank up people’s paranoia level. Roomba maker iRobot has announced that their sweeper-bots compile a 3D map of your home as part of their operation. That data can be sent back to the parent company. They have announced that they may be in talks to sell that data to other companies, specifically ones that have other internet controlled home appliances.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/07/24/roomba-irobot-sell-digital-maps-home/
Heh. Yea. I had already tongue-in-cheek warned a friend with a Roomba.
The manufacturers were stressing very heavily though that they would only pass on such information with permission. Hence making it tongue-in-cheek. But still worth mentioning to ensure that preferences are set to optimal privacy, unless wishing to make use of one of the other programs or devices which would benefit from such.
There’s a reason I don’t have a roomba.
In my case, it’s money. But now I have a second reason.
And Alex or lexus or whatever the company calls the voice recognition device listens to everything around to hear when one says a respondable phrase like when a man beating his wife asked her if she called the police and triggered his to do just that.
So the moral of the story is?
That he should be barred from being near women and buy a sex robot instead?
*wags tail in satisfaction*
My reaction to all the talking interfaces, and while we’re at it, TV sets with cameras & microphones: O HELL NO. Not ok to spy on me in my home. All the laws protecting police and enabling abuse of survelliance is already in place in the US – the only thing preventing US from being the worst (and most successful) totalitarian state ever are already in place. What’s missing is mass numbers of abusers in the positions that have access; and the level of energy/effort it takes to maintain an abusive state in the face of universal opposition of the populace.
Just watched an episode of SVU the other day, in which a woman’s voice-activated TV helped convict her abusive boyfriend of killing her. He was tech-savvy enough to hack the NYPD database to find details about a serial rapist and stage things to make it seem like her murder was the case of the serial rapist, the arsehole even used the hack PD data to blackmail a forensic expert and an ADA
Oh, and the boyfriend was a proponent of ‘all data should be free to prevent crime’
So, high-tech can be both a very very bad thing, but also a good thing
Are these the same internet controlled home appliances known to be frightfully easy to comandeer for use in DDoS attacks?
Credit where credit is due, research tells me the woman is Lais DeLeon from Brazil. As far as I can tell, the only time she wears her hair like Sydney is this one particular photo shoot. If you like this bangs look, here are a few other angles:
<a href="https://i2.wp.com/fitnessbody.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Lais-DeLeon.jpg"one
<a href="https://mediacdn.libertatea.ro/k0sB6IZRD5r9jXiSBYs0682PaiA=/620×0/smart/https://wp.libertatea.ro/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/f_40.jpg"two
<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/30/10/a3/3010a33f79ab51cd9109a921d8f3171d.jpg"three
<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/b6/3f/b3/b63fb370d2e9805eec6473934b2c426f.jpg"four
Wow, I screwed that up.
one
two
three
four
I just saw an actual real person wearing teal lipstick! I called it “white-blue” though. First time I ever saw lipstick in a color that wasn’t a kind of red or black. With the possible exception of a very deep blue worn by a clown- but clowns aren’t real people (though they are actual).
They are nightmares, brought forth into the real world, to terrify children!
My grandfather would like a few words with you.
If your grandfather’s name is Munsell, I’d like a few words with him too. “White-blue” was my best guess, but I’ll admit I’ve never liked the Munsell Color Charts, and I don’t carry one around with me (even if I could use them).
Does your invisible box only have two walls? Does your unseen gale force wind only blow on the weekends? Can other people open your imperceptible door for you?
*typing on unseen keyboard, scratching head with invisible paw and peering at imperceptible monitor, for clues*
Dabs choker has space teck in it. So it can look however she wants it to be.
Why invent a word “Aethershpere” when the word “Noosphere” already exists?
Because ‘aethersphere’ has not been invented. Here are some products which you can buy featuring the term. Plus it evokes the term ‘ether’ which has a well-established history, that many readers will be familiar with. So doing much of the work necessary to make it sound like a reasonable magical term to describe a planet-wide mana field (or similar).
Let’s please not have 17 comics dealing with this “issue.”
Because I don’t care. At all. Or perhaps I should instead say that while there are probably other subjects and side shows that the comic could delve into which I would fine less entertaining, I can’t think of any at the moment.
I appreciate your restraint, DaveB, in not going off on yet another digression into aethersphere while leaving several prior subjects still dangling unnecessarily. And recognizing that you have a problem is the first step towards correcting it.
I mean, weren’t we recently tracking down the dangerous supercrimminal who had sent hit teams against several The Council locations, and succeeded in weakening The Veil even further?
And we found her! Yay! But, boo, she got away. But hey, Arc-light is “working on it.” This being only the second case of a super-powered threat ever faced by this new team which has protecting the public against super-powered threats as its entire reason for existing, it might be fair to expect a lot more of a “all hands on deck” approach instead of a “let’s kick it to the subcommittee for further review.”
And then it was super important to abduct an ally and make sure that she, only she out of all the dangerous power possessing supers, is given instruction by people who couldn’t possibly understand her power set in how not to destroy the universe. And why do we know that others could not possibly understand her power set, DaveB? Because you told us so! You said quite specifically that it is unique. Well, you “told” us it was unique, and then you “showed” us that it was just different but completely able to be analyzed by not just one but several others. You might want to read the parts of the book on good story telling about “Show, don’t tell” again.
But then we’re chilling at the pool, well some of us are chilling , in between bouts of “This novel makes me so wet!” and “I like to stare at boobies!” while Maxima and Sydney are *ahem* working *ahem* with frequent interruptions to play “The henticle is an outboard motor!” and “I’m a dolphin!” and playing “guess the superpower” lottery with the mystery orbs, and of course succeeding with one and then going right back to “Let’s use the new power to awkwardly disrobe one of my teammates!”
And then we’re discussing the last super-fight and the work-release program and then *BAM* another side track into a fairly unnecessary “I love you so much I want to kill you” subplot.
So I thank you sincerely for not making yet another digression into the aethersphere, but since that is just one case of self-restraint out of many I’m not sure how far my thanks should go.
Maybe this is just an elaborate set up… I’ll hold out hope for that. The blood-troll did say that her ritual would either work in a few days or not at all, and they Sydney did immediately tell her coworkers the heavily redacted story which included the fact that the Wars fight was a few days ago. So I’ll hope that in the middle of the next long series of digression after digression that something of note with regards to that ritual actually happens. Because there’s really no point in showing an elaborate blood ritual and saying that it’ll either work in a few days or not at all only to have the villains shown a couple weeks later scratching their heads and going “Well, damn. It didn’t work.”
What do you expect ARC-SWAT to do? Go around kicking down doors?
Of course it’s kicked to the subcommittee. The subcommittee actually has stealth training and can handle delicate investigations without being in the public eye near constantly like the less covert supers. The last thing ARC wants to do is play into enemy hands by exposing the nature of the veil with their own investigation.
I WANT TO PUNCH YOU IN THE MOUTH!
WITH MY MOUTH!
SOftly.
Because I like you.
Heh.
Nice to know.
Sort of gives a whole new understanding of the term ‘I’m gonna hit that.’
That lipstick really does blend in, I didn’t notice until you pointed it out, though once you did I could make out the kiss shapes.
Would it be more visibly different if you made the lipstick on Dabbler paler? You could argue that it looked that way due to the thinner layers compared to Jabberwocky’s lips. Otherwise, you might just be stuck with it.
so the Aethersphere is related to the Noosphere?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noosphere
Holy shit, Dabbler has two belly buttons!
Yea. Not the first time we have seen them. But folks’ gaze usually go elsewhere, for some reason.
“Their hypnotic, literally.”
you mean the horns obviously
For horny little devils, sure.
Plus every part of a succubus is hypnotic. We have one reader who fixates on the hooves, for instance. He thinks they are disgusting, but they keep drawing his eyes. With their shiny perfection, showing off Dabbler’s well-turned goat-like legs.
;-)
If you stand up on your back legs, they’ll look very much like Dabbler’s. It’s cuz evolution discovered that knees, ankles, and toe joints can move and stretch to improve the efficiency of many different gaits and methods of standing. Did you know elephants are actually on tiptoes their entire lives? It’s true.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/african-elephants-walk-their-tippy-toes
Only because they are avoiding mice.
They are also one of the only legged animals that can’t jump (other than white men :P )
Quite frankly, I’m amazed Sydney isn’t already grabbing onto Dabbler and asking to be taught magic (the way she did when she thought Dabbler was using hammerspace). Could it be that she’s gained her first ever bit of self-control?
Sydney already knew Dabbler casts magic, she has seen it several times. Plus would realise that her rules would apply to all her technomagic, not just the technological aspects.
Plus Sydney felt rather sheepish when Dabbler pointed out how greedy it would be, given how many powers Halo already has. I do not think she would want to lower Dabbler’s opinion by repeating the same mistake again with magic.
I could imagine Sydney asking dabbler to be in her RP games though…. possibly online, after inviting Harem, in a closed chat forum for fan-ships as their little secret game late night >.>
My question: How long did they let that go one before they realised they needed to pry those two apart?
Because there is definitely a lipsmack BELOW Dabbler’s waistline. And while I’m not quite at counting each one, it seems like well over twenty individual marks.
Dabbler has four arms and will have had to deal with overly amorous individuals in the past. Her habit of ‘never going below a ten’ will have provoked such many times in the past, I am sure. She is a hundred and something odd years old, so will have learnt how to cope with that effectively a long time ago.
The delay being accounted for by never having had to deal with a super powered situation like that before. Plus Dabbler was probably enjoying the process, in any event.
We can see from above that she has reverted to type in her suggested solution, supporting that conclusion. So Maxima was right not to be concerned.
*sigh* Well, she’s properly angular now, but Maxima could still stand to look more emotive. Her facial expressions are so stiff.
Agreed.
It is weird actually. Whilst I attribute the change in style to ‘pastel tones’ that was only for lack of understanding on how the effect was achieved. Another reader has pointed out that it is due to the lack of definable dark edges to the images. Which I guess makes sense.
Hence the weirdness though, that we can see the angular features again, yet Maxima’s expressions are still off.
Dave is working out the kinks of this style fast. But I each time I look at Maxima, in what is hopefully just an intermediate transitional stage, I really dislike the results. I agree with the ‘stiffness’ you allude to, in as much as Max looks like a prim old schoolteacher. Which may be intentional, or just the result of an expression that would have similar feels to this scene. Still don’t like it.
Plus Maxima has totally lost her ‘golden robot’ feel. Again this may be intentional. However I feel that this would be more appropriate in domestic lighting, rather than the harsh fluorescent lights of an office or government building. I think her shininess would still be more noticeable here, even if it would be less than outdoors, in full sunlight.
The art style went from having defined outlines to just painting with colors at about the time Krona’s reset was triggered. I guess she did break the universe, or at least bend it a little.
If you go back over that past, what, five or so? Pages you can see the lines gettting washed further and further out. So it’s been a rather sudden turn to the supper plastic that we’re seeing here.
Hey, what has happened to Sydney’s headband?
Only noticed because I was reconsidering slightly on Sydney’s look. She is still suffering a bit from ‘big head syndrome’. So I was just trying to figure if that was an unfair impression, or if she really did have an oversized head (contrast her to Maxima for instance).
I guess that is her manga feel expressing itself more than when compared to the ‘original flava’ Sydney.
It’s her chin-neck position. Her admittedly skinny neck looks like it’s attached about where her ponytail is. :/ it’s a body kink to work out with her particular dimensions, as she is fairly cartoonish looking compared to the rest of the group. I assume it’s in the same way that Math looks more like an anime character, Peggy tends to look more realistic. Maybe it’s me over thinking it, but I’ve always assumed that the character designs had elements that were based off of the specific comic book styles being referenced, which a heavy load towards the super.
Yea, that was the original intention. Sydney was manga. Various others were ‘classic super hero’. Plus a couple of other categories. Math being a video game feel, seems likely, but I cant recall. Dave watered down his original concept, so only the manga versus other is noticeable to me. Of which Krona and Pixel have joined Sydney in the manga camp.
Art critique time:
I can see y’all are playing around with making the lines disappear. Having them pushed back but still visible was working, but in this page they’ve pretty much vanished and I feel that it’s not working on a couple of levels.
First, it makes the bright color’s feel plastic. Everyone looks like they’re rubbery. It’s a little weird.
Secondly, and perhaps counterintuitively, it’s taking away from the feeling of depth.
Third, and most importantly to me, it’s breaking from some of the themes and ideas behind this comic. This is a comic about superheroes that is meta-referencing. The main character is a comics nerd, the supers are acknowledged to be idealized, and not any ideal but comic book superhero ideal. The line work of comic books has alway been an important part of the medium, especially for superhero comics (except for a brief moment in the 90’s.) to pull back completely from those lines seems to loose one of the important meta references in the work.
Which brings me to a thought. Please please please thave a hero who’s powers include Kirby dots. That would be awesome.
Actually, actively using and referencing specific comic styles could bring a lot of fun to the comic on a meta scale…
I’m going to stop now before I start wandering to far. At least here. Hmmmmnnn… time to wander through the google.
He he. Love the ‘Kirby dots’ request.
The most obvious way of implementing that would be with a power set that had the special effect (but which otherwise had no bearing on the powers, so they could be anything with a visually spectacular result).
An interesting version though would be someone who could only create the ‘Kirby dots’. So could potentially blind opponents, use them for signalling, such as pointing out a target to aircraft or other creative uses. Cursing enemies with a polka-dot look, for instance. Creating dot-matrix style messages or images.
Ooh, really clever usage would be to have a ‘Kirby dot’ aura (picture something about Vehemence’s aggro aura in size) which altered everything to having that appearance. And then use the power separately to create illusions or camouflage (even up to the degree of emulating invisibility).
Useful art critique too.
And the next recruit to Archon could be Onomatopoeia Man! When he hits things word balloons pop up with BAM! and POW! When he runs he leaves behind a trail that literally says WHOOSH!
Kirby dots always gave me the feeling of a bubbling, fluid sort of power. I guess the question is if the Kirby dots are the shadows or the substance of the power. If they are the substance, they could be like black gooey blobs that can stick to anything and swallow the light.
So am I the only one who sees this as SYDNEY telling Dabbler to stop with the story and head off, when it’s clearly something that MAX could and would tell her? Do we have bubble confusion?
If you look at the tails, the bottom one is curving up and pointing at Maxi, but can see where the confusion would be coming from
I think it is more a comment on personalities, rather than visuals. Accepting that it is Sydney, but suggesting it would be more appropriate coming from Maxima.
I would agree if it were time critical and Maxima needed to make an urgent command decision. But here the situation is contained and stable. So, no, I do not think a commanding officer would cut off pertinent information. Request an abbreviated version yes, if it goes on overlong, but not skipping it completely.
Wheres a geek’s “boring exposition filter” kicking in, and wanting to hit the fast forward button, I can well understand. Maxima would suffer that, but is too professional to let it affect her. Sydney though can have the attention span of a gnat, if something does not interest her.
No, it’s as Foomf supposed: bubble confusion, Sydney was bored about the Aethersphere talk, Maxi asked Dabbles if she can fix it
After reviewing the location of lipstick marks on Dab’s face, how did Jabberwok not get lacerated, or otherwise injured by Dabbler’s horns?
If this was mentioned before, then sorry, I missed it in the previous comments and ZFR.
We have had a reader speculate on how difficult it would be to snog Dabbler, given the position of her horns and nose.
This is a valid scientific question to ask!
I suspect that only someone with a long snout will be able to test this safely.
*sigh*
The things I have to do for SCIENCE!
Don’t know if it has been said already somewhere, but the cast page has been down for some time now.
Yep. There is an incompatibility between it and WordPress update. So it is offline indefinitely, until Dave gets a chance to find a solution. Meeting the comic updates is always his top priority, and he is developing a new art style, which will be chewing up any spare time.
Big point in Dabbles’ favour: she knew that taking Jabbers up to her room and tantricing it out of her was a bad idea just from Maxi asking “What do you think?”, maybe combined with that ‘look’ :D
Yea, the narrowed eyes say a lot.
Succubi will be good at reading body language and facial expressions though, I think. For them to have spread around the galaxy, like they have, they must be natural communicators.
Idea for vote incentive.
Dabbler wants to test her powers to see if there’s any “leakage” and “residual” effects.
The A team is summoned (including Krona).
Dabbler does a sexy (super) version of each onto herself… Krona, Pixel, Sydney…etc…
Readers get to see the girls of the A team as super sexy chibi’s sorta…
Not sure what that would do to Sydney’s view of herself though…
Or maybe a spell to make other’s sexy/sexier as an aura enhancement so that when she appears in a room w/full aura on it’s not a major shock….
The aura from the other women fades over time of the event…leaving Dabbler as the sole focus in the room…
Lust would have increased the whole time of spell with everyone else in room. She/Dabs then can select the tastiest to take home?
Who else could Dabs cast Sexy Aura Enhancement upon as a field test … Arianna for the lolz… The General ? A Janitor (suddenly being ogled by all the women supers as he cleans or waxes a floor?)….
She needs data to check for magical remnants… that means she’ll need the ARC magic staff handy…
Then test spell on them too to see if their own magic attaches itself to the simple spell to make it part of itself or sustain itself longer…
That’s gonna be one wet sticky and uncomfortable week in ARC while Dab’s tests spell basics and variations…
ARC After-Dark would have all this… we can just hope for random scenes for an incentive…
Sydney needs to use her comm/scan ball to see if she can see remnants of magic illusion or spells too… there has to be a calibration button on that thing.
Another vote incentive idea:
The wrestling match between Dabbler and Jabs, with thought balloons/peanut gallery comments from all present.
Another vote incentive idea.
Dave could periodically provide panels that might lend themselves to comedic re-interpretation, with the speech bubbles stripped away (or left blank). For example the first two above. Readers could then submit their own versions. And the best of the bunch could be selected to provide a new vote incentive every couple of days. Until the next suitably adaptable page presented the next opportunity.
The regularly changing vote incentive would encourage people to check it out more frequently, and thereby vote. Plus, of course, anybody who made a submission would be wanting to see if theirs appeared.
Trouble is it would add administration time, which Dave can ill-afford. But it would be less time consuming than creating fresh art, just for the purpose.
Excellent idea, Yorp! *tosses a Yorpie snack*
*catches it, and burys it in the garden*
Just in case any harm comes to the magic bowl!
Just… how MUCH lipstick is Jab wearing?
When I wear red lipstick, it mostly is gone after leaving one mark on coffee cup or smth… To leave twenty-or-so marks there should be a ton of it.
*sorry about spelling\grammar, english isnt my first language
maybe jabber paused while doing 1000monkeyweaselkissesofdoom on Dabbler to reapply her lipstick… she’s that good…kinda like Math but magical
Ahh, she shops at Cosmic Cosmetics, who have an employee who’s power is to alter the properties of cosmetics. Hair products that make your hair instantly dry, when exiting water. Deodorants that stay eternally fresh. Lipstick that never needs reapplying. Depilatory cream which permanently removes hair.
Plus “I’m Feeling Slutty”, a complete range of cosmetics who;’s colour matches your mood.
Or maybe it’s just one of her powers. Man-eater style, or something
If only not having a beard were so simple…
Are you rapidly adjusting your art style? It feels like it changes every couple pages. Just different amounts of time taken?
Dave has indicated that he is experimenting with his style. Ideally he would have liked to take time to do that separately, but keeping to the quality and schedule that he has set for this comic is grueling enough that it takes up all his spare time. So he is experimenting on the go.
Normal service will resume in due course. Until then, do not let your arms move beyond the edges of the monitor. Make sure your seat-belt is firmly attacked. And be prepared for screaming!
*whizzes off on roller-coaster ride*
Some version of Maxima in that last panel needs to go into the header rotation for her.
It is a different pose for her.
Personally I would go for Dabbler, in panel one.
That is an exquisite piece of art.
The agony would be in deciding if framing it to maximise her face (but loose her ears) or loose some of the detail. Or have a longer shot, to capture the ears, but loose detail in the rest of the image.
Or, you know – both … ;)
I’m surprised no one’s brought up pheromones yet. Most animal-themed/-related supers tend to possess enhanced senses, with sense of smell being by far the most common/emphasized (likely to reinforce their wildness as characters). The part of the brain that handles scent processing is right next to the parts that deal with memory and emotion. No idea if Jabber even has enhanced smell, but that’s what my brain has to offer.
wow three years (almost) and the XXXX are still gone
i love jabberwoky in this page.