Grrl Power #552 – 0.1810367 leagues under the sea
For those of you wondering, yes, Sydney has taped her hand to the shield orb. I was going to include dialog to that effect, including how she suspects letting go of it at this depth would be pretty much instantly fatal to at least her, but I decided against it because it covered nearly all of the first panel.
As some people suggested on the previous page, Sydney is holding the shield orb and the Fly Ball, but she can’t use the Oxygenator at the same time, but its easy for her to refresh the air while Maxima flies the shield down from the inside. I’m not sure how fast Sydney can move through water. Probably pretty fast, but on this particular trip she took it somewhat slow so that she didn’t klonk a whale on the head or whatever trouble you can get into racing through the ocean.
For the oceanographers on hand, they are descending the continental shelf, at the top end of the bathypelagic zone. And yes, the water should be almost pitch black below 1000 meters, but you know, an all black panel except for the shield bubble wouldn’t help to establish the setting. It’s like how incredibly brightly lit “pitch black” scenes are in movies. Just pretend you’re watching your partner stumble around in the dark but you’re an anthropomorphic fox person detective, and you’re like “You really can’t see anything? Cause I can see fine.” and he’s all “No, I can’t, and before you remind me, I know your sense of smell is better than mine too. But I can tell chartreuse from mauve you color blind wanker.” Because you have this scrappy relationship and also I guess your partner is British.
I mean, do that if the movie isn’t holding your attention, but that threshold is different for everyone.
Speaking of Leagues, 20,000 is 69047 miles. So… did they circumnavigate the Earth like, 2.3 times in that book? Cause that seems a long way to go in a submarine.
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Wow – it WOULD be tough without her….
Max and some of the supernatural people would be OK but I have no idea how the vampires or Dabbler were supposed to get there without her.
There was no mention that Dabbler would be able to get there, on her own accord. To the contrary she would have been included in the cheeky offer that the Council could provide transportation to Archon, if needed.
As to what form that might take, it includes: submarines, teleportation, gates (as per Stargate, but for local transport), and so on.
Other council delegates might need water breathing/pressure resistance spells or being kissed by an undine or other supernatural creature which could grant the same effects magically. Vampires probably would not though given that being crushed by water pressure is not a known means of harming them.* Likewise breathing is very unlikely to be an issue either.
* Mind you tasers were not in the medieval Vampire Hunter’s Handbook either, so these are just best guesses, based on what we do know.
Hooray for underwater levels!
…just kidding
That is never a joke. >.> A plague be on the next game developer to do underwater levels. >.>
Challenge Accepted.
Do an underwater forced-stealth escort mission.
Your score will be the number of death threats you get.
You can add time critical and perfect button sequence or instant death with non skipable missionintro to the list.
Oh and the being you are escorting is particularly squishy and likes wandering near to every major hazard on route.
And insists on fighting everything it sees despite having an attack so weak it barely threatens a soap bubble.
or has an attack that IS just soap bubbles
hey, they sting if you get them in your eyes
At least the music in underwater levels is usually pretty. Dire Dire Docks anyone?
Yeah the Mario 64 water levels were OK.
I prefer underwater pushups.
Getting the push up high enough to breathe certainly is an incentive.
Nintendo has some very good and serene underwater music in several games.
Look up the Donkey Kong underwater themes for instance, or Metroid Prime’s Underwater Frigate Reactor Core or Phendrana Drifts, that last one is an ice environment, but that still technically counts as being under water ;).
there was this old game.. on the NES maybe? something about a Dolphin… all underwater…pretty sure I never even got past the first part.
Echo the dolphin?
I played it on the mega drive (and it had a Dreamcast release too)
Close, Eco the Dolphin
Oops, Ecco the Dolphin :(
Eco, Ecco, Echo…
Eco, Ecco, Echo…
Eco, Ecco, Echo…
https://www.ssega.com/play/ecco/580
Here you go, yorpie.
I remember playing an online flash game, about 10-15 years back, where you had to make a dolphin dive in order for it to jump out of the water so you could make it perform stunts. The higher you jumped, the more points you’d get. Somehow, one time, I managed to bump it off the bottom, and it just kept going up and up, and I couldn’t stop it. Racked up an incredible score, but couldn’t end the game, so never got it recorded. Never could repeat that jump.
https://www.rawkins.com/games/dolphin-olympics ?
Looks pretty much like it.
Wooooow… that takes me back. Also, fuck that game. >.>
Ecco the dolphin! Beat the second game, though I admit to needing some direction on one part.
That was a Sega Genesis game, BTW.
at least it isnt an ice level…yet! *que shrill violin riff*
I don’t want to wait for shrill violin riffs. Why don’t we *cue* for one right now?
naw, push on the queue. then dump the whole queue. problem solved.
What? I like underwater and their levels
Wow, okay, so my first regarding your comment was not “underwater game levels”, but an underwater level in her skills. The picture of her leveling up right now…. yeah, that would not be good.
Well, that explains how the orbs ended up underwater. Level up, unable to survive without scuba gear, drown and die. Rip in pepperoni, Halo – 1.
Shouldn’t that be RIP in anchovies? If following the traditional burial in pizza toppings, there is a problem that there are not many piggies and moo-cows underwater. Pepperoni will be a lot harder to come by than anchovies.
Dugongs, or ‘manatees’, are supposed to be the ‘cows of the ocean’, just don’t try and milk them
You know, I think Yorp mentioned this during the pool party / training page… but Sydney loses her snark factor to surprise situations pretty damn hard….. Its gunna get that vampire added to The List though if she keeps it up >.>
“So help me I will turn this goddamn sphere around and NOBODY goes to Disneyland, okay?”
Nah, she wouldn’t be able to pull out the list and write on it with both hands occupied by orbs. She’ll just have to settle for the threats.
Sydney > I’ll pop us all at this depth if you don’t stop it.
Dabbler > And that’s why we tie your hand to the shield ball
Sydney > I’ll gnaw my wrist off
Max *glares at Sydney*
Sydney *mumbles incoherently while looking fairly dejected*
Crimson > A porcupine.
And at the top a were-porcupine says “So did you think I added enough defenses?”
that’s going to get some serious list action going.
+1
or we’ll meet a blue were-hedgehog DJ named Stereophonic
Or the were-hedgehog is named Spiny McSpineface and Crimson was just further screwing with Sydney because they hadn’t met yet.
Too meta for words
Dabbler’s legs look weird. Like the top part of her legs is human.
Its a part of her body we haven’t seen “on screen” before, the upper back side of her legs. It could also be whatever clothing she is wearing, but atm we can’t tell that yet.
she’s wearing pinkish capris by the looks of things, she’s got a similar outfit on when Sydney first meets her in the comic as well: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/621
Pinkish semi-translucent capris to be precise, since you can still make out her teal leg markings through them
Good call. Makes me wonder where her left leg is now though.
Faded into the background: she has it slightly raised on the curve of the Bubble
Those aren’t capris, those are hotpants.
Hot pants barely cover the arse, as seen here
As with most things, there are variations on a theme which are still within the loose classification. Those are a perfectly fine example hotpants, despite not being as abbreviated as in your example.
The real question is, being Dabbler, why aren’t they as abbreviated as those in your example?
She is getting old.
The biggest question is why Sydney is behind her in one panel and in front of her in the next.
Hooves +smooth surface =/= traction add maneuver and dabs is sliding around
… Now I want an anthro fox detective webcomic.
Just a general anthro comic with a genuine, non-sexual, interest in their varied biology and how it applied in similarly varied situations would be pretty cool.
Oh, there’s plenty of those.
I’m picturing the show Now Urban Fox hes an urbane stylish aristocratic fox-man from Kensington his partner is a street smart east ender who escaped a life of crime and joined the police.
just the idea of a fox in a fine savile row suit kind of like this mighty boosh number
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KJVjBuSrZ0
Fox Mulder.
the furry version.
Which one is Yorpie? o_O
Dabbler: I got some of those Dan’s skin pants you recommended.
Max: (Facepalm) It’s Danskin –one word. Do I need to ask if “Dan” is still living.
Dabbler: Oh. Oh yes, totally alive and not dead or anything. I just cast growth on his…
Max: No. Just no. What happens in Dab’s room, stays in Dab’s room.
Why am I suddenly glad that my name is not Dan?
Same reason why I am suddenly jealous that my name is not Dan.
Wild growth: new meaning and spell effects included.
The real question here is why all the trouble? What’s on the other end of this better be pretty damn epic for all the work that would have to have been done just to make the entrance alone.
Random Wild-ass guess? It’s the location of one of the sigils (the things holding the veil in place, as mentioned in https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2275 ), in an emergency meeting to save them, suggested by one of the bad guys who is on the council, allowing them to:
1) get access to the location to destroy it, and
2) blame those damn outsiders who came to the meeting for the property damage
I don’t think that anybody is going to be too concerned if a sigil one mile underwater is broken. Not unless James Cameron is currently filming in the area.
Each sigil covers a sizable portion of the globe, with significant overlap. Just think how out of the way the new york sigil would have been prior to 1776.
True. And they are going to be in approximately the same region as the one already taken down in or around New York, so the effects might compound. Halo’s flight speed is decent, but unless they were travelling for a long time they are probably not too far from the USA.
That said though it depends on how many sigils there are in the network. If there are eight, for example, then it is very serious, but if there are eighty not so much.
I do seem to recall something like loosing as few as three might pose a risk of the network being disrupted, but can’t recall if that was canon or just someone speculating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hddYB-FbD5M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGix_842uI4
And Real Life :)
For some reason, you saying that made me think of Sydney’s orbs again.
Council member: You’re pretty versatile. We were hoping you could fix-
Halo: Actually, I’m just a spaceship.
Max: (Pissed)
Council: Well then in that case, one of your powers should be (various aliens describing various abilities of their own ships)
Halo: Nope. Not yet, at least.
Council: Maybe your orbs are just a toy version then. No wonder they were thrown away.
(or)
The reason Sydney found the orbs where she did is because they were accidentally dropped, or intentionally parked, outside the place they’re at right now.
Here’s something. Could Sydney go back to where she found the orbs and see if there are anymore artifacts that could explain their origin?
Yes. But she is currently being coy about revealing all of her origin details to Archon. So who knows, she may already be aware of things like that? And until she decides to come clean about whatever it is she was holding back (before she got to know them) I doubt that she will risk being observed or followed back there.
Although judicious use of the Truesight orb should give her some protection from being trailed by X (or other invisible/ magically disguised agents), there are other means such as tracking devices which she cannot readily foil as an amateur. Just the same as Harem, she can leave her choker and pip-boy at home, but she cannot stop a spy satellite following her visually.
Even though Halo clearly trusts Archon now, she will always have the genre-savvy fear of Maxima (et al) turning evil or otherwise becoming hostile. So she may never decide to reveal everything to them, if she feels that it would give her an edge in such a confrontation.
“Maxima flies the shield down”
That raises a question. Does the shield not center around Sydney at all times?
Can you push the shield and then also push Sydney? Because that’s what that sentence implies.
In that case wouldn’t a massive explosion or whatever throw the orb(and Sydney) backwards with equal force as the shockwave?
The shield has been shown to be pretty resistant towards repositioning from outside. One option for Maxima here could be to grab Sidney and move her. Since both are in the shield.
Yes, if that’s required then it makes sense.
But if she can push the shield directly then it doesn’t make sense.
I think her shield is kind of like Thor’s hammer – it has a mind of it’s own, and let stuff through or stiffens up when it wants to and knows when to.
That’s a very good point.
If it can take Max hammering on it without budging, why wouldn’t it also resist movement from the pressure of the water?
Because it was not designed to do that. Maybe the designers were hydrophobic and did not want the force field to sink?
Or Sydney could just use the shield and flight orbs at the same time which would allow Maxima to maneuver it
Problem is that Maxima only needs to move the shield bubble when Sydney needs to use the Oxygenator to refresh the air. So no hand free for fly orb.
I would argue for either A.) the bubble can be moved by another if Sydney consciously allows it and/or B.) it can be moved from the inside, not the outside. Presumably it’s designed to protect from outside attack; if someone or something is inside with the user, it was probably intentional, and in any case the shield isn’t much protection at that point, as previously seen.
… I think people are overthinking things – Max doesn’t have to move the shield ; Max only has to move Sydney (by grabbing hold of her belt)…
Sydney does not need the Fly Ball if Maxima is lifting her while holding the Shield Orb.
That may be how it works. All I pointed out though is that is now how the author described it.
My guess is the default mode is centered around Sydney, but she can choose whether or not to be centered (as illustrated in comics #173 and #279). Also, much like Oobtek, a gradual force can move the shield (such as water pressure–#539, or pulling the lighthook–#257). Whereas a sharp force, like Max’s punch, energy blast, etc. is absorbed, deflected, or whatever.
Well, that’s the only explanation I can think of anyway.
Have seen some forcefields that work on blocking high speed items (eg bullets) but allow slower speeds (eg an ally throwing them a weapon). Downside is where the drop off happens. A bow and arrow might get you through their shield.
You won’t get an arrow through Syd’s shield as people can’t even walk through it, but someone might be able to pick it up and throw it.
“The slow blade penetrates the shield.” Sorry couldn’t resist an opening that perfect for a Dune reference
Are you referencing Dune or Stargate SG:1?
both, i believe the Stargate series referenced Dune as if it were one of the myriad of available universes that could be traveled to.
You really do not want to be coming out of a stargate as a sandworm is coming in the other direction. There is not much wriggle room. And the mechanical noises/vibration from the stargate operation would likely attract them.
Even worse if they ate the stargate, as only as really small one would be able to go through it.
It is difficult to confirm in a story told in static pictures, but I believe that when the shield is cast when on a surface it is ‘locked’ to that location* until Sydney decides to move it (or when the surface itself moves, as shown in the not-a-bot building collapse). When cast in air it obeys the ‘laws’ of physics (which are more like ‘suggestions’ when dealing with supers). It will fall if not supported (or rise, depending on the relative density of the surrounding medium) otherwise when Sydney used it in the pool and released the flight orb she would not have bobbed to the surface.
* Vehemence at full strength was able to drag a locked-down shield slightly.
“That raises a question. Does the shield not center around Sydney at all times?”
No, the shield is not centered on Sydney at all times as shown best here:
Biiig Bada Boom That’s Sydney floating near the top of the Shield.
There are pages just before and after this page that also show she’s floating above the crowd that the shield is covering. Presumably Sydney can control where the shield is centered, as long as she’s inside.
Ooh, good observation.
Is there someone else with Maxima, Halo and Crimson?
Looks like Dabbler is with them. Which immediately makes me start thinking about underwater elder gods and such.
Well Dabbler “has killed gods” so that is not a problem. And yea, that is her. I was having difficulty initially, as there is something odd about her head. But her legs are distinctive enough to confirm her identity.
The thing that was throwing me was the blue objects, to either side of her head. Which I knew could not be her horns, as they would not be that prominent, from behind. Finally figured out that it was her ears.
Dabbler, if you are ever trying to hide in shadows, be sure to cover your luminous blue ears!
Dabbler’s technically also part of the Twilight Council as well, since i believe they count her is a rep for Demons, alongside that fullblooded succubus.
I just thought of a priest telling Sydney ‘not to consort with demons’ then she uses the Commball to look at him, and he’s human. The nun next to him is Dabbler.
She bursts out laughing. Dabbler as a nun? Nothing could be funnier!
Here’s your dual-classed Nun/Succubus (top right panel): <a href="https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1705"Succudigression
Dangit! I know I added the closing statement. It must have gotten accidentally deleted when I changed the title to Succudigression.
<a href="https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1705"Succudigression
What the heck? I was doubly careful that time.
Not necessarily, and I get the impression to the contrary, in fact, from her interaction with the succubus on the demon delegation.
Any obviously non-human, of a known type (which succubi are) will automatically be covered by the Veil,* regardless of whether they are a member of the Council or not. Plus Dabbler has her racial illusions which are even more powerful than the Veil, so can operate independently on Earth without the Council’s permission or approval.
Being a free spirit, I think she does precisely that. She chose to be a part of Archon, but does not appear to have made the same choice for the Council.
For other examples, note that the Council does have a mage faction. We know that Zephan is not only a member, but is actually one of the leaders of the council (by virtue of being a mage faction delegate).
Contrast that to Gwen, who is a self-taught mage (at apprentice level, but without having a mage master). We have no reason to suppose that she is a part of the Council. Being human she can blend in, on Earth, with or without the Veil’s help. Provided that she is careful not to cast spells in public.
* Dabbler chose to breach this, but in a manner which has plausible deniability. Do note how risky this was though, if the Council did not agree on that point, and considered her actions to risk revealing the secret of the Veil.
Took me a while to figure out the fourth was probably Dabbler, though it looks like she’s wearing a man’s oversized shirt. Also it looks like her legs are a mix of human and her normal purple.
Nah, she’s wearing pink capri pants (like those short shorts she was wearing when Sydney first met her). She’s not using her glamour spell.
And maybe a lab coat?
Every kind of nope. In every language, living or dead, I say thee a thousand times NOPE! Someone will brief me on the meeting later, I am staying up here with the sky and the light and the not crushing darkness.
So the prospect leaves you a bit flat then? Don’t be so down. Is all you see the bad points, in going into the blackness? I am sure Sydney would be crushed that you don’t want to join her!
+5
Yorp always bends over backwards to help out. I think he implodes a the thought of someone breaching etiquette and secretly wants to ring your bell for refusing Sydney’s kind offer.fortunaly for us he ascends to new heights of kindness instead of descending into the abyss of rage.
Don’t let go of that shield orb Sydney!
A death grip is a most appropriate term to use.
They have got to make Sydney a ball glove. Something that allows her to strap in a ball at will, like palmless gloves that have a Velcro strap with a ball strap.
*blushes*
Please don’t phrase it like that to Sydney, she will get a nosebleed!
At some point she’s going to have to get used to it, since her super power is playing with balls.
But I suppose we could call it an orb strap.
DaveB just a reminder that you have not changed the picture on the Vote Incentive sidebar. It still has Sydney’s face, from the lingerie incentive, even though there is now the new one of Dabbler you commissioned.
Poor Yorpie, you missed the notice where DaveB mentioned that something about the Nu WordPress screwed things up the last time he changed the sneak peak?
Ahh, thanks.
I think Vernes idea was that actually circumnavigating the globe underwater would be equal to flying around the equator 2.3 times. The continents get in the way if you’re staying underwater in an electric powered submarine. He did a LOT of handwaving about that sodium battery system.
Much less of an issue if you use the trans-continental aqua-tunnel networks.
Thanks for the reminder.
“Has clone army set up toll booths”
Yeah, but it’s easy to get lost in those. One wrong turn and you pop up in the Inland Sea inside the Hollow Earth having to explain yourself to dinosaur-riding Nordic aliens.
I only did that twice.
A week.
Here is a travel map from a 1960’s reprint of the book. I can not vouch for its accuracy.
(Note: Verne thought the south pole was like the north and could be reached by sailing under an icecap)
https://www.etsystudio.com/listing/483206389/the-voyage-of-the-nautilus-20000-leagues
“Nemo” doesnt look nearly indian enough for my LXG-trained sensibilities.
Depends on the part of India he was from. Different ethnic groups, different racial mixes, India was the original melting pot.
And WAY different cuisine. I wound up spending six months eating Southern India style cooking when the officers left Union at Baghdad and ya gotta eat SOMETHING. OMG. My daughter about died when I got home, looked for hot sauce, found her bottle of rooster sauce and slathered it all over a burrito with her screaming “its the Asian heat kind”. I said “I’m used to it” and ate it. She about died.
I’m pretty sure those Indians burnt me out to the point where I can eat with Sydney and never have a qualm.
I was once told that it’s impossible to get lost in India.
Different regions are marked by their different cooking styles.
If you think you might be lost, just start cooking-up some curry.
The smell will summon-up a local, who will try to explain what you’re doing wrong.
Once they’re done, they can give you directions.
Would it work the same way for BBQ in USA?
HMM-m-m…
…perhaps in the south, & the southern mid-west region, yes.
They take their BBQ much more seriously than we “Godless Yankees” do.
What you do over there is bairly Grilling.
Whereas in the UK we use Bear Grylls.
+10 griddle of tangyness and 1/3 internet for you
Also, in Verne’s original concept Nemo was a Polish nobleman with a grudge against Russia. His editor was worried that publishing this might damage international relations.
Also also, The Mysterious Island makes absolutely no fucking sense.
Not everything in life can be easily understood. All a documentary can do is faithfully report the events observed.
*leafs through paw-written notes and sketches of the island*
Very mysterious.
So how is it that a bunch of escapees from a Confederate prison camp, who have been stuck on a remote Caribbean island since well before the Civil War ended, can be familiar with Professor Arronax’s account of his voyage on the Nautilus, which did not even make its first cryptic appearance until after the Civil War was over? (And how has enough time passed for Nemo to be dying of old age?)
Prisons do accept new inmates. They do not take one batch and then stop. Prisoners talk to each other. News of events in the outside world being of particular interest and importance in pre-TV and radio days. Although even then the odd newspaper might have gotten into the hands of inmates. Albeit less likely in a remote prison such as described.
As to the last that mainly depends on how old he was in the first documentary. He may well have had all of the symptoms yet been able to stave off the affects. Likewise careful grooming, maintaining good posture and maybe hair dye could all have made him appear younger than his true years. Plus not having reached a debilitative stage and keeping fit would allow him to remain active, despite being in the early stages of degenerative conditions.
Finally the diseases associated with old age can have an earlier onset than normal. One of my friends has been suffering with one such since his twenties. Some of which can be terminal and, in the process, can make the victim look older than their true years. The most extreme ones sadly capable of doing that even with children. Although clearly that would not be the case in this situation.
Such conditions may not have been well understood in that era, but they would have been present nonetheless.
Some misommunication happened here. The protagonists of The Mysterious Island escape from a Confederate prison camp in the American South by hijacking an observation balloon, and wind up landing on a remote, completely uninhabited Caribbean island where they spend the rest of the book. After some months on the island, crates containing useful supplies start washing up on the shore. This becomes suspiciously regular, until the castaways discover that the Nautilus is moored in a sea cave under the island and Nemo has been observing them and sending them care packages. Nemo is depicted here as very old and about to die, and none of his old crew had survived. And the castaways, who have had absolutely no contact with the civilized world since partway through the Civil War, somehow know about the Professor’s account of the Nautilus, which, I remind you, was first sighted as a “sea monster” several months after the Civil War ended. I’m not sure if enough time has even passed on the island for Arronax’s time on the Nautilus to have even begun.
tl;dr: Verne’s official sequel to 20,000 Leagues is a hot mess that makes no chronological sense.
Wasn’t one of the things that made the Mysterious Island so, well, mysterious, was that time worked differently? Fairly much everything did
That would certainly explain it Guesticus, given that the documentary about the Nautilus’s voyages covered the period 1867 to 1868, whist the events on Mysterious Island were recorded between 1865 and 1869. It seems likely that travelling to the island can allow one to go back in time. Clearly affecting different groups to different degrees.
This would also explain how film crews were able to record events decades before the invention of movie cameras!
*awards Guesticus a shiny temporal star, for services to Science!*
The book reprint came after the Disney film. Nemo, Land and Arronax look similar to the actors, but where did they come up with that last one? Definitely NOT Peter Lorre. Based on the coat, maybe it is from that famous French work of literature “Where’s Waldeaux?”
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/94/f9/b0/94f9b07495f6927bc922497f86a6edcd–leagues-under-the-sea-jules-verne.jpg
I know that feel; I watched Justice League as a kid and so whenever I see a Green Lantern who isn’t John Stewart I’m like “WTF, a White Green Lantern?”
is that like a green White Lantern?
Well, the only known White Lantern was green at one time, so, yes?
It’s not far wrong compared to the original maps, (which are on the Wikipedia page, so why you didn’t use them…), the only big difference is that the original map has them going by way of the Suez-Mediterranean route rather than around Cape Hope when going to the Atlantic.
The overall route is also about the right length, certainly close enough to 20,000 if you want to use a round number.
So the entrance is protected by an illusory boulder. Does it also have a sign saying ‘No WIFI’ ?
If has a sign “No squid in here” written in sperm whale. ;)
I would have opted to write it in squid ink.
I see what you did there.
Signaled on bluetooth
Honestly, I’d’ve preferred if you didn’t mention the gaffa tape. Would be great as an unspoken gag in an otherwise serious upcoming meeting strip.
She reaches out to shake someone’s hand, and they just stare at it…
I’m having nightmares of the NES game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Please tell me Sydney doesn’t have any bombs to defuse in that tunnel.
Maxima would be the defusing bombs in a tunnel, an experience I assume she does not want to repeat.
Let us hope she is not required to do that here. Given that it would require that the shield be lowered, to let her out.
I am curious as to how Crimson knows her way around in this location. In addition to bats, can she also turn herself into a swarm of this animal? https://rollingharbour.com/2015/06/03/wtf-whats-that-fish-3-batfish/
Nah. It’d be a long crawl if she turned into a shoal of batfish. She’d more likely turn into something nightmarish that swims free, like angler fish.
or Viperfish.
or a Vampire Squid.
Hmm.
Lampreys, the bleeders are causing havoc to a city council trying to fix up a road
This is a secret location? then are they still wearing their chokers? The chokers have tracking devices on them and couldn’t that let Archon know where they are? Assuming they used Dabblers tech to get extra strength signal?
Radio signals really don’t go very well through lots of water (especially if they’re being received by a device as small as a choker) and solid rock is even more opaque. Putting enough power in to get a signal through would also fry the wearer and everyone else in the vicinity.
Max, Hiro, Achilles and Jigawatt would probably be safe. Everybody, yeah, not so much.
The problem though, is that they blindfolded Sydney while she was above the water, and then once underwater went straight down. The location they went straight down from (which needed to be kept secret via blindfold) is therefore fully within the realm of being trackable by radio/gps, despite their blindfold precaution.
One can only assume that the GPS tracking data from the chokers (while in the air above the water, where it’s not blocked) is limited to only people with sufficient security clearance. Or that someone just made a major oops.
All that will tell them is… nothing, because they went straight down and then did a few turns
That means the bosses who monitor the choker’s locations would know but they already let Max know so it’s just the junior recruit they are keeping it from.
Quantumly entangled. No signal is sent or received, and interference doesn’t exist.
Cobra Commander (and anyone else who needs a primer on the effects of water on radio signals):
I have a friend who is a submariner. The submarine can not use its radio unless it is close enough to the surface to raise an antenna above the water! So the chokers would be able to communicate with each other within the shield (but what would be the point of that?) or perhaps within this underwater base they’re going to.
For communication below the water, a submarine has to use VLF (3-300 KHz) or ELF (3-30 Hz). It can only use VLF within 20 meters (65 feet) of the surface. ELF requires a huge receiving antenna, like the one in Murmansk (60 kilometers / 37 miles long) or the one in Republic, Michigan (52 kilometers / 32 miles long)… oh, and these antennas require their own power plant. Only the USA, Russia, and India have ever built an ELF antenna (and Britain debated building one, but the project was cancelled).
Did I forget to mention that the bit rate is SLOW? Using 8-bit ASCII, the transmission rate of VLF is about 450 words per minute. Maybe 600 words per minute if you use a 5-bit code like the baudot code (used by the early telegraph). Using ELF, you can transmit (maybe) one sentence per minute, if the sentence is short enough.
No submarine can transmit ELF… it’s strictly receive-only, because nobody could afford to build a submarine big enough (assuming it’s technologically possible). Just like the antenna in Murmansk, the submarine would have to be around 40 miles long to be able to transmit ELF, including the antenna and a nuclear reactor big enough to power it.
Er… ELF is 3-300 Hz, not 3-30. I left out a zero somehow. However, all four of the ELF antennas (one in Russia, two in the U.S., one in India) are between 70 Hz and 100 Hz in wavelength.
Umm, I hate to be picky but 70Hz (or any other number of Hz) is not a wavelength but a frequency. Sure the wavelength and the frequency are related (v=f * lambda) but they are not the same thing. The speed is constant so as the frequency goes down the wavelength goes up. Hertz is also called cycles per second. So if a Wave has a length of 10,000 kilometres and a frequency of 30 cycles a second it has a speed of 300,000,000 metres a second. Extremely Low Frequency is in the range 3 to 30 Hz.
Fizicks hurtz my head.
Good point. You’re right, I said “wavelength” when I meant to say “frequency”. The actual wavelength of radio waves at that frequency is about 3,500 kilometers.
By the way, after a little further research, I discovered that the U.S. and Russia have shut down their ELF antennas. The two in the U.S. were dismantled in 2004. Only the one in India is still active.
I meant in the realm of literal magic and alien technology. But thanks for the info, that was interesting to learn.
Yeah, I missed (or somehow forgot) the part where you said “assuming they used Dabblers tech to get extra strength signal”.
However, it’s already been established that Dabbler does not share her technology. We don’t know if she has any spells that can be used to augment or bypass technological limitations. So the tracking devices built into the chokers are probably just bog-standard GPS devices
If they are just GPS trackers, GPS is useless underwater. Submarines can only use GPS when at periscope depth. When submerged, submarines use inertial navigation systems (INS) or fathometers in areas where detailed hydrographic data has been charted and there is adequate variation in sea floor topography (charting a course by comparing depth measurements to the known depth patterns).
In case you’re wondering what it’s like to navigate a submarine, my friend gave this analogy: “Paint all the windows on your car black, then try to drive down the Interstate at 55 miles per hour by listening through the glass.”
You’re assuming the Council, which is composed of aliens and people with centuries of experience and mages, don’t have the tech to counter Dabbler’s tech.
Dabbler’s PART of the council, too.
Is she? She’s not a local from Earth, and they already have a representative for succubi.
Indeed. And her chat with the representative left me with the distinct impression that Dabbler has nothing to do with them.
She may not be on the Council, but she has been on the Council (and more than a few have been on her :wink: )
Considering they only blindfolded Sydney and not Maxima, in addition to the fact that Dabs is already a member of the council. I think it’s a safe bet that the general location is already a known factor to at least a few authorized folks at Archon/The US Government.
Yes. Basically, it is a matter of clearance levels with Sydney being a raw recruit.
I think the more important thing is, there is no mention of blindfolding either Maxima or Dabbler. So are they just intentionally screwing with Sydney, or are they just not wanting her to be able to get back there without an “adult” to supervise her around the squee bait.
Yankee whalers would stay at see for years. Three or four years was not uncommon, and the record is about eleven.
At a sedate pace of a league an hour, three years is well over 20,000 leagues.
s/see/sea/
*c
C+
Sea++
Ocean’s 11
Original or remake? A month’s supply of Yorpies rests on the answer…
Yes. Not having seen either it would be Schrodinger’s Ocean. One which simultaneous has shrimp and doesn’t have shrimp. I am not sure which of those has Yorpie Snax though.
*wags tail eagerly*
Which ever you prefer :D
To pull a Ghostbusters “if someone asks you oceans 11 you always answer ‘DIVE DIVE DIVE AND DANG THE TORPEDOS’ “
Not sure where DaveB found the math in the comment, but 20,000 leagues is about 111,000 km, which is about 8 times earth’s diameter. So 20k leagues under the surface of the sea would mean outside the ISS orbit on the other side of the planet, but inside the moon orbit.
You may need to run a diagnostic on some of your cybernetic components. The distance in the book was measured in a horizontal, not vertical direction.
According to WolframAlpha, 20 000 leagues is 67 047 miles or 111 120 km, so you are both correct. As for how many times times around the Earth that is, that works out to about 2.8 times the circumference of the Earth at the equator. Nemo’s crew did not travel that way because of all the land in the way between the oceans and seas.
1. The 20,000 in the title relates to the distance traversed during the adventure, not the depth. The depth misunderstanding arises from the English translation of the title, “under the sea”, rather than “under the seas” which would be the direct translation of the French, “sur les mers” and would have the same meaning. (I.e. sailing under the seas of the world or the seven seas). As far as I know this error in translation/unfortunate misunderstanding is limited to the English title.
2. Being French, Jules Verne naturally used the French league. The French league had different lengths in different time periods (and different places in France had different leagues), but metrification sorted that out, so when decades later Verne wrote in 1871 he used the metric league, which is exactly 4km.
3. So traversing 20,000 leagues means a trip of 80,000km, roughly twice the equatorial circumference. Which is probably why he chose that distance, when he needed a large number for his title that wouldn’t seem out of place with the story and Nautilus speed.
err, “vingt mille lieues sous les mers”, not “sur les mers”, of course. Stupid typo.
They also wandered to the South Pole and close to the north one as well.
And the English translations for most of Verne’s works suck mightily. Leagues was done by a Victorian twit who wasn’t fluent in French, so he used the German language edition (reputedly itself translated from the Italian edition). If you can find a newer translation on any of the Voyages, get those; my copy of Leagues is from the US Naval Institute and is about 20% than the standard version.
So 4,000 nautical leagues under the sea?
That should be 20% longer, but I did something to my tags.
Interestingly, the stuff cut? Plot, characterization, history, etc… But no lists of fish with Latin names appended.
Yea, it sucks when part, or all of a post is lost. Sometimes too disheartening to reiterate it.
Going around the Earth for 20,000 leagues is 2.77 times. :) So…. really close on DaveB’s guess.
This is an extremely elaborate way to get into a place. I understand the need for security but this is a bit extreme. Only Council members that can move and survive underwater extremely well can use the thing, which probably aren’t all that many of them. It also makes getting stuff in and out a problem.
This is like those overly elaborate vaults you see in movies to make it a challenge for the heroes to break into. You know the ones that have things like a 256 bit encrypted passcode that changes every two seconds with three interlocking doors that only open by DNA samples from three CEOs of the company that live on opposite sides of the planet and vibration sensors that seal the thing shut if even a mouse walks by. And that vault contains the main computer terminal for Evil Co. that stores all their data so the heroes need to break in to get it because it has no outside access so it’s unhackable. But how the hell does Evil Co. actually use the thing in the first place with all that security?
The vault is all an elaborate ruse to throw off the attention of the heroes. The actual item in question is kept in a cardboard box on a shelf in a room marked ‘Janitorial Supplies’.
Good point. How DO the council get down there? Maybe some of them can teleport… Could Sydney use the comms orb to come back at a later time? questums questums….
I’d guess that a “Geo-Kinetic” (such as the dude we heard-about earlier, with his own massive gold-reserve), would have an easier time bypassing all the safeguards…
…& might even have been part (or ALL) of the crew who built them so securely!
Halo will not be able to. Unlike Harem who can memorise somewhere (by living there a long time, admittedly), Sydney’s power does not work that way. She actually has to guide the lightbee to a location (and only has a very basic sensory capabilities, such as being able to tell if a wall is nearby). Only once the lightbee is in position can she then teleport.
Which means that as Halo has no idea where they are at the moment, she will not be able to find her way back here (assuming they are blindfolded on the return trip too). This applies just as much to her teleport capability as to her normal means of travel.
For more realistic stories:
A) They’re evil: keeping bits of the three CEOs (fingers/eyeballs/labelled vials of blood as required) and a synched drive that holds the current passwords in a portable safe they keep with them at all times is feasible and within their moral code.
B) There is another way in. They just keep it REALLY secret. Also, master pass codes.
In this story? Teleportation? Or there’s another way in and this is just their ‘keep the location secret and impress high security visitors’ entrance.
Evil Co. uses the hollow wooden door you see propped open in the background just after the heroes get past all the high security un-blast-able doors. It opens on the lane behind the building. (I’ve seen this in a few comedies, I think it might have originally come from “get smart”?)
You don’t think the Council has a portal caster? Maybe… Miroku?
There are a great many different definitions for the length of one league. Jules Verne was referring to metric leagues in his book, which are 4 kilometers each. 80,000 kilometers is “only” 49,710 miles – still a great distance, but not quite as far.
American land leagues are 15,840 feet, so if these were used the distance would be 60,000 statute miles (96,561 kilometers). American nautical leagues are 18,228 feet, so if these were used the distance would be 69,045 statute miles (111,117 kilometers).
First I thought you were describing Zootopia, but Judy wouldn’t say “wanker.”
She might if Nick got her angry enough.
Hm. It occurs to me that we have seen Sydney’s shield refuse to budge in the face of forces that flipped tanks through the air, and I don’t think we saw Sydney holding the fly orb at the time. Why, then, do buoyancy effects and Maxima pushing from within and chains holding it in place make any difference? Shouldn’t the shield just stay put around the center of its orb? If anything, without the fly-orb, Sydney should fall as if in mid-air. (The shield clearly has some sense for “what is ground” and can allow it to pass through safely for some reason, since Sydney can walk around with the shield and not disrupt the ground she’s walking over, and can take off and not carry the ground inside the shield with her.)
That said, this is a somewhat unique form of submarine travel: given the absolute impermeability of the shield to any sort of outside forces (aside from the incongruencies above), it wouldn’t actually compress and change the pressure of the air inside it even as exterior pressure increases. So Sydney and Co. will not have depressurization problems unless they exit the shield at some point in an air-filled pocket maintained only by the air pressure within. (Magical pressure-maintenance would prevent this.)
Also, if she drops the shield in such a pressurized air pocket, there would be a VERY sudden pressure change on her and everybody in her bubble, which would probably be at the least uncomfortable. (Increase, not decrease, so not the bends in THIS direction. But it might pop ear drums and hurt eyes and such.)
For all the following points, do note that the orb’s powers are written in the fundamental code governing the universe. As we can see from the selective gravity that the Fly Ball uses that code can overide universal laws, as may be required. So the orbs can have effects which contradict physics and even their own properties (in other circumstances).
As we can see from the under-comic text, and Dave’s blog, deep underwater is a deadly environment for the orb user. Relaxing the grip, on the force field orb, for even a moment, would be instantly fatal. Buoyancy is a good safety feature. The orbs have several of those.
Those on the outside of the shield should be assumed to be enemies, so their actions should be countered. Whilst those on the inside presumably are friendly, so their actions should not be interfered with.
If buoyancy is making the shield rise, and the chains did not stop it from doing that, then they would be destroyed. Each of the orb’s powers have features which support their primary role in an appropriate manner. The PPO is hard to activate (which we can read as being like a safety on a gun). The shield adjusts its size and even its shape to avoid bisecting nearby objects, when raised.
From the latter we can take it that accidentally destroying objects is something that the shield orb is designed to avoid.* Hence why the chains did not break. The only force they had pushing against them was the buoyancy of the shield, and they were chosen to be strong enough to counter that much.
Shield + Flyball might be able to break them. But that would require testing to confirm. It seems reasonable though.
* Note that we did see a chunk knocked out of a sign. Firstly this was comedic, so we should give artistic licence for something done as a gag, and take any precedent it sets with a pinch of salt. Secondly this only happened with both the shield and the flyball working in conjunction. So this is not the same as the shield-only features mentioned above.
It is possible that (as various people have suggested) that ramming attacks are intentionally allowed. But do take the first point above into account, when considering that. Likewise the fact that Sydney is squeamish and having people’s brains splattered on her shield will be off-putting.
Re_”Relaxing the grip, on the force field orb, for even a moment, would be instantly fatal.”:
Not sure if I’d mentioned this before, but the idea of accidentally releasing the Shield-Orb at such a crushing depth is what I thought might’ve happened to the previous owner. After centuries of tectonic shifting, the Orbs could’ve been lifted to a brighter ocean-level, to be discovered by Sydney — long after the corpse had been ‘processed’ by the local sea-life.
Makes sense, I have thought along those lines myself too. Not that tectonics would be needed mind (although that is reasonable). Shifting currents or even being gobbled up by a shark would do the trick. Sharks eat all sorts of things (for example car number plates), and with their owner dead the orbs would not resist being moved.
Provided it died in shallow water (and got disposed of by the usual processes such as crabs eating it) the orbs would remain where Sydney could find them with regular scuba diving.
Did nobody else notice the anchor wedged in the entrance? (Second panel.)
I saw it, I saw it!
I tried to think of something witty to say about it, but I could not make a chain of thought, which held together under scrutiny. I was weighed down with uncertainty, given I could not find a good point to anchor my argument on.
Well, “Blow-Me-Down, Olive!”…
You thought that we’d be too SHALLOW to notice your attempts at nautical humor?
You thought we’d WADE through your entire ‘weighed down with uncertainty’-shtick, to be thusly taken in, ‘Hook, Line & Sinker’…?
I’m at a loss…
…floundering…
…uncertain at how to properly respond…
…No.
I’ll say nothing at all.
I refuse to take the bait, you Naughty Doggie!
PS:
I seem to recall that a metal turnbuckle is called a “dog” in nautical nomenclature, so “dogging something down” refers to tightening a turnbuckle, so as to prevent that thing from coming loose…
…so if you’re NOT properly tightened, that would be regarded as…
…an “insecure (IE: unsecured) sea-dog”.
Sea terms can be ruff.
Especially when using “Sea-Plus-Plus”!
Worst when it gets choppy out and the people are sqibs
Sounds like an explosive situation, even if shipping Ripply as a marine.
I absolutely hated this level of Earthworm Jim. Level after level of platforming and suddenly a maze race. And a very tetchy maze race at that.
Dave, I wonder if the water *would* be almost pitch black below 1000 meters. There is light down there, how much I don’t know. Sydney’s orbs are one source but also there are bioluminescent organisms at that depth.
And they may well concentrate on rocky outcrops, so good point.
Although mostly deep sea footage is very black, even near trench walls, in areas not illuminated by the craft’s own lights. We don’t get to see too much of that though, as they tend to show the moments when the pretty (/scary / ugly) glowing fishies come near. Makes for better TV.
Also, as you mentioned, that is deep sea “footage.” Cameras don’t respond to changing light levels the same way our eyes do, human eye has a logarithmic rather than linear response to light. It’s an evolutionary thing: The human eye allows us to see more shades of gray than shades of white. It is more important for us to see predators in the dark rather than seeing more detail in full bright light.
If in extremely low-light conditions, or needing to detect the smallest sign of movement, use your peripheral vision. That is where human eyes are best at detecting such, rather than straight ahead.
So if you think your enemy is ahead of you, look slightly to one side, or the other, to maximise your chances of seeing them before they see you.
Or use light intensifying goggles, if you have them, of course.
Yups, tend to do that when walking around dark rooms: basically de-focus the eyes and walk carefully, but tend to have good night vision anyway
Dabler probably has a Globe Of Daylight spell or simular..
True. But if you can spot the enemy, before they see you, and without drawing such obvious attention to yourself, then you gain a distinct tactical advantage.
Of course standing in a moving glowing bubble does not really help my argument. But with other light sources around they might not stand out too badly.
OK OK they are as out of place as a sore thumb on a rottweiler.
Harumph!
“Speaking of Leagues, 20,000 is 69047 miles. So… did they circumnavigate the Earth like, 2.3 times in that book? Cause that seems a long way to go in a submarine.”
No, that’s how deep they went, DUH! Didn’t you see the Disney live-action movie, where Captain Nemo himself says that’s how deep they are at one point.
ROFLMAO.
On a more serious note, in the book, they were aboard for quite some time, and it was possible to circumnavigate the globe by sail in a just a couple of years at the time (or even less, if that’s really your whole goal), so by a powered ship, those kinds of distances wouldn’t be all that surprising.
yeah, because Disney is sooooo accurate at book portrayals of stuff. Deepest i recall Nemo actually said in one version of the book that they went was the five-mile mark, and they didn’t stay for more than a few minutes due to the ridiculous pressure buildup at that depth, and surfaced so rapidly they actually shot clean out of the water for three minutes.
I thought the “ROFLMAO” would sub for a /sarc tag, but apparently not.
I’m pretty sure that in the title “20,000 leagues under the sea”, the 20,000 leagues in question are measured horizontally.
I would have gone with Dr. Weir, but an Event Horizon reference might have been a bit too obscure ;)
Maybe not since that is the name of Sydney’s comic book store.
Well remembered. Albeit that Dark Kuno is right about obscurity for other readers, given that I, for one, would not have made the connection.
But I have a serious problem with names, so am not exactly representative. Film names I have no problem with mind, just people’s or characters. My brain perfectly happily stores ‘Thelma and Louise’ for example, giving me a mental trick to remember the name of a friend called “Louise” (who’s name I literally can NEVER remember directly).
I am surprised Dabbler didn’t interject with a birthing comment… “This is familiar to me”
Or “I’ve been in something this big before…she enjoyed it more than me and boy was her husband surprised…”
Are those black trangles actually spikes, or are they like, cross-sections of concave ringlets lining the tunnel? Because background art says ringlets. But Vlad the Impaler/porcupine dialogue says spikes.
If they are spikes it would make a bit of sense to only be on top and bottom but as soon as they are on the sides it’s weird not to be on all sides.
Exactly. Which is why I thought maybe the inside of the shaft was just ribbed for her displeasure.
Given that the countermeasures that stopped Crimson require vampires have the need to breathe, how do they usually get down here?
If you meant when Crimson was caught trying to Batman into Maxi’s office, those were stun nets, not gas
As Guesticus says.
Aside from that clearly any vampire would have a need to breathe, if they wanted to speak. That does not though equate to having a need to breathe to live (being dead). So it is possible that Vampires can be knocked out by sleeping gas, regardless of not having to metabolise oxygen. Especially if they are in the habit of breathing to pass for human.
This is one instance where the commentary for the page made me laugh harder than the page itself. The very next time I’m bored in a movie for any reason I will pretend that I’m inside the movie as Slylock Fox.
And when’s Telltale going to make a Slylock Fox adventure game? The world is ready!
You own a company that makes a video game toy you sell to peas. You tell me.
Touché, my friend. Touché. Sadly of course the pea demographic is far more into squad (or ‘pod’) based multiplayer games. It’s very hard to get them interested in point and click adventure games.
You could try to promote it with podcasting.
No, I am not taking the pea.
“The orbs are a space ship”
I’m not wild about this statement. Spaceships have shelter from space, propulsion, and environmental controls. These are required. Cargo handling and offensive capabilities are optional, but convenient.
Seems to me that her orbs can not do all of the required functions simultaneously, much less all of the desired functions. Either the original orb owners had more appendages, or they are not really a viable spaceship, or even an emergency escape pod since if you let go in an emergency, you die.
The US Navy probably wouldn’t buy a destroyer that can only one of the following, shoot, move, or float.
Consider this possibility: Some of those skill tree nodes are for passive and/or persistent uses of the orbs. It wouldn’t be much of a shock for something like the life support orb to have a passive ability of “scrub CO₂” that works even if it is not being held.
Perhaps the 7 Orbs were designed by a species that had 7 limbs…?
Six foothands and a prehensile penis.
The next Estonian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Or perhaps less than 6 foothands…?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMvEYzMnqjs]
I can see how having attractive female members of the panel were helping the … performance.
Didn’t help the skinny guy, shoulda taken a photo of the judge that looked like Paul Bethany
do you realise just how OP Spinerret would be if she could use those orbs, Force Fly Air and her choice of Lighthook, lightbee, or unknown, and she’s literaly a Mach 4 person of mass destruction.
Maybe the set is missing the control panel that it was plugged into.
The tunnel looks like the dark tunnels in Aquaria.
I could have been made by Hector Barb-ossa.
considering what happened in the pool.. HOW is the shield suddenly perfectly able to go under water?
Because she’s using the fly orb. Which worked exactly the same earlier.
The author gives us details in his blog above.
She’s probably being assisted by Maxima. She has to stop flight to refresh the air every five minutes or so.
I was just thinking that the fly ball has a speedometer. Maybe the air ball has a pressure gauge for the interior and exterior of the shield. The skill tree line in-between orbs has to do something after all. Although, I just checked and only the one between PPO and flight has been activated. hmmm
It does, we saw Sydney examining it, in one panel. Not marked in mph, but, once she figures out how to read, it in a useful manner, it should provide her useful flight data. E.g.. relating it to Mach speed or figuring out how to use it with a map.
The latter would be useful in helping Halo to gain her ‘flight instrument rating’, once she is a qualified and licensed pilot. Thus allowing her to legally fly at night, or in fog (albeit also requiring other instruments, such as an altimeter).