Grrl Power #588 – Ablution disillusion
Yes, Sydney is taking another shower. The reason for this will be at least hinted at on the next page. Don’t worry about it too much for now. It would be fair to think it’s mostly because I wanted to draw another scene with superheroines taking showers. I mean, come on, sometimes the simplest explanations for gratuitous shower scenes are correct. I think that’s Occam’s Slightly Naughty Razor. Also I feel I’ve improved my wet skin technique, and learning is always good!
You would think that with Jabberwokky’s power set, she would know a lot more about animals. I guess she’s never really paid attention to squid before. Besides, it’s not like her powers work of what animals can actually do, they work off her perception of what they can do. That has as much to do with watching Kung Fu Theater growing up as it does going to the zoo. I mean, it’s common in Kung Fu movies that Toad Style involves super tough skin. Ok, maybe toads have tough skin compared to frogs, but there are like a dozen other animals I’d rank in front of toads when coming up with that list. Ancient China probably didn’t know about armadillos, but pangolins are all over China and India. What about rhinos, hippos, or ankylosauruses? I don’t know when China learned of dinosaurs, but they have a shitload of fossils over there. Anyway, Toad Style is tough skin, not jump kicks or something like that. (Except Kung Fu Hustle had a guy doing jump attacks using toad style. I know, shut up.)
So yeah, Trent sitting in the lounge was obviously a big breach of Veil protocols. He actually should have been protected by the Veil itself, but in its weakened state, a giant mass of writhing tentacles was proving to be challenging for the global glamor. Fortunately, in a world of supers, the supernatural is fairly easy to explain away.
Important update on the Patreon changes. There won’t be any, at least for the foreseeable future. There was considerable backlash about the new fee structure, so they’ve backed off. Here’s a post about it if you’re interested.
Still, this recent kerfuffle highlights the whole eggs in one basket strategy I’ve been employing, and there’s less excuse for it now that there are other companies competing in Patreon’s space. I will still look into getting set up on some alternative services at some point, probably after the holidays. I’m behind schedule already and I haven’t done any Xmas shopping yet. D:
Speaking of which, here’s a gentle reminder I have an Amazon link. Three of them now actually. Canada and the UK as well. No idea if I set them up right, so help me test em. :)
In celebration of Patreon coming to their senses, I’ll post the double res version of this page for everyone! Enjoy the shiny skin! (Normally $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like for future hi-res goodies!)
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
That will not end sfw.
One hopes.
I’d pay to see that
+1
+(Insert largest number possible)
that would be a Googolplex, which is 10^(10^100), I would try to write it for you, but the sheer amount of 0’s I would write would mean I would be writing this comment way into next year even if i took no breaks what so ever so I think I will pass.
save some time: https://www.googolplex.com/
I see your Googolplex and raise you a Googolplexian.
But, to beat any further raise, I will further raise a Yorpian. The largest number of anything tangible (if it is something you can measure, keep counting until you have counted everything of that in existence. If there is something else that turns out to have a greater quantity then you have not reached Yorpian yet).
https://www.googolplexwrittenout.com/ lists the number of volumes needed to write a googolplex.
to put things in perspective as to how big that number actually is:
If there were a Googolplex grains of sand in the universe, the universe would be filled to the brim, from one end to another and it still would not be able to contain them all, that is ALOT of sand.
For those to lazy to click the link:
However in this “Googolplex Written Out” multivolume set of books, I am doing just that. It consists of 10 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 volumes, and each volume contains 1 000 000 zeros of the number googolplex. The first volume also contains the initial digit one with which googolplex starts.
I specified ‘in existence’, not merely limited to the one universe. Especially given the trend to treat ‘the volume of space time created by the big bang’ as being the entirety of the universe. Whereas I see nothing to suggest that our big bang need be any more special than our planet.
We once considered the planet to be the entirety of the material universe (whilst the stars were part of ‘the heavens’ and thereby not to be factored into such equations). I have no intention of allowing my numbering system to be so limited as to not be able to handle all future tangible needs.
I see your googolplexian and raise you Graham’s Number
Next, y’all will be talking about infinity, and who knows where that will end…
Infinity isnt a number technically :)
Infinity is as easy as pi.
Possibly, but possibly not. We will not know until we get to the end…
No really. Infinity is not an actual number. It’s a mathematical concept, but not a number. Common mistake to make :)
Here’s why infinity is not a number.
Imagine there were an ‘infinite’ number of Yorpie Snax, each numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Then I give you all of the Yorpie Snax. So I have none left.
Infinity – Infinity = 0
Now lets say, instead, that I give you only all the odd-numbered Yorpie Snax. I’d still be giving you an infinite amount of Yorpie Snax, and I’d still have an infinite amount left.
Infinity – Infinity = Infinity
Now lets say, instead, that I give you all of them EXCEPT the first four Yorpie Snax. I’m still giving you an infinite amount of Yorpie Snax.
Infinity – Infinity = 4
See why it’s not a number? It’s an indeterminate mathematical concept, but not a number.
Viirin wasn’t claiming that infinity is a number. Rather he was cleverly citing a number which may continue infinitely. A very cunning twist to your prior statement.
*looking pointedly at the four Yorpie snax not yet passed over*
*tongue lolloping out*
Gives you one Yorpie Snax, but not infinity Yorpie Snax.
Since Infinity isn’t a number :)
*grudgingly gives you the four remaining yorpie snax*
Yay, I now haz more-than-four Yorpie snax!
For us doggies that is synonymous with infinite snax!
*munching indefinitely*
…I think I’ll just cursor over there & make a bookmark for this page, in the hopes that the next page or two follows up a bit more…closely…
:P
This will end not safe for work both in and out of the comic.
I’ll be in my bunk.
I don’t know if I would classify it as sfw as it is. If it sfw where you w I want w there too.
It isn’t something I’d want anyone so see via shoulder surfing at w.
Courts in US have ruled that playboy calendars are sexual harrassment, so this is definitely nsfw.
Courts in the US are paid for by rich idiots
Speaking of Veil breaches, a thought struck me last night (and I may not be the first but there are tons of comments on each comic, so please point me to the relevant ones in case I missed it). Unless the Veil was suppressed inside the vault, how was Deus able to notice Sciona’s true form? He could see her wings when she attacked the pedestal, and I assume he could see her form before she used the Epimorph.
Maybe the vault is designed to bypass any illusions, including the Veil.
Hmm – I’ve got two guesses on this:
My first guess is that since the vault was designed to resist magical breaches, among other things, that it actively kept the veil out. Since the veil was upgraded to allow spells to be sent along it, I would guess they didn’t want anyone piggybacking a clairvoyance spell along it.
My second guess is that those aware of the veil can see through it. Back on this page, it looks like everyone sees their respective parties for who they really are, while also showing what others see. This would explain why Deus sees everyone as their physical forms.
Of course, as usual, I could be totally wrong…
Plus, ya know, the veil was already damaged by that point? As evidenced by earlier comics (that big black alien guy who said something about axiomatically… whatever, he said he was used to being unique) being outside and noticed when he was out with the other team. I think there was some mention of it being a Halloween costume? Any rate, it was already damaged and therefore Deus could see everybody.
Nah, he was seen as just a big black dude with a tophat and no shirt. The spectators were commenting on Icon, being as he was a suit of armour being worn.
It’s possible that once you know what to look for (eg. aliens, vampires) you will be able to see them all as they are.
Or just knowing about the veil deactivates it for you – which would explain why the council is so keen on keeping it up. Once dropped, people will know what to look for – and then there is no going back.
May be various reasons. But it is reasonable to say, that once the veil has been lifted for one person, that person will no longer be affected by it.
On the other hand, the council may have just ignored places where no vail will be needed. No need to keep a costly spell up and running in the middle of the ocean.
I think not. Otherwise, Sid would have seen the alien serving girl as an alien without handling the truesight orb.
I think it still works. Iirc, Sidney didn’t know about the veil at that point, only that her orb could see through Dabbler’s disguise. Since Sidney has met with the council, I don’t think she’s been using her truesight orb to see them.
But plenty of people try to see the supernatural allready. So would those looking for vampires or aliens see through the Veil? If they see through the Veil, then can they photograph through it and have the picture be what they see?
Remember the
werewolfweredirewolf photoshoot? Dave indicated that whatever the camera will have recorded it will not have any images of a werewolf on it. Courtesy of one of the properties of the Veil.Pretty sure Atlantis, Cthulu, and Triton would disagree.
Yea, humans go to all sorts of pesky places without getting a permit from the Council.
That would go for anyone and any supernatural they’d see anywhere, yet Sydney and Maxima didn’t have any issue with seeing any of the council’s true forms. My guess is that knowing about the veil and that you’re dealing with something supernatural allows you to see through it.
Deus had already hinted before he knows about the supernatural world so seeing through the veil and observing Sciona’s true form (including wings) is not that far fetched.
I suspect (and I think others have said so here on other pages) that Deus is a super, also. I don’t recall any supporting evidence other than his size, tho.
It looks that way from his attitude. Maybe his power is being super rich….
As the Revanent once said, sometimes access to money is the greatest superpower of all.
Also Nelson fromm FFN.
And Batman
And to a lesser degree, Syndrome.
I think Sydney has Batman syndrome. She identifies with him far too strongly for it to be healthy!
I have a bigger question. If the veil hides all true forms of and alien, demon why then does ANYONE ever see Dabblers true four armed self. as soon as she “transforms into this by shutting off her own illusion does the veil not simply show her as a regular human? Or is Dabbler having to actually use power to negate the Veil?
depending on the working of the veil, it is possible that she might have some ward, that renders it ineffective.
while it is true that the effect of the veil is perceptive, not physicall, it doesn’t have to touch dabbler in any way to make her lok different, the veil probably still nead some measure of detecting an object, to know that the object needs obscuring.
additionally, act of casting and dropping an illusion themselves, might be throwing the veil off a bit.
real reason trhough, probably handling her inside of the organisation, could be a reason for the exlusion of the rule.
The Veil is programmed species by species. Dabbler is not a single species though but the offspring of three different species (succubus, doppleganger and unknown). Unless they specifically programmed it to recognise her, it would probably either not work at all or work unreliably.
Even if it did disguise her though she has her own (succubus) illusions which are much stronger, so could probably override whatever the Veil tried to project.
Wait What? I mean I get what you are saying and that makes sense. But I always thought Dabbler was just a succubus and it was just normal that as a demon type there would be variants of looks. I thought it was established that no matter who the father it would always be a succubus, so apparently those kids will carry traits from the father as well as be succubus?
That is very alien/xenomorph like and I could see succubi becoming very powerful very fast if they could pull abilities from both genetic lines or is Dabbler just “Special”?
oh dabbler is deffinitely SOME kind of special.
Your variability angle may be right. It explains the big differences with the other succubus we have seen. I was not thinking about the succubus normalising aspect, to be honest. But, I may still be right, as we do not know what the magic keys upon. Dabbler is the product of three species, so even if she is ‘standardised’ in some aspects she does carry the other genes, and may express aspects of them.
The veil hides the “‘person’s” true form. (using the term person loosely)
She also has a cybernetic arm. That to me would not be hidden, unless it falls under the ‘and clothing’ clause in the veil. We need to call in Krona to check the code configuration settings.
*nod* We need Krona for lots of things indeed.
Yea, I like her too. Ahem…
as for checking things out, I do not think Archon should make themselves over-reliant on third parties in such matters. There may be a limit to the trustworthiness, or at least lack of conflicting interests, between Archon and, say, the Council or Machina Industries.
actually, the third chunk is alien. just possibly not a known alien species, but she’s definitely part alien.
obviously, but which one? unknown allien is still an unknown, even if we know its an alien.
-deactivate illusion: normal human-
-activate illusion: true form-
Just so.
Individuals covered by the Veil can ‘opt out’ if they choose
Why does it look like Dabbler’s lower left arm is missing? Is Lower Left covering the opposite of Lower Right?
I do love Sydney’s “Forgot? Really…?” look. I’ve been known to give (and receive) such looks a time or two…
“likes messing with people”. What gave you the idea for that lie, Dabbler? The messing around you knew you were doing, or the one you were planning while actually forgetting the no-kissing-jabberwokky rule? Or maybe you can’t think while hungry….
That’s the only place it could be hiding.
It’s behind her, because sometimes I run out of patience for drawing stripey arms, sometimes I forget, and sometimes Dabbler likes standing all wiggly.
here i just thought that was her high tech prosthetic arm… that was for some reason not water proof… go easy on me, i haven’t had my coffee yet.
Another question about that panel, what’s up with Sydney? It almost looks like a towel, but with where it’s cinched in that would be under her bust instead of covering it, which seems rather uncharacteristic.
I thought the same thing. Also a towel in the shower stall would be a strange place to wear a towel as it might quickly get soaked and then not be useful to dry off with.
I think it might be underboob? It’s weird, though, since her shoulders are set parallel to the wall so it should (especially given the size) taper into her torso instead of showing a quarter profile type line.
The bit right under her arm, is her bewb (yes, she does have bewbs, they are just not as profound as others), and what is below that is her stomach(?)
The thing that looks ‘almost like a towel’ is actually the tiles of the shower behind her. She is leaning forwards, at an angle, not standing straight. Sydney is past her ‘modesty mummy’ phase.
Nah, I’m wondering about the skin toned bit below the curve under her arm and the panel.border. It looks like it could be torso/ribcage, but it feels.odd.considering the angle she is at.
That’s the top of her… abdomen? stomach? the bit below the bust (not good at anatomy names :( )
I like that it’s probably a towel. Her diving suit was surprisingly flesh-toned, so it’s probably a towel. Her chest is probably around what? 32A? So if that was a curve of her underboob, her breasts would have quite the heft, but that just isn’t the case.
We’ve seen her take her bra off and throw it on the floor before, and it looked to me like most of her shirt was full of the brazierre’s padding.
As others have pointed out: why would she be wearing a towel in the shower stall, while the shower is running? Also, why would she only have the towel covering her stomach?
For the towel vs flesh debate, I think the latter is more likely. However I do agree with Virin that Sydney seems a lot more fleshy there, than we have glimpsed or can extrapolate from previous clothed scenes.
However there are a couple of viable alternatives. One being that leaning forward does allow women to make use of gravity to maximise their attributes. Not that Sydney is doing so intentionally, but it does explain some of the apparent increase. The remainder just then being within the bounds of artistic expression or variability.
But I would not discount the towel proposal, as it is well argued. The counter-arguments are well stated too though, but are not conclusive:
We can only see the shower running in Sydney’s stall in panel 1. Given her modesty it is quite likely that she would do something like hanging her towel at the end of the stall, (our sight of it being blocked by Jabber’s body) or somewhere else within easy grasp. There are plenty of spots where it would not be at risk of getting too wet.
If she does have a flesh-coloured towel on, both Virin‘s argument and the visuals would support Sydney having wrapped it around her breasts too.
can’t naMes namEs or my comment wilL get deLeted and i’ll be banned, but one of the porn actresses I like is Shaped a lot like Sydney, and even lAying down or leaning forward, she has no sideboob at all.
everything is well-stAted, but my money is Still on that curve being a fold in her flesH-toned toweL pErsonally, Yorp.
the only place the towel can be is on the corner of the ledge/divider behind Sidney (obscured by Jabber) otherwise it would be visible, out of easy reach or getting wet.
Archon supplies nice large white! towels (see decency mummy) so suddenly a pink one? only if Sidney brought one herself, and a towel during showering probably wouldn’t work, get wet, slip off. Besides it’s a woman only shower.
NB I really think both showers are running, sorry.
I am surprised that anyone would even notice that she has arms in that panel, period.:)
Thinking about it should the veil even work on Jazza? I mean the veil clearly doesn’t affect mates and if her powers are magical in nature shouldn’t that classify her as a sort of mage?
I think Jabberwocky counts as a super, and supers aren’t immune to The Veil, and even need some amount of need to know or clearance to even be informed about The Veil. The line is a bit fuzzy of course, but she has the body for being classified as a super.
She is a super but her super power has magical aspects to it she’s kinda a unique case.
Well so far. They’ve only just started to dig deep into super powers.
I love how Sydney looks like Liquid Snake when her hair is wet.
Some tattoo artists have all the fun.
Ikr
Amazon links don’t work.
Which link is not working? In what way? Where are you? Maybe we can diagnose your issue.
When I clicked the Canadian link (being in Canada at this time), it took me to amazon.ca with quite a list of things which can be shipped to me from the Southern Ontario Distribution Centre, which is about 5 km west of me. Clicking the other links took me to the appropriate websites for those other countries as well. So, they seem to work for me.
Yes, a little more info might help me diagnose it.
I tried each of the links, for the three currencies, yesterday and they all opened correctly.
I can’t say if the sites worked OK beyond that, as I was only seeing if the Grrlpower code could be incorporated into a linked search. For info I could not find a way. Successfully running the search lost the ‘introducer’ code, whilst any result that did not loose that ended up with a failed (or weird) search result.
Does Jabber have a vivid imagination or what? :-)
Or what… ;-)
sooooo i dont know what i can say about the events that are transpiring here… so i guess i will comment on the art?
this page looks like a bit of a mess in a few places.
panel 1) either the eagle is a noneuclidian entity (not as bad as neptunia series but still) or her boobs are actually gelatinous clear blobs attached to a flat chest.
panel 2) jabber s head is creepy. her jaw and nose give perspective of 45 degree or something, but her eye and brow make it look like a 80 degree angle. i am probably not describing ir, right, but if you lok enough you will notice it.
panel 3) oddly enough, its perfect. well, almost. they look forward, but judging by their nose and forhead, jabber is a bit to the side, instead of right in front of her.
panel 4) dabblers face. but to be fair, its dabblers face.
bonus) my own experiment proven it correct, but it just looks odd.
in first, eagles wing ends under her collar bone, but in last, the wings are a litle over it.
not sure if its coincident accident, or amasing attention to anatomical detail.
if its the latter, good job.
Actually, Dabbler seems short a few arms on this page.
upper right i am assuming is holding jabebr’s head…
lower right, i believe is covering her work tools…
where is lower left i have no idea.
Last panel “Spank”
If lower left is doing the spanking then it’s going around her back first and that’s a long way to go. My guess is that it’s just tucked behind her covering her rear.
Dabbler have a robotic arm if I recall correctly. If you have a robotic arm it must be extendable. To not include this function is simply offensive to logic. Now what would a pervert like Dabbler do with a extendable arm? She would of course slap someones (in this case Jabberwokkys) ass if she could get away with it. There is no way anyone can deny my flawless logic.
So a robotic shark should have an extendable mouth, aliens style?
Sounds good to me. But will be holidaying well away from beaches.
We’ve also seen her use “hammer space.” Maybe she put her arm through a wormhole while it was behind her back so she could spank Jabber more covertly.
Correction, she has a cybernetic hand, the rest of her arm is 100% Original Dabbles
I got the impression that it included the forearm (i.e. everything below the elbow). But I could be wrong, as I cannot remember where it was mentioned.
Might be her forearm, but it’s certainly not her entire arm
I’m still thinking her top right arm is holding Jabberwonky’s (am I right?) hands together above her head.
The questions have been about where Dabbles’ lower left arm is
Actually, Dabbles is holding Jabbs’ head (you can just make out two of Dabbles’ fingers: one in Jabbs’ hair, the other below her left eye)
Yea, that would have been my ‘small details check’, if you had not pointed it out. I doubted it would remain uncommented until that point though (I usually save it until the night before the next comic goes live), as one of those fingers is actually in a prominent position in the scene (eyes being drawn to faces, as they are).
It is only that there are other things drawing the eyes, and comments, which have delayed it so much, as is, I suspect.
Yeah, took me a fair while to figure out what that was below her eye, and later noticed the fingertip in her hair
Maybe as part of her power the tattoos move around slightly across her skin, a bit like Maui in Moana?
Yeah, the tattoo isn’t quite right. I was trying to make it look contoured to her chest, but my 3D spacial geometry isn’t quite up to the task. I probably should have drawn it flat, then gone into Photoshop and used the liquefy tool to squidge it around.
It’s good that you’re pushing your boundaries as both a writer & an artist. Indeed, I’d like to see some of those panel borders pushed a little more outward too…
…Okay, I admit that I’m a perv. So what?
;)
Seems okay to me, her bewbs are smooshed against the stall-wall pushing them together (and sticking by that until someone can show me photographical proof of a real person with a similar tat on her tits in a similar pose)
If I know the internet right there should be something like that out there in the creepier parts of the net.
I’ll make sure my country can still go online before I do that search for you.
Oh you will be able to. It may just be very slow. Unless you are rich.
The best way to map a tattoo to a surface is with Displacement Map (Filter->Distort->Displace)
First, get the non-tattooed image set up with lighting, etc.
Second, create a black & white copy of the image, and save it as a psd.
Third, add the tattoo image to your main file, size it correctly, blur is a bit with gaussian blur (tattoos bleed into the skin around and usually look somewhat blurred unless they are brand new)
Finally, on the layer with the tattoo, choose Filter->Distort->Displace, and pick the B&W copy of the image you saved earlier. This is used as a height map to bend the tattoo image to, and it should now follow the contours of the skin underneath.
I know is sounds like a lot of steps, but after you’ve done it a couple times, in only takes about 60 seconds. Biggest issue is remembering to clean up the B&W file copies so you don’t end up with them scattered around your drive taking up space. They can be deleted as soon as you’re happy with how the displacement looks.
I’ll also note that Filter->Distort->Displace asks you to chose the B&W file in the second dialog. The first is a scaling factor in the x and y direction. If you don’t like the results, undo and try again after tweaking these, but the default values of 10 work pretty well most of the time.
For things that I want to delete, like that, but where I may change my mind, I usually set up a sub-folder called “ToBeDeleted”, and drag the file to there. That way it is easy to find, from within the application I am working on, if I do decide I want to use it after all. As opposed to hunting through a potentially big Recycle Bin and wasting more time than is saved in recreating it.
Obviously only of use for projects where you are creating lots of things that would go in such a folder. For a one off, using the Recycle Bin is the better option.
For info I only empty my Recycle Bin using CCleaner (a very useful free program), and it can be customised to tell it to also empty such custom created “ToBeDeleted” folders.
Options –> Include –> Custom Files to Delete and Folders to Empty
Dabbler is missing her lower set of arms in the last panel, although she does show a secondary shoulder before that. Did she also forget that she’s not supposed to show the true demon form to most people? (So many things to remember and carefully “forget”!) That would explain hiding the spare arms. The skin tone could be explained as body paint or tattoos, and the ears and horns could be appliances. It would be interesting to have her “showering off the body paint”, and needing to make an illusion of human skin tones slowly appear from top to bottom as she showered.
except that someone would ask where she got it. and she would have to then maintain it, or “suddenly the paint reapplies itself.
other than that, i believe the demon form was revilled in the V fight? or what was his name… kevin… urgh, how mighty fall.
She mentioned it in the press conference already, though it wasn’t revealed to the public until the fight against Vehemence (she walked around the base like that before that even so most of the supers, at least those we’ve seen, are cleared to know about her or believe her ‘battle form’ story).
She already mentioned that “battle form” wasn’t a good term and she likes to walk around like that because her ‘battle form’ has four arms instead of two, which seems to be a good enough excuse for most people if they don’t know supernatural creatures are real.
About the arms, I only noticed it because it was pointed out, but her upper right arm is used to keep Jabber at a distance (notice the fingers poking around the sides of Jabber’s head, which also explains the ‘pull my hair’ comment), it is her lower right that is covering herself, leaving only the lower left absent from view.
For the sake of anatomical convenience, I’m just going to pretend that Dabbler’s lower left arm is the one covering her crotch. This would free up lower right for spanking, explaining the otherwise mysterious “SMACK” sound.
pretty sure the smack, is dabbler pushing jabber into a wall
Yeah, that’s what it’s supposed to be, but it’s weird because the camera is essentially looking at the scene through the wall. :/
Doesn’t really come off that way, as an effect right beside a balloon making a request to be spanked.
Honestly, the spanking idea is more fun, if not for the fact that we can see where both her right hands are (yet her lower left is oddly forgotten).
That we can’t see where the spanking might be happening makes it even funnier. Then you could have a bottom-margin cartoon of Sydney deadpan staring at Dabbler. “I saw that you know.” Overly-innocent Dabbler: “Saw what? ❤”
What do you say? mirror-flip the lower right hand by her groin to the other side, leaving the lower-right hand out of sight, and make a cute little in-joke out of it?
To each their own, though I figured it was Jabber’s own right hand (the arm of which is out of frame) that smacked her own behind.
I don’t think her arms are long enough that her lower left one could reach around her right like that.
X is probably not around in the showers, so she may just want to relax and perv around for a bit. Give that woman some slack with her disguises :D
What I find hard to believe is Dabbler *NOT* nude in the shower.
Halo may have burned all of her clothes, but those chokers aren’t cheap.
Um, Dabbler and Jabber are both nude. In the last panel you can see that Sydney has wrapped a towel around herself. In the first couple of panels she is still washing up, so I imagine the towel is not yet in place in those panels. More than likely, Sydney took off her choker prior to stepping into the shower to be able to clean under it.
Sydney: Hey Sandy, how do I wash this choker-thing?
Sandy: Turn it off and just rinse it under clod water. Then set it out somewhere and let it air-dry. Ugh, what did you get all over this anyway?
Sydney: Don’t ask. It just needs to get washed away.
Cold water IS the best thing for rinse out blood. BTW.
That’s not a towel in the last panel, Sydney is still completely naked
There are some things we may have to take for granted here..
First panel: Dabbler must already have entered without being noticed and saying: ‘Hello’. Standing out of sight of us to the right, maybe to enter a showerstall opposite Jabber.
Second panel: She steps in behind J. to do some spin on Trent and J. then does a quick 180 turn to face D. resulting in the third Panel.
Fourth panel: D. grabs J.’s head righthanded and turns her 270 degrees against the showerwall, hence the ‘SMACK’. Just pull down the fourth wall a bit.
Turning J. using her left hand would be easier but results in a bad layout,
Moving a heavy object (in my case a metal pipe) aside using the right hand and then also turning your body for a 270 turn might result in your other arm lagging a bit. Besides, D.’s lower left arm is already positioned a bit behind her top arm.
Is anyone else becoming uncomfortable with Jabberwokky still being under the influence. I know that technically in story it’s only been a week or so, but watching someone have their physical and emotion being ripped out of their control for a extended period of time would be particularly disturbing I think, to someone like Sydney, who requires medication to help her stay on an even keel.
Personally I was okay with it when it was more of a ‘I hate you but I also want to kiss you!’ kind of thing, but that last panel where she is completely mind-blanked ‘take me now I don’t care who is watching’ is where it gets uncomfortable.
What if you view it as nothing magical? What’s to say Jabbers isn’t under Dabb’s magical control and just really, really into her? Does the compulsions of true love (or at least complete lust) make the situation any better for you?
She might have acquired “succubus sex slave form” during that fight, and since she hasn’t activated another form since, she might just be locked into it and not realize.
If Jabberwokky is behaving of her own free will and under no external compulsion* then there is nothing wrong with her behaviour, other than may be set out in the unit rules (Dabbler is not allowed to date any of her fellow teammates) or under any “don’t ask/don’t tell” regulations which may have been in effect at that point in history.
Whilst other branches of the military did have such, I doubt if Archon would have been set up that way, so they would only have whatever general rules there may be about decorum regarding sexual behaviour in a communal area. I imagine any military with mixed genders, or relaxed rules about same-sex relations, would likely put something referring to that in their codes of conduct.
* Mind control, emotion control, love potion, artificial pheromone, date rape drug etc.
Where is Dabbler’s other arm?
Up to no good in some way I bet.
I hope this means we will see Trent again, he was funny. I suspect that Mr Barak realy like creating cool characters.
If I fell into a pool of “scab slurry” I would be taking about a dozen showers.
Yeah. I’m thinking that’s the root reason as well for this sudden need for extra-cleanliness. If I went through what Sydney did I doubt could feel like I’d taken *enough* showers for a while… I’d be all Lady-Macbeth-y, scrubbing my skin raw and mumbling “Still not clean… Still won’t come *clean!*…”
Ditto.
I’d have scooped it off myself with my hand and flung it at Cootwyrm like a monkey at the zoo throws other things. But I’d also scream “stop hitting yourself” when the globs collided.
You must make very interesting choices in your daily life.
Says the person who manages to cram in being a comic fanatic, gaming enthusiast and senior lawyer all into a day’s work. Any one of which could dominate a normal person’s time. I am amazed, and thankful, that you can also hang with us!
Interesting choices indeed.
Psst. Did you choose to go cape or no cape? Not in a courtroom context, of course, I know there is no choice there. But I know that capes must be a serious risk to super-speeders. Time-travellers can get away with things like big floppy scarves though.
Dodn’t Sydney just take a shower just before the scene with Trent in the sofa? Oh well, I’m not complaining. Don’t mind my nitpicking.
Bah, I should learn to read the descrition before commenting.
Won’t Maxima be royally P.O.ed at Dabbler and Jabberwocky for being in the same shower stall together unless the latter is cured???
While in that stall,Dabbler and Jazza discuss their favorite “women in prison” films…!
Max is always at least semi-pissed at Dabbler, so it’s SOP….
Can we get a clean version of panel 3 please? I.E. no text bubbles.
Better yet, a full page version of panel 3 (no speech balloons, of course) that expands the view…Of course, something like that would probably wind up tagged as NSFW in DaveB’s Deviant Art page, but I wouldn’t complain if it allows him to keep the comic itself as PG-13.
That was hilarious. Love the shower scenes. Glad to see Sydney mellowing out about nudety. Do I see a bit of her underbewb there?
Boy, that escalated quickly. But in a good way.
Dabbler is looking particularly good again today. Mind you even deadpan Sydney is too.
The problem for Sydney is most of the super friends is as weird as she is…
What makes this comic fun to read is that everybody’s weirdness is different.
As an aside, I wonder what kind of inner conversation Cooter will be having in a few years.
Cooter: Yeah, this guy is great!
W: This guy is an idiot! He’s just trying to appeal to other idiots.
C: I love this guy!
W: See, it clearly is working. You should listen to what that Sanders guy is saying; he is making sense and he is not acting like a scared little boy trying to convince everybody else to be scared too.
C: Sanders?! He’ s a Democrat. Why would I listen to that guy? The only Sanders I’m interested in is that guy. [ Points to a sign on the wall ]
W: Harland David Sanders? 1890-1980. This guy died over 30 years ago. This guy isn’t going to be able to tell you anything new.
C: He still makes good chicken. Ah, my order’s ready. Lunch time!
W: Oh, great. More pressure cooked grease bombs. I can just imagine what our LDL levels must be.
Poor Wyrmil always get in the wrong company.
Wyrmil is in a good position to hear his arteries harden…
I’d honestly imagine that when it finally came down to the voting booth, which box gets ticked would be the final straw that would push Wyrmil into seizing complete control of the body. Sort of like that guy that managed to rouse himself from a vegetative state as a child because of his visceral hatred of Barney the Dinosaur.
I had not heard of that. Fascinating. Thanks.
*takes especial pleasure in wagging tail*
Remember the last time we had Sydney in a shower scene? She was all “modesty mummy” and now look at her.
Sydney is behind a wall, offering a modest amount of privacy. But, more importantly, nobody is staring at her – their attention is drawn well away.
*politely averts gaze*
Are there any cold showers available?
I would think that Dabbler is a fan of cold showers because of the stiffening effects it has on a woman’s… uh, nips. Though lets be honest Dabbler would be a fan of rolling around in broken glass and rusty bits of metal if some good sex was involved.
That sounds like foreplay for at least one… species Diddler’s dabbled. I mean Dabbler’s diddled.
But yes, Sydney is growing acclimated to ‘shower-room modesty’. I remember the first day I used a dorm shower – it was barely 15 feet from shower curtain to bedroom door, but I was ‘modesty-mummied’ in similar fashion, and scampered to my room like a startled deer. That lasted for about a week, then I learned to relax.
Considering all the weird Sydney’s seen so far, I’m surprised she held out this long…
To be fair, if I had access to unlimited hot water, I probably would be in the shower rather a lot too.
Get an on demand water heater, they are magic.
Yes, yes they are. But even better than an on-demand water heater is a steam shower. Pure luxury.
Got all the hot water I will ever use , want a bath tub. Hot baths rule.
Remember when Neelix first boarded the Voyager? Why not just do that?
I would rather share a shower with Seven of Nine. She may be outside of my preferred type physically, but is still highly desirable, and much prettier than Neelix!
Yeah, but Kes’ voice was magnificent.
Jabberwokky does need to watch more discovery channel.
And yeah it’s been mentioned but Dabbler seems to be having arm troubles?
In Panel 4:
– UL Holding Jabbers head.
– LL Strategically covering nethers.
– UR Expressing Whoops
– LR …. Practicing invisibility?
Which of her arms is artificial?
Is that the missing one?
I’m not sure but IIRC it was only her forearm, not the whole thing. Plus she’d probably leave it on to shower since it’s easier to seal that way and why wouldn’t dabbler want access to all her arms when wet and soapy?
The cyborg arm is her lower left; she stuck a teleportation terminal in the palm. That is the one we are not seeing. Hmm, last time we see Dabbler in the shower, she has all four arms, among other things, on display, so LL is not showing up just because it can’t get wet.
Not artificial in the sense of the artificial limbs we have access to today, but more likely to be permanently attached, wired in to her nervous system so she has full control and sense of touch and coloured to look like her own skin. Doubt anyone would see the join never mind it being removable.
Plus because Icon exists, and aliens with non-carbon-based cells, it’s probably made of biometal.
Do you see that “smack” in panel 4, just above and left of Jabber saying “oh yeah, spank me” ?? My guess is that the missing arm is doing the spanking.
Better check Dabbles for Wyrms, that’s the only way for Bottom Left to go all the way around behind her and smack Jabbers
Syd’s expression makes me think of the first episode of Okami-san and Her Seven Companions.
Ooh ooh! I have seen that!
*wags tail proudly*
Can’t say I memorised all the expressions in each episode though.
Not so much an expression as the shower scene near the beginning.
DaveB: What competitors are there to Patreon? The only believable one that I’ve seen is Kickstarter’s Drip, and they are currently in closed beta. I’d really like to get away from Patreon if that was an option.
i heard of something called “makersupport”.
Patreon has backpedaled on the billing change.
Yeah, so… I’m calling them Jabbler.
In the final panel it is interesting that Dabbler does nothing for me, despite her considerable exposure. She is far outshone by Sydney, despite her disinterested expression. Although Dabbler does look good mind, and stunning in the previous panel.
The fly in the ointment, for Sydney though, is how round her face is. It conveys the expression well, but I far prefer her more angular/ thinner face from the early days of the comic.
The scene was carried well despite that, as Sydney’s character still shines through. It is just a shame that she has been loosing a defining characteristic. I really would have loved to see the original flava Sydney in that pose.
Sydney underboob for the fans.
Such as it is, and what there is of it… :-)
Sydney is perfectly proportioned. :-P
Love Sydney’s expressions in this one. :)
Hmm…am I tired or is there a continuity issue with the last few pages? Sydney and Ariana are talking about “Trent” -after- Sydney got out of a 45 minute shower and we see Jabberwocky spot Trent for the first time below. Next page is Sydney in the shower talking with Jabber about seeing Trent and where he came from. I suppose this could be a next day/next shower thing but it felt a bit odd in the reading timeline wise. Still entertaining though :)
The news post states that this supposed error will be explained, don’t worry about it. “Hinted at on the next page”. I’m thinking it might be a cold shower. Which would also explain in small part why Dabbler showed up, two separate sources of free food, wet, naked, and easy enough to tease to prolong how long they’re feeding her? Easy. It might be the equivalent of potato chips, or sardines or whatever finger food you care to name, but most people here have probably indulged in finger foods at one point or another, and it’s not like a succubus often has much encouragement/opportunities in normal life to enjoy residual tension that she wasn’t the cause of.
Sydney was swimming in a pool of blood. I think I would take more than one shower after that! A week’s worth may not be enough to get rid of the icky feeling!!
If Dabbler has four arms and four pectoral muscles, why doesn’t she have four boobs?
Cuz the world could not handle it.
Because her clothing did not suit her like that. Dabbler was originally drawn that way, but Dave was not happy with the results, so he modified the concept, when this comic started.
She use to have four bewbs, and a tail, but she lost them on Wereworld (check it out, great comic, find the link above)
I nominate “Mr. Squiggly” as the name of the new field agent. Much better than “Trent”.
I’m more curious about how meeting him will influence Halo’s lighthook. He could at least, from a master’s perspective, teach her some tentacle abilities. Probably get a level-up point from it while not in combat or on the air! Krona? Where’s Krona?!?!
Trent Squiggly. I like it.
I called an office pot plant “Nigel” once. He was quite prominent in the office, so the name stuck. One time personnel department sent around a form which required that everyone’s role in the office be entered on the sheet. So I indicated that Nigel Plant was the “Office environment technician and morale officer”.
Turns out human resources only queried the new entry on the database when it did not match up with the payroll. Shame they did not add him to that too. It was an important job, deserving of remuneration!
+1
Last Panel…Dabbler looks so cutely mischievous! Can’t even call that evil, she’s just too cute! >.>! And why do I get the feeling that close proximity to Dabbler is gonna keep that arousal going…and refreshes every time it happens? >.>!
I do love it when Dabbler has such a mischievous look. That is Dabbler at her most appealing. Clothed or unclothed.
Its frustrating seeing Syd just off to the side and seeing so little of her . Tiny women and nerdy girls both drive me nuts, and the combination of the two is like crack.
Even with a wider view I think Sydney is at the wrong angle for you to see that.
Butt, yea, I feel similarly. Although height (if that is the angle you were coming from) is not a particular requirement for me. Anvil size would probably be intimidating for me, but I am tall enough that I have not come across any prospect for whom I found that to be an issue.
This whole scenario continues to be creepy. Trying to make it comical makes it even worse.
You need to give a clue about what is creeping you out. Is it finding out that summoned tentacles are sentient? Or heroines talking whilst showering? Or girls smooching?
Whatever it is though I am not getting the same vibe as you, so do need more info if you want us to know what is bothering you.
I think it’s the Jabberwokky being under the undue influence of a mind-control spell that got stuck bit, which is indeed kind of squicky. It’s possible, even probable, from some dialogue hints, that she won’t be terribly traumatized once the spell comes off, but the scenario as a whole is definitely capable of going dark.
Consider if that spell had gotten stuck on Sydney, and Max hadn’t been there to ixnay Dabbler’s easy solution. Sydney would DEFINITELY be traumatized by that memory, and would probably oscillate wildly between crying the the shower and homicidal rages with collateral damage.
Oh if Jabberwokky has not been cured, and is still under the effect of a mind/emotion altering power yet Dabbler is still taking advantage of that then it is indeed creepy. The dialogue in the final two panels implies that she has been cured though.
Opens up the possibility. Whilst:
Read to me as ‘Yes, but even so I agreed that I should not be in the same room as you.’ So that side of the scene did not jump out as being what the problem was. However it could equally be intended as ‘No, we are still working on a cure’. In which case Dabbler’s naughty grin and sexualised behaviour turns from innocent fun to a serious criminal matter.
If Jabs is cured then it is no issue. And the violation of the “gentleperson’s agreement” is somewhat mitigated by the vast cultural differences between succubus and human society. If she is not cured though then Dabbler’s whole behaviour and use of spells/ psionic emotion control / racial aphrodisiac powers should be carefully reviewed by Archon, to ensure that her different cultural expectations are not causing her to break the law.
Its “have you” not “you have”. She is asking. There is even a question mark.
Which I quoted. Note the tone of the question though. It is seeking confirmation that the cure has been done. Contrast that to an alternative phrasing such as “I havn’t been cured yet, have I?” Which is why I said that it opens up the possibility that Jabberwokky has been cured.
With her follow-up question clearly implying that (if she has been cured) the attraction she is now feeling is her own natural emotion. As she is clearly aware that she had been affected emotionally, it is not unreasonable to suppose that she would be able to sense such a change in how she feels.
Or her judgement could be so badly compromised that we cannot trust her opinion. That is the most tricky part about mind/emotional control.
Sadly, with Dabbler’s reply being ambiguous, we cannot say for sure. My own reading just followed through from the initial positive tone, implying the cure had been put in place (regardless of it being put as a question). Hence why it did not come across as sinister to me.
The Magic Amnesia Maul would be a good idea, though. See if making out with Xuriel was a key that unlocked her ability to admit to open girl-on-girl interest (she did say “at some parties… okay most parties”) and Dabbler just imprinted on her (hitting her in the head would make her forget that battle) or something else (possibly that someone else or me said above).
I totally disagree on this point. Using the mind-control power was a legitimate combat tactic in a life-or-death situation. The complication of it lingering* was unanticipated and something they were taking appropriate steps to remedy.
Separately it is acceptable for Dabbler to obtain the concent of someone to use her amnesia hammer. The fact that having sex with a succubus can permanently ruin someones subsequent sex life, without such a measure, is a justifiable argument. Provided that informed concent is obtained. Rather a mood damper granted, but a moral and legal necessity.
However Jabberwokky is already under a mind-affecting influence, so cannot provide informed concent. Whilst a court or other appropriate body (such as a guardian or whoever substitutes for such in a military setting) can provide such concent, I do not think it would be wise to do so.
Wiping the memory of the evens may not counter the power (it is affecting her emotions not her memory), so she would find herself still having this intense attraction yet not have the intellectual knowledge that it is artificially affecting her. Currently she may not be able to overcome it, but without even the memory to help her, there is no way she could (or would want to).
Plus it would also deprive her of any choices in the matter. Once cured she may choose to sue Archon. Or she may decide that she likes Dabbler regardless. Or she may want to take any number of other paths. But depriving her of her memories will not allow her to do so in an informed manner.
Stealing somebody’s memories stops them from being who they are. Take them all and they are a vegetable. Take some and you diminish them, so that they are no longer who they used to be.
That is wrong. And it is not just an arbitrary thing for a comic. Electroshock therapy has historically (and even today in oppressive regimes!) been used to ‘cure’ a variety of ‘conditions’. One of note, given the scene in question, is homosexuality.
The people making these choices deem that resultant memory loss and the risk of the subject being reduced to a vegetative state are acceptable prices to pay. They are not. With or without ‘concent’.
* Note that is an assumption. It may just turn out that Jabberwokky is just really into Dabbler and that the spell only speeded up the process. Something I speculated upon from the outset. Granted, given that Dabbler is the one who made that assumption, it is based on an informed opinion, so is more likely to be correct.
However it could just be that Dabbler has not come across a non-Succubus as naturally passionate as Jabberwokky. Or true love as the case may be.
I admit my statement was based on an episode of House (who I hate with unbound passion) who did something similar to someone, and Barberian certainly didn’t look like he gave consent to forget.
Yea, we have had no mention of concent being given for the memory hammer. Without that though it constitutes assault, so we can only hope that such would not be done in the middle of a police station!
For info we would not expect to have seen that in the scene that we saw with Barberian, as that was post-coitus, with him being in a drained and mentally non compos mentis state. I.e. by that stage he was already out of it and unable to provide concent.
So such would have to have been obtained before they had sex, or at least before he reached a point where he was no longer of sound mind, due to Dabbler’s erotic skills.
Err, before Pander jumps on me, I am using the English term there. A different term probably applies in whatever state they are in. But the hammer certainly appeared to be ‘touching’, which I recall Pander insisting was an important component of such crimes.
Not to pull a troll, butt in your quote, you got ‘have’ and ‘you’ reversed
Which reply is ambiguous? The one in the third panel is simply Dabbles being surprised that someone is being so forward, the fourth panel she ‘remembers’ they are not supposed to be in the same room, implying that Jabbs is not cured (butt that wouldn’t stop Dabbles anyway :P)
Jabbs is (reasonably) ‘functional’ when not around Dabbles, put them in the same room and Jabbs turns into a wet mess
True – an unintended typo. But not significantly altering the sentence (especially when compared to the contrasting one I subsequently suggested).
The ambiguous reply is the one that I quoted (from the 4th/final panel). Plus I spelt out both ways of reading it, of which you are only mentioning the one. I do agree that one has the implication that you state. The other however does not. Hence the ambiguity
As regards Jabberwokky becoming a mess when Dabbler is around, that could either be down to magical influence (if not cured) or natural attraction (if cured*). As such it is a penitent observation (given that it affects unit effectiveness) but not one which can be used to determine whether she is cured or not.
* Although it may be a sign that the cure was not fully effective or that Jabberwokky may not have had the time to process her genuine emotions to find out how she really feels. Which would be a very good reason for insisting that Dabbler not be in the same room as Jabberwokky even if she is known to have been cured.
Have you ever considered just giving in and drawing the occasional nipple? I mean as much as this comic is a great superhero story & just as much about super-sexuality. I suppose it’s a slippery slope – it didn’t take Witchblade long to go from showing a nip to drawing penetration scenes – but it’s all about where you choose to draw the line.
He does those on his Deviant Art
The refusal to do so is odd with Dabbler in panel 4 here. Having strategically placed potted plants or whatever is fine, but in that picture it just seems as though succubi apparently don’t *have* nipples.
Except Jabbs, left arm is obscuring Dabbs’ right nipple, and Dabbs’ left arm is covering her left nipple
I get that that’s the *intention*. It’s just not very plausible. Her own arm and her left nipple, maybe.
The criterion for where the line gets drawn seems to be less about DaveB’s personal preferences, and more about being careful to keep it within a given ‘maturity’ rating. The boundaries of PG with regard to nudity are fairly well-defined, however little sense they make.
The blue pubes in the last panel were a nice touch.
I think that is just blue skin and shadow. If you look she has the pale blue stripes all over her body, and there are other spots where they merge with shadow for a similar combined result.
It does still look nice though, either way.
DaveB, please tell me you made the Shower Room in some sort of 3D software so that you can use it–and rotate it–continually without having to redraw it every time. ;D
*sets up prayer wheel*
And that the characters were fully rendered in it, and the image was cropped for the scene.
*rubbing prayer wheel*
And there will be some kind of patreon / vote incentive forthcoming in due course.
Go on Sydney, you are getting comfortable enough with your body by now, arn’t you.
[blanking memory of Sydney’s nosebleed at the poolside]
Love Doll 3D so you can animate scenes? I know many webcomics use that engine to pose their 3d animas for comic panels.