Grrl Power #594 – Well this is just mean
I guess they didn’t get ready on time, but at least Jiggawatt was able to fix her lipstick, right?
I’m sure in the history of the military, having to go running in your boxers is something that has happened more than a few times. But that was probably before women were allowed in the armed forces, so I’m not sure what the deal with that would be now. In this case, Maxima is just giving them a little extra PT, and doing it in their undies makes it slightly embarrassing and probably a bit more challenging. Or it would be embarrassing if they weren’t super attractive women with no body image issues what so ever. I don’t know, maybe Heatwave is like “Oh no, I’m slightly too fit.” Sydney would get 4 steps before passing out from blushing too hard.
Having an audience would create all sorts of issues with objectification. If it was just male soldiers having to do it while other male soldiers go about their business? That’s just, like, the Army, right? Making women soldiers do the base’s tough mudder in their underwear in front of a bunch of male soldiers, or even mixed company? There are obvious issues with that. It’s fair to say Maxima is not cool with catcalls and wolf whistles and any other kind of drive-by harassment, so she’s not going to create a situation like that if she can help it.
This page does make me wonder what sort of bras lady soldiers wear. If you know you’re going for a run, I assume most women would prefer to don a sports bra, but that’s not something you’d wear all the rest of the time… otherwise wouldn’t women wear those all the time? So I’d guess for morning PT, sports bra, hit the showers, then something more traditional for the rest of the day. But then, what do lady soldiers wear when they’re deployed? Presumably the thing that’s most comfortable for the longest time, which I’d guess is a standard bra with the underwire (although that never sounds comfortable to me, but most women I know are like “nope, underwire is the way to go”) but then you have to deal with something not optimized for tearing around a battlefield if a firefight breaks out. Maybe they have underwire bras with extra coverage over the top of the breasts to better contain the contents. I imagine something like that would be fairly unflattering, but it’s not like soldiers run around in deep-V’s so that’s okay.
Also, everyone at Archon seems to wear their own thing, but I would assume the military has standard issue skivvies. I could probably google the answer to most of these questions, but it’s more fun to ponder them here.
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That’s just MEAN….
No one with abs like Math should be not getting laid regularly.
Getting laid regularly does not make you less of a lech. Or so I hear.
Miroku and Jiraiya might agree.
yeah, but there’s ass, and then there’s super ass
If anything could convince Math of developing or discovering some kind of martial-arts based clairvoyance, this would be it.
So, who wrote this script, and why are they torturing Math?
They aren’t reading a script, they are watching Math on a tablet (you can see the camera in panel three, and that arrow around Math is indicating that that is what they are seeing), that’s how they know he’s out there
The real question should be: why wouldn’t they torture Math? :P
This means the image is being wirelessly transmitted by the camera. The three of them are watching the signal on their tablet. It also means that any tech savvy person who knows the frequency could also be watching it on another device. Has anyone seen Leon lately?
I think Leon may have written the script. It sounds like he did a Tv Tropes Crawl to do it.
Nah, they are totally ad-libbing, that’s why Jigs questions the bra-less flop-running, then counters that with the oil-pit and Vahriah counters that with the kissing booth
Yea a nasty security issue. But, that said, we would expect that Archon, as a military organisation, with its own dedicated technology division (Arc-Sparq) would transmit such with robust encryption. Assuming that they used official gear, rather than some stuff they bought off the shelf.
Provided they had some token reason for using an official camera they could get away with that. Especially as they were, nominally, ensuring their privacy (ignoring the subsequent teasing of course).
Far less worrisome than the thought of them transmitting insecure footage of the interior of their base.
Mind you such things do happen. Even in secure police stations. Last month, if I recall correctly, an Australian police station was testing some equipment and, in the background, details of a high profile arrest in planning were heard being discussed. Transmitted over the internet. Fortunately only being picked up by a few people and not compromising the arrest.
Plus various military forces around the world have either banned smart phones, or offered sanctioned ones, and/or banned the use of social media. To prevent the constant leak of sensitive information.
Some being so dumb as to even say ‘expecting to be fighting in X tomorrow’. But even without the location being mentioned the enemy can look up the poster’s current location in many ways (the easiest being checking their social media’s location function, but also spotting the location in any photos).
Like posting a photo of a warship in sight of a port that does not match their officially stated location. Be that part of an official feed or a crewmember, as the case may be.
Sounds like the same theoretical protections that the Council put in place. Whew, I was worried there for a minute.
Banning smart phones? When I served we weren’t allowed any private mobile phones what so ever, and any photos were checked making sure nothing classified was visible. Snail mail and military phone network were how you kept in touch with family and friends. I’d love to see the faces of new recruits today when they’re told for for the next few weeks they are not going to be able to access FaceBook, twitter, instagram or whatever other social media they are addicted to…
I bet you were on the edge of your seat, waiting for the telegram saying you were being deployed to the Crimea.
Wait, does this mean the interporn-sessions haven’t been working out for Math?
Maybe that explains why he looks so much older now :P
He’s just deshydrated :P
That might be because Math is already sweating more than all of the Grrls are…
This is probably just some live training (that he’s naturally required to not be aware of) in order to help with his vulnerability, can’t completely depend on canned video you need to subject him to live trials as well since he can’t actually try and get a live view or feel up an mpeg or jpg after all.
Good point
If this is a test set up especially for Math, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone sneaks up on him to deliver a coup, American Indian-style.
Have you not noticed? They already have. Twice.
They scalped his eyebrows!
Actually, scalping started as a ‘White-man’ thing, Counting Coup originally meant touching without being noticed (usually snatching one of their feathers as proof)
Yup. I have seen many Hollywood documentaries on the subject.
However I chose to take the other angle for my gag. Especially as it was left open by stipulating “deliver a coup” rather than “counting coup”. Their adoption of scalping was a means of delivering a coup-de-gras. Meaning that American Indians did both practices.
So I chose to ignore the counting coup version in favour of the alternative practice, which fitted my joke.
:D
They do NOT issue skivvies in the military. Other than boot, but you know, after tossing all your stuff away on arrival, they sort of have to.
You heard it here first! :P
I don’t know how the other branch’s handle it but when I went through Basic in the Navy we weren’t issued anything, we paid for all our uniforms and clothing.Plus the “clothing allowance” was barely enough to purchase two work shirts a year.
…and the initial clothing allowance that comes with enlistment was exactly enough to cover the three fatigues, two blues, one dress uniform, one each boots, sneakers, dress shoes, field jacket (sans liner), raincoat, two ballcaps, blues foldable hat, and rigid hat and a duffel bag to carry it back to the barracks with. also assorted stuff like laundry bag, etc.
So you didn’t really “pay” for your unitorms at boot, they handed you the money, you handed it back.
but the haircut was free – all 37 seconds of it.
Not when I went through Navy Boot. The money to pay for uniforms came out of my regular pay.
Good to know. Of course, they get paid slightly better here, so I don’t think most of the team even notices the uniform fees. On the other hand their field uniforms are that “better than kevlar” stuff and they probably go through quite a few of them. Still, they’re more than breaking even.
I get the feeling that Stalwart’s suits are going to cost more than his clothing allowance and not just because of his very large size.
Hiro’s wardrobe is probably significantly higher due to losing his shirts all the time, but that also begs the question “are bad guys getting his shirts and replicating the tech?”
More profitable to take pictures and sell them on Ebay.
With surprisingly high bids from gold_grl_01.
I wouldn’t really expect them to have to cover the clothing costs themselves, especially when they’re given roles that are regularly tasked (and generally, targeted) with things like bombs and exploding robots and collapsing buildings.
Indeed. You would expect the military to provide all such needs. Especially replacement costs for ‘on the job’ damage.
Although the U.S. military does provide a clothing allowance. Enlisted personnel get their initial clothing issued in basic training, but are provided funds for special purchases such as physical training clothes.
They also get a clothing replacement allowance, ‘based on normal wear’.
For Arc-SWAT that ‘normal wear’ allowance might be a considerably higher average than in the other branches. If we go by Super Hiro’s shirts anyhow.
They issued underwear when I went through Basic in the 80s. But it was the same shade of brown as the undershirt.
Drill Sgt Lave Lave Jr ( Samoan SFC who was the runt of his litter and was still bigger than my 6’2″ self ) “suggested” we buy a pack of tightie whities our first trip to the PX(*) because it made HW inspections easier. ( South Carolina is horrid for sand fleas. And they get EVERYWHERE. )
(*) Drill was one of those sadists that had us maintain that first buzzcut all through Basic. Literally sent the whole platoon to the PX barbershoppe every week.
If this was basic training, even if the undies weren’t GI issue, the commissary would only be selling practical underwear. Cotton sports bras and cotton briefs for women. Wearing anything else is just asking for all sorts of trouble. Heat rashes, infections to name a few.
Canadian Armed Forces very briefly tried out issuing “regulation underwear” for female recruits. It was something they’d been able to do in the past for all-male platoons (boxers with an elastic band; most young army men were relatively close in size, as one might expect).
It was rejected almost immediately. All women are NOT the same shape. It’s one of those things that should have been blatantly obvious, but the military had to try it out first to accept it. >.>
I was in the Canadian Military in late 90’s we were issued baggy green boxers, that almost none of us wore, one pair had to be in our locker folded in a 10cm by 10cm square a certain way for inspection. Women were issued the same boxers, that they never wore either. the women in my basic and unit afterwards wore a “normal” bra if they knew we were doing theory or office/classroom, but wore sports bras for everything else. There’s a few times we ended up in co-ed underwear only situations, mainly out in the field.
Okay, this is just cruel to Math.
I love it.
He’s probably ‘hit’ on all three, we know he hit on Brooke earlier in the story, butt knowing him, he probably hit on all three at the same time, if not in sequence while the others were still in earshot at least
And he was “studying” Varia at the pool. :) under orders of course…
Dave… You are a man who flirts with boundaries set by Advertisers
What do you mean, “flirts”? He’s downright french kissing the boundaries so deep he’s tickling their uvula!
It’s a huge reason why I love the comic.
I think he has moved on to 2nd or 3rd Base let alone flirting.
Yeah, I think if DaveB goes much further, he’ll have to change the comic rating to at least an R.
Lots of R ratings. As Tony the Tiger says, it’s gRRRRRReat!
Hey, DaveB I’m sure you’ve already answered this, but just in case you haven’t are you ever going to send Sydney and the gang to the Wearing The Cape universe. I’d really like to see pics of those guys. Plus that story would be awesome.
Technically he already did in prose form. Dave co-wrote the Sydney story in the crossover book.
The time difference is an issue.
Sydney has been Halo for only a few weeks over the last few years.
Her first meeting with Astra is months (years) in the future.
The second meeting, if any, would be in a second crossover book years (many years) from now.
I meant like him doing a story arc in the comic that takes Sydney to Astra’s universe rather than Astra back to Sydney’s. According to the book it was only a few months for Sydney after becoming a superhero. A few time skips and the time difference is resolved. I’m wondering if DaveB will ever show them together in the comic rather than the prose form.
speaking of Crossovers, one with Spinnerette would be awesome. She did show up in the “Vigilantes who need to be approached or Incarcerated” page during one of the meetings (same one or close to the same one that had Marble Maiden on it).
Now you got me interested in that (those) book(s). Should i read all the others before reading the crossovers or can i just do that after the first one and still understand who is who and what is going on?
There are a couple of pages of Q&As, with both authors, to be found here. Including such advice.
Most of it is spoiler free, or at least you can tell if a comment or reply is getting into spoiler territory, so you get to skip it, before that happens.
That sounds like a fun project, but as slow as comic page production time is, even a relatively short stint would wind up being a year and a half long diversion most likely. Also if I could do a proper crossover in comic form, I’d probably lean toward the first one being a stint in the Gold Digger universe.
That reminds me,
I was ages ago going to try and do a fanfic, think I had your okay, But I wasn’t confident enough to do a slice of life; and waited to see more of the characters in action…and decided after the restaurant brawl that it wasn’t a good idea; as an even fight I couldn’t think of a way to make it make sense given the personalities of the characters that are even or seem even with most your team *not a fan of the cliché mistaken assumption superheroes fight each other, which happens almost every reality cross-over, heck even the JLA fought the Avengers each thinking the other was some alternate universe invaders*, or it would come across as self indulgent on my part *my multiverse travelers are the definition of OP*; but a common enemy perhaps…I went over a ton of ideas, and couldn’t settle on anything I liked.
I love slice of life and comedy, hence reading this comic obviously, mixed with superhero action, but I am so poor at writing it.
Scratch this, while the issue was more my normal Super characters have very little surviving stories on the internet *not the best at back ups back in the day* and ended up cameos in surviving stories.
I kept thinking *Maxima, and Dabbler*, like hmm, Galaxy Girl, Gold Wolf, Rhulan, hmm..
but duh moment, I have a character who has jumped dimensions, and is not OP, and is a Super setting character *granted was used as a secondary character in one of my big fantasy arcs*, just have them interact with non-S class characters.
Viana the Gunslinger, A western themed Bunny Girl. Also her partner the cyborg Gun Man. I could see the council going ape if a therionthrope (looking) person just showed up and acting like a superhero.
Read Strong Female Protagonist. The story there has a hero with Superman’s powers, but she’s super relatable where we all know Clark isn’t.
got a link, I have a feeling googling that is going to give me ALOT of returns in the form of Wonder Woman, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, and writing advice pages.
Here you go. Top hit for me. Shows that the comic is pretty popular though, to be above the plausible alternatives you proposed.
Thanks.
One of my Achilles heels has always been doing a (human) character. Write a demon lord, ageless sorceress, god, celestial avatar, no problem. But try to pass a character off as a human and it feels awkward; always nice to have a broader sample size of human yet enhanced characters to pool expectations and reaction possibilities from.
Will do a read through that when I get the chance, always nice anyway to get a new comic to read; several I was reading have ended or I retired them from my reading list *some went too dark or you could tell the author was sick of writing a certain kind of story so changed dramatically among other reasons*
“This page does make me wonder what sort of bras lady soldiers wear. If you know you’re going for a run, I assume most women would prefer to don a sports bra, but that’s not something you’d wear all the rest of the time… otherwise wouldn’t women wear those all the time?”
For exercise, all the time. Some of my sisters are on the chestier side of the bunch and one is outright cursed/gifted depending on who you ask. She actually resorts to two sports bras for running and she does happen to be in the Air Force while being a bit of a fitness nut.
Why doesnt Maxim tell Math and Dabbler to f*ck? Math would be like hell yesssss and Dabbler is always hungry. It would be a win/win situation. Also Dabbler told everyone, if a Man remembers “those Muscels” they would be spoiled forever, so Maths lust would be only aimed towards one teammember. It would be such a simple and effective solution…
Dabbler would get fat from that kind of diet. Remember, succubus feeds on lust and Math has so much it would be like eating whipped cream with sugar on it.
And now I wonder what a chubby succubus looks like. Probably the ultimate BBW.
pls dave make that real, somehow, a fat succubus
caution, the second one of these is NSFW (or anywhere else)
https://t00.deviantart.net/4b1aRhYcjmIeLfQAs0KmMAoBTYs=/fit-in/700×350/filters:fixed_height(100,100):origin()/pre00/32b7/th/pre/i/2012/317/3/b/fat_morrigan_by_debu_rabu-d5kwiet.jpg
https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1435/49/1435493288440.jpg
https://www.deviantart.com/art/Fat-Morrigan-337440053 this is the first one, i hope the link works this time
on second thought, aaaaaahhh nope thank you
you forgot to specify attractive
Wouldn’t that be in the definition of succubus though? (Well yeah, I suppose they could be “bad” at being succubus…)
In a couple book series I’ve read the “Attractive” was the glamour, their actual form was a winged pink lizard monkey with 6 breasts and 2 penises
@Adamas: of course, Rule 34 would mean someone’s into that anyways.
This thread makes my brain hurt. And probably my soul as well.
The Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder glamor, coupled with there is a fetish for everyone. Chances are unleashed on the public…well she would be found to eventually run into someone with a fetish that causes her to make a glamor that even has her gowning (Nope).
Heck she was surprised Faulk’s ideal beauty was a green Star Trek woman, chances are she is actually kind of sheltered from human perversions.
Imagine “Why do I look like a chubby, wolf-lamia hermaphrodite with slime pseudo-pods coming out of grossly oversized and deformed breasts?”
Dabbler just did not think that humans came in green. Not a surprising conclusion to have, given that they don’t! Other than the ones with poor foot hygiene.
Dabbler is 187 years old and has to have regular sex or will die (if being denied any for a sustained period). Plus routinely examines her potential partner’s ideal sexual fantasy, to make sure she has an appropriate glamour. And she literally grew up in demonic society.
So I don’t think “sheltered” is a runner. Rather that she just does not hang out at Trek conventions (a missed opportunity to use her real form freely) and that the general population do not have a green woman as their primary fantasy. One amongst others, amongst the geekier, maybe, but not their key one.
Except General Falk. Closet Trekker and Bronie.
No, not at a Trek-Con, better to attend either an Anime-Fest or ComicCon
after all, dabbler isn’t a rubber forehead alien. four arms are way to costly for ST.
I’d place her at Jim Henson Studios creature at least. Like something from Dark Crystal.
https://cdn.playbuzz.com/cdn/fed0b227-4522-464a-9ccd-b055f756efe7/62c58e96-8f93-44b0-8489-3d65dae6f3a2.jpg
This is one of the easiest things to find on the internet. Not necessarily Dabbler, but there are so many furry sites that people rickrolled me into that I know things I’d rather forget.
I wouldn’t think he’d be like whipped cream. he’d be like a LRP ( long range patrol ) MRE base block (- imagine 3 days of calories in something a little bigger than a Three Musketeer candy bar. -)
No, it’s the “Homer in hell being fed an infinite amount of donuts by Ned Flanders” scene.
given how she spoke during the Vehemence fight, all comparison to normal physical biology aside, chances are on enough sexual energy she’d just go all Demon Overlord and transform into some larger more powerful form, or go all fiery aura or something.
Maybe she’d (dang you CollegeHumor) go Furry Patrol combination move.
Also do NOT look up what I said there. Just don’t. You’ll be exactly as broken as I am because of Yorp’s Leek Spin link. *clicks replay*
I have already seen all three of the Furry animations, and given what I have encountered in the depths of the darkest depravities of the net-worlds…it isn’t even among the top twenty for depravity.
Because there’s absolutely no way on Earth Maxima would ever do anything like that, just from military and legal standards alone that would be gross violation of her authority and as criminal as all get out and she’d never act like some kind of sleazy pimp ordering people to have sex. Seriously that would be wrong and fail on every level that exists.
She definitely couldn’t order them to but she could lift the ban on them.
Well said Nightmask, and your reply is true too Mike. But see my point below about why that could not work, from a unit operational perspective.
Maybe Math and Dabbler did it already when they met for the firts time and Math doesnt want to repeat this experience. Even with his training he cant bear sex with succubus?
The problem here is that Math is not a super, he is just a very, very skilled martial artist. Dabbler is able to drain supers to the point of utter exhaustion during one overnight sex romp, she would probably find a normal to be like taking a tiny nibble of a Snickers bar and then having to throw the rest away. Unsatisfying and very frustrating.
We don’t know for sure if he’s a super or not. It seems he doesn’t think he is, but no one is sure. And normals wouldn’t be that unsatisfying, that’s what Succubi tend to get most of the time. It would be more like a regular stove top meal rather than the luxury four-course cuisine she’s grown accustomed to at Arcon.
Math would love to try though, because he believes that there’s “no such thing as a ‘normal’ human.”
;)
To borrow a quote:
“Math 3:16 says that I kicked @$$ on four supers in one fight.”
Even though he is a superbly fit normal person, Math lacks super endurance. So, as Town Crier says, Dabbler will only get so much nourishment, yet Math will be exhausted, and be unable to perform as a member of Arc-SWAT for a considerable time.
Even Barberian, with his super endurance, was totally incapacitated for a day, and Dave indicated that it would take even longer than that to recover. Whilst a hairdresser could resume working, once able to stand again, that would not be sufficient for Math to resume active combat duties.
So even a super partner may not be fit for a combat role for a week. Math may be out of action for two weeks. Maybe more? And in the meanwhile Dabbler would still need to take other partners. So the problem would not be resolved.
Maxima knew what she was doing when she set her ban on Dabbler disabling her unit!
Man, I was really hoping your Unit Operational argument was based on unit cohesion and drama so I could bring up ancient soldiers being trained to have sex with their other male soldiers so they’d fight harder in protection of them but that’s not where you went.
So you get a +1.
A sports bra is designed to both flex to max size AND still restrain under minimum flexion. Which basically means it varies from “too snug” to “painfully tight” depending on how hard you are flexing your chest muscles. Not fun, but better then boobs getting in the way during exercise. And all that elastic means your lungs can still inflate fully if you push REALLY hard.
A normal bra is not nearly as flexible so… you can’t actually expand your lungs to the max. And they tend to slide down and lose their place if you fully deflate your lungs while twisting. Someone needs to invent boob support that doesn’t interfere with lung function – they will make a ton of money!
Probably needs some unstable molecules, those things adapt to anything.
Nah, probably just requires a team of female engineers in a company run by women.
Seriously. Read up on the time required to invent dishwasher and clothes washing machines – and how long it took to move that tech into the home, in an era when those jobs were exclusively “woman’s work”.
Looks like people are trying. The mechanics at least look good: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1783168841/siggie-lodoen-the-worlds-first-no-bounce-sports-br/description
Well, besides the super tailor that Archon can hire, there’s also Lydia over at Wapsi Square.
My aunt (at her wedding) said that her corset made it easier to breathe.
The Army doesn’t issue bras or panties for women (they get money to ship for their own), it does issue briefs for men. PT shorts were highly entertaining a couple decades ago – short shorts with no liners. Most men and quite a few women wore them without underwear. That made sit-ups much more entertaining. As for the battlefield – women aren’t known for their abilities to ‘tear around’ much of anything, but are good for the occasional short sprint. They generally wear sports type bras on deployment – Under Armor is popular.
Dabbler would TOTALLY set up a kissing booth, if nobody stopped her…
Dabbler would put up xxxx-ing booth if nobody stopped her.
I’m pretty sure Maxima has to regularly scan Archon HQ for construction in progress.
…why doe anyone think Dabbler would even bother with a booth if no one stopped her?
Well you’d need at least a sign.
“Resistance is Futile”?
Unless you know where her gazorppazovum is located.
I’m sure there’s a secret water closet/supply closet already customized by Dabbler for quickies during training classes that’s half way between food/caf lecture halls officer country and her own room.
Arc Light should look for some foot traffic that doesn’t continue in a timely manner near storage and supply areas…possibly normally too small for one person, let alone two to get inside…some supply area that has never had to be resupplied. Or a supply closet who’s supply tech is extraordinarily happy and tired… very very tired.
Does Dabbler have access to dimensionally transcendental technology? Then a small supply closet (Even the one marked SGC) can be used for all sorts of other purposes.
As advanced as her tech is, I doubt she’s at Washu’s level LoL.
Dabbler could be somewhere nearby just feasting on Math’s behavior from the next room, not shown on screen.
As stated very early on,Maxima must be VERY lax on Archon’s uniform code.
It was also stated early on that ARCHON isn’t like other branches of the military- better pay, better room & board, different focus, etc. It’s sort of half-military, half police swat-team, & half reality TV show. In fact, I suspect it might be even LESS like standard military branches if not for the fact that Maxima and most of the other officers were former military.
Given the rareness of super-powers, I think ARCHON kind of has to take who they can get; a lot of the recruits don’t seem like the type that would normally sign up for 10 miles runs in mud and pouring rain, bad food, and rigid discipline. If you try to enforce to much of that, you’ll just have people quitting to take highly lucrative jobs in the private sector.
So all that, plus it’s a comic :P
Much better pay. DaveB didn’t specify an amount, so we don’t know how many zeroes were on Halo’s first paycheck, but it was enough to save the comic shop. Her first paycheck as a recruit could have been several times more than my first paycheck as an O-2 (1st Lieutenant).
For reference, an O-2 with less than two years of experience gets paid $3,497 a month. An O-10 makes $15,583 per month. So Sydney’s first check could have been a General’s pay, if not more.
Quite a bit more. She lives alone – no roommate. In a house – “…reporters showed up at my house” – not “my apartment”. So, 700 a month housing? Drives a fairly new car. Another 300? Basic utilities – water, garbage, gas, electric – 150 to 200? Phone/cable/internet – another 150 or so? So that’s what – $1500 regular expenses, before food and clothing? Girl’s gotta make at least two grand a month to survive. That’s 24k a year.
“This one check is more than I made last year.” Sooo – $25,000.00 paycheck?
And unlike the military’s “one check a month”, Arc-Swat is biweekly. Twenty-six $25,000.00 checks.
That comes out to 54 thousand and change, a month.
Quick clarification, Sydney does have an apartment, not a house. She just refers to the place she lives as her house. To her the only distinction is one has stuff you have to mow.
You mean no one else mows their shag carpeting?!?!?! I’ve been doing it wrong for years!
I hear it is all the rage in Brazil.
I thought they had reverted to stripe mowing now?
Stripe
meowingerr mowing? You just want me to link to shaved pussy don’t you?I have a confusing reply in regard to sphinxes.
As a note, all those things can be done on far less.
I own a two story house, however as it was a forclosure bought from the bank my mortgage is actually much lower than the rent of most apartments *250 dollars a month* (seriously good deal I got).
I own my car, and most nice cars I see are hand-me-downs, we have no information regarding her car and its origin so hard to derive accurate expenses there.
Utilities vary, some places city covers everything and has one flat cost, others only some utilities, electric and gas tend to be the odd ones out, although city will sometimes include electric; and with it being an apartment these would be smaller expenses than a house.
Where you live also affects this; was it ever established where specifically relative to the real world this is located? I see the Grand Canyon at one point so if this California than those estimates will be much higher than *at their speeds they flew all that way from the Mid-west or something in a short time*.
But all that said, I have a two story house, car, utility expenses…and student loans, and somehow have made it on 15k and less a year for the last few years…I imagine her comments about forty dollars being a lot of money for lunch places her in the 20k and less bracket.
They reached a top speed of 400 mph. Houston to Grand Canyon Village is 1,290 miles by road, or shorter as the crow flies. A three hour flight, as both a shakedown test flight and to enjoy the freedom of flying seems well within the bounds of possibility.
Plus do not forget that, going in the other direction, and pausing frequently, to refresh the air in the bubble, they got to New York in the Halomobile. That is 1,628 miles. So four hours, not factoring in time for stopping. But we know that Halo was mentally exhausted that evening, so the numbers add up.
Not that Houston need be her home city. But we do know it is ‘one of the ones in the middle’, so it is a handy one if taking that to be just on the East – West line.
$700/mo to rent a HOUSE? I have so got to move away from the San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve been trying to help a friend find a place to stay and and the cheapest non-dodgy tiny rooms are 1100/mo. (If you are willing to go REALLY dodgy, you can find a tiny room for $800/mo) Houses start around 3k/mo. Where do you live that you can rent a house for 700?
:weeps quietly contemplating local housing prices:
It depends on if they mean ‘rent’ or ‘paying a monthly mortgage’, a mortgage depends on a few factors, mostly the initial cost of the house and how quickly you intend on paying it back
A life-time mortgage is only if you are paying the barest minimum and don’t intend to live for very long
Mum had managed to pay off the mortgage on our old house, but then dad wanted his half of the value (nothing nasty about it, he was entitled to it), unfortunately, instead of getting a loan, paying dad and putting the rest back in (or using it to fix up the property) mum instead sold the house which meant we had to get a smaller house, butt she was still able to pay off the mortgage in about 10 or 15 years. Point being: a mortgage can be paid off, and properly should, otherwise the mortgage holder can decide at (almost) any time to just take the house, if you must rent, see if you can rent-to-own
I had a one bedroom house in the UK, with only 40% of the mortgage paid off. But had a need to get out of the rat race, and set up a writer’s retreat, to pursue some projects I wanted to do.
By choosing to go to a country with a much cheaper cost of living and (at the time) a very favourable rate of exchange (3 to the pound then, closer to 2 now) I was still able to outright buy a really big house, with garden and an orchard. And still have enough left over to live here for over a decade!
Only achievable through an extremely low cost of living (my annual tax burden is only about $30) and a minimal budget. Including paying my self-owned investment company about 75 cents a year for my rent.
Obviously lifestyle changes has an impact, butt most people seem to believe that a mortgage is for life (usually perpetrated by the banks or home-loan providers: they hate to lose a sucker, and sometimes even put in an ‘early-payoff’ clause that forces people to stay hooked for longer)
House prices in Japan are so high that, even with a whole-life mortgage, an average worker often cannot afford one. So, for such circumstances, they have developed mortgages that require committing two generations to paying them off!
Yeah, left-coast really is horrifically expensive on everything. Over the past few years, California’s been leaking citizens to other states at a faster rate than new people are being born or moving in. New York & a couple of other states have been leaking population at a greater rate last year than in more previous years (New York barely compensates their losses with higher birth rate & move-ins); the expectation for losses is expected to increase this year because of the tax cuts going into effect. Year-by-year statistics can easily be found online, even comparing with the rest of the states.
There are places in Pennsylvania. Once I move back there I’ll let you know (hopefully someone will remind me in a reply to one of my comments after I report moving, I have a bad memory) and I can let you contact me over my discord and I can give you phone numbers and addresses to google.
Considering Sydney’s first paycheck was more money then she made the entire previous year, I would have to say she’s making more then $15K. Especially if she is Infinity pool wealthy in just a couple years, I’d not be surprised if she is making something along the lines of $25k a paycheck. maybe more, I’m guessing we will never know and for the story really doesn’t matter. This has probably been discussed to death before though.
Ah, but ARCHON has 10 mile COMPETITIVE runs, where you are not just allowed but EXPECTED to test yourself against other supers, and there is SOME discipline even in private sector jobs. I figure the ‘bad food’ is just because a base is feeding how many hundreds of souls on one tab.
also, ARCHON has the “Card-Carrying member of a Real Life Superteam” thing going for them. SEE: Sydney, a non-fit geek, still managing to power through what I assume is only a little toned down basic under Peggy’s guidance (Invoking Batman every time sydney started to flag a bit. )
I’ve thought for some time that Sidney’s paycheck isn’t quite as much as people think. Before Archon she wasn’t actually paid, she got a share of the profits of her business, the comic shop, which was failing and going out of business…and had been for a couple of years. Not necessarily a salary of any kind, she was co owner. So it is possible that Sidney was earning well UNDER minimum wage, living on Ramen and burning through her savings with occaisional help from her parents….so “more than I made last year” might be a lot less. Still a lot of money, but nowhere near 25k a month, at least as a recruit.
25k a paycheck, not a month…
And they get paid fortnightly, not monthly
When I was in service, the pay was twice per month, half of the monthly salary (according to rank) on each check. I don’t know if they’ve changed the frequency of paychecks since I’ve been out.
Yeah, I still had to pay federal & state income taxes…
Sydney was doing well enough to afford a scuba diving course, and a scuba holiday in the Florida Keys.
But, that said, your points are reasonable that her expectations may have been low.
Still Sydney’s reaction , as the Queen of Salt, was extreme. And Archon are competing with multi-million dollar salaries from the private sector. So I think she is going to be pretty well off.
Well, you have to admit that a lot of Sydney’s reactions are pretty extreme…But that’s a part of her charm.
:D
I agree; there’s a lot of wiggle room depending on exactly what she meant, and that’s assuming Sydney was telling the truth. She has talent for exaggeration, after all. “This check is more than I made all last year!” sounds a like more snappy than “This check is more than I made in any 2.5 fiscal quarters last year, not counting taxes and business deductions, dissociated from other assets, assuming a standard 3.48% rate of return on low-risk investments and…” etc etc etc.
I can’t think of what you are referring to by ‘she has a talent for exaggeration’? To the contrary we have seen her being extremely bad at lying, when she was backed into a position where she felt it necessary. To the extent that, in desperation, she even told the truth once!
Which Joel, like you, did not believe. Contrast that to when she did make a boastful claim to the assembled team, about ‘having beaten your best fighter’. She was telling the truth. There was no exaggeration. She had floored Math!
OK he made excuses about letting her, but that does not invalidate her claim. She was the one who walked away, whilst he was on the floor.
Yes, we have seen her boastful a number of times. But they were boasts founded in truth. Sydney is an Apex Superhero in Training. She did legitimately pass her scuba training. She deserves her ‘cheating death’ achievement unlock as death certainly appeared imminent from what we saw.
Even if she is not certain that she died, the alternative was being slowly drained of blood, until dead … or worse. So no exaggeration there!
Be glad that Archon’s HQ is NOT located under a military chaplain’s assistant school(ala the old Marvel G.I.Joe comics), Having girls like them around would cause the assistants in training to forswear their oath to the military chaplain…!
Math is going to have to go back to his room and think about this for a while.
Undoubtedly, some deep thinking is required.
Probably the kind of thinking that’s best done in his bunk or in front of the computer screen.
Why not both?
I’ve got to say I’m liking the faces in the more recent pages less than the ones from, say, two years ago. Math looks like some elderly physician type of guy in those first two panels.
Sad to know am not the only one who thought that
Is Dave forgetting about gay guys again? I feel like he might be.
Mmyeah, a gay guy wouldn’t react the same way
He’s waiting for public outcry to create the grrlpower companion series boipower.
April 1st entry for sure… a splash page for BOI Powah…like a new comic…
should remember that at least one of the male troopers in ARC-SWAT’s employ is a Gay former Navy SEAL. can’t remember his name, but he’s the guy who had the grenades in his trunk when Vehemence threw his car at someone and it exploded.
That would be Shawn the seal
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1543
Not to be confused with Shawn the Sheep :P
He he he!
Cruel and unusual torture! Lol.
I would say “cool and unusual” in this case. ;)
Math’s expressions in this page are pure gold panel after panel. This is some finely crafted karmic punishment that Maxima came up with for this lovable pervert.
Umm, no, the punishment was for the trio of titillators, they are just going to end up doing far worse once Maxi finds out they have been teasing the perv instead of doing the course
Or… Did Max even make them do the course in there underwear? I saw that threat in the previous page as a very large empty threat by her.
Perhaps the three just took it as a great idea/chance to do a little payback for Math. Brook still looks none to happy with the situation but she could be just going along with the girls because Math bugs her also.
It would be interesting to see how far Brook will let them go since the other two are recruits and she’s a Private/corporal. She ranks them and is well within her rights to tell them to knock it off.
Not really sure if a private outranks anyone.
Ships cat.
If Heatwave is only a private and out of boot camp then she ranks the recruits. If for no other reason then she has seniority on them and is not herself a recruit.
Halo and the other raw recruits are listed in the comic as having the rank “recruit”. Which, in actuality, is just a term used to describe “Private OR-1“. They do not even get an insignia, until they finish basic and get their promotion (normally automatic at six months service) to “Private OR-2”.
Heatwave though is a Corporal so, as an OR-4, she is actually three ranks their senior.
Ships cat would be an honorary OR-0, in my humble opinion. Military dogs though are apparent ranked as NCO’s. Should a private strike a dog they will be tried for striking a superior officer!
Rightly so.
*wags tail assertively*
Lends a whole new meaning to the phrase “It’s a dog’s life,” huh?
:D
Even the private has to comply with orders from Max. Which also means that she can’t countermand Max’s orders either.
;)
Vahriah and Jigs appear to be wearing the same bra as seen in the locker room…
Oh man, that’s just torture (or self-control training, as Maxima puts it).
Also, did Varia’s hair changed colours from the last page? Or her power made it so?
Yup, it’s part of her power.
When touching Heatwave she goes ‘all princess Elsa. It was cool.’ Not to say cold.
Grrl Power #323 & #324 (first introduction)
When she grabbed Brooke, she got ice-based powers, including a hair colour change. Then she cooled down Jiggawatt’s neck, which is what led to the fight, which is what led to the punishment detail through the obstacle course.
Is it worse for women to be watched by men, than it would be for men to be watched by women?
Technically? No, it’s equally bad.
When your commanding officer is a feminist? Yes, it’s worse.
should be noted Max is a feminist and not a Feminazi though. your average feminist just wants equality between guys and gals. Feminazis want women treated as BETTER than guys. those’re the types that tear a guy a new ass for, say, holding the door open for them, whereas a feminist would actually see that as the Common Courtesy gesture it is.
Maxima strikes me as being too level headed to be a third wave feminist. Second wave, sure. But not third. So definitely not a “feminazi”
I don’t think I’ve ever paid attention to whether women are watching me, except for my current crush. But I may be an exception.
All depends on who is involved, and the personal issues of the people in charge whether anything is right or wrong. Don’t let someone tell you it’s one way or the other all the time, it’s situational every time.
Ah, karmic punishment. Never gets old!
Also, Dave: Shouldn’t that last line be “Has theah always been a kissing booth heah”? (translation: You forgot Varia’s accent.) ;-)
Vahriah’s accent is not a solid, she has spent enough time away from Bean-town (and Mr Bean) to lose most of her accent
Kept getting funnier all the way to the end. XD
Hurt? How? These are all supers! If they could be hurt by a bit of flopping, then how could they get hit by a tank or car or even Math and not take serious damage!
Well flopping they would be hitting themselves. Supers have almost always been shown to be able to use their own body to hurt themselves. Even Superman feels it when he punches himself. Also, not all of the supers have Super Toughness.
Just ask Heatwave who is now missing a toes and is a big fan of Kevlar socks now.
Which is kinda pointless. Kevlar works against bullets & other fast moving blunt things. NOT sharp pointing things. Just look it up.
Well aware, She was the one asking for those Kevlar socks not I.. See page 362 & 365 :)
True that, but this isn’t them punishing themselves, this is gravity. Several of them, I’d not even expect to jiggle, not enough gravity for the effect.
Certainly not Maxima or Anvil. (Yes, Anvil does mention a hard landing hurting her boobs, but that’s after being thrown down much faster than terminal velocity – and I’ll pay money to see someone jog hard enough to make the ladies hit terminal velocity.) Dabbler is a maybe, we’ve been not very clear about her actual unboosted strength/capabilities. Not even in the “knocked through a wall” business, because she’s not stupid and would prepare beforehand for that very likely possibility.
As five Harems, probably, as one, certainly not. Peggy and Sydney are the “A team” (in Peggy’s words) so they haven’t the necessary. Varia in normal mode, yes, in boosted mode – depends on what she is. Crystal whatever doesn’t have to worry.
I think that is more a DC comics rule, to explain things like Superman shaving.
Not sure of Topcow given its inconsistencies, but Marvel tends to have a *immune to own powers* rule, although Super Strength is one of those…eh…maybe, exceptions, as its a physical power not a metaphysical one. Like…Cyclops’ beams can’t hurt him even reflected back, but good chance Wolverine could stab himself with his own claws.
Wolverine should definitely be able to cut himself, as he is using a physical weapon (albeit inbuilt) on flesh. He does not have armour or impregnable skin, after all. He should not be able to cut his own bones apart though, as they are made of the same metal as his claws. Scratch them maybe, but he would have difficulty sawing a limb off, if he had a need.
Although he could always go for the squishy bits, like the cartilage, muscles and ligaments connecting the bones.
But that damage he would regenerate.
Now if he manages to lop off one of his limbs, presumably the regeneration would replace the lost bit with regular bone again? Until he managed to retrieve the old metal bone one, chop off the replacement, and stick the metal one in its place.
Would that push his regeneration too far? Should he burn off the dead flesh, before doing that, and position just the metal bones in the right place. Hoping that the regeneration will incorporate those?
I am certain Wolverine can hurt himself given the claws have to cut his skin just to exit his hands anyway *no sheath, they just slice through his wrists, hands and knuckles (one reason he almost always makes a fist so artists don’t have to try and depict what that would look like palms open…also why the exact dimensions of said claws have varied so much in the books, the thin rapier blades made the most sense over the carving knife looking ones.
But that said, we know energy attacks in Marvel don’t harm the user (or close relatives like a sibling) due to some dimensional backlash buffer field or whatever.
Super Strength is an odd one, after all some of it is disproportionate superstrength *as in the muscle and bio-mass in general does not support the amount of force being exerted* implying something other than raw physical power at work. Even with muscular characters like Juggernaut there is still a magic component *yes Juggernaut is magic not a mutant, he only screamed that over and over again during one of his oddly only two appearances in the 90’s cartoon…sorry X-3 rant*, that boosts it even further. So are they only feeling the physical backlash if they try to punch themselves with the enhanced power *so don’t feel it*?
*points paw at severed metal bones*
*pokes them*
*wanders off*
as a random based on earlier comment, he shouldn’t have trouble sawing a limb off. By some way too perfect coating somehow only his bones are covered in adamantium, the connective tissue isn’t. Hence being able to bend his elbows, rotate his shoulders, ect..if he wanted to he could slice his own hand off by cutting below the corpuscles but above the ulna and radius. its all in knowing where to cut. Also why Hulk was able to pull him in half, the space between the vertebrae wasn’t adamantium.
Ouchies. That must have smarted!
Bad Hulk! No Yorpie Snax for you.
well luckily it was the Ultimate verse version, which as we all know was created and written for the grim-dark fanfic writers who joined Marvel apparently.
That was kind of cruel.
I mean, Math seems to be hormonally stuck at 13 and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone but my enemies. I’d like to think the other men will take some pity on him when they find out and arrange some similar pay-back prank. The exact same trick won’t work, but you get the idea.
I think pretty near any guy between 13 and 50 is hormonally stuck at 13, it’s just that some filter/edit their reactions
Is he gnawing on the chains in the final panel?
Yes, yes he is.
Dang, how long has he had the vamp-teeth? o_O
Well we have not seen him since before Scarlett came visiting …
Oh, he KNOWS they’re screwing with him, but now that he’s hear them can’t get the images out of his mind.
Nah I think the screwing with him would be more like he is wishing * wink wink nudge nudge *
Some folks would call premium rate numbers for this kind of service.
some people wear only sports bras everyday except for special occasions, like weddings. they are the only bras made exclusively for comfort and movement. other types of bras are for shaping the breast to conform to contemporary beauty standards (remember the cone bras of the 40s?). so a woman who is in a physical labor job probably dresses for comfort all over, including bra. but a woman who wear high heels everyday, a shoe designed for style and not comfort, probably works at a job where good looks are necessary to be “professional” and conforms to this standard even in her underwear.
then there are women and other people with breasts, like i was, who have to wear sports bras due to large mass of the breasts and also back problems. thankfully all my back problems are gone post-mastectomy and i’m no longer in daily pain. so yay.
I think the theory is that she wouldn’t have to order it, just stop forbidding it. Come up with some excuse for Math not to be covered by the “don’t zoink your teammates” rule and then mention it within Dabbler’s earshot…although I could see a concern that it might come across as an order, if not done subtly enough. Doesn’t work if either one isn’t interested, which…by default seems a bit unlikely, but could make sense if Dabbler thinks there’s not enough challenge or Math makes a point of resisting supernatural manipulation or something?
ugh, that was supposed to be in reply to the comment about….never mind…
That last panel, Math is making a sound that can only be heard by dogs.
… and Dabbler, but it’d get drowned out by all the noise from her porno sense.
I wonder: Would her porno sense tingle from people just talking about sexy things without actually doing them? And if it’s just Math being his horny self, she’ll tune it out.
I doubt Dabbler ever tunes anything sexual out. Most likely Math is for Dabbler like a big bowl of M&M’s for her to get her sweet tooth fix on throughout the day.
She did sense X getting horny. So sure, if it arouses someone she likely picks up on it.
Oh ye elder gods! I had to re read it again as just looking at the pictures I was crying with laughter (my dog was giving me the funniest of looks while I was). DaveB this has to be the best Math wind up I have seen you do so far, bravo sir! Bravo!
Another comment could have been…
“We cant crawl across those ice blocks, my nipples are already stretching my tight top as it is!”
Math seems to have aged quite a bit since we last saw him.
I think a sudden tidal wave of hormones might have that effect on a person…
Actually, from own experience, they will just make girls go through the same as us, guys, that included the Doctors exam, which is already not really enjoyable…
The Canadian military once spent a lot of money specifically developing a combat brassiere.
That brings to mind the scene in Austin Powers with the fembots.
https://68.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_meffj9xGJ21rhnyg2o1_500.gif
Either that, or it being taken off and convertible into some sort of catapult or grenade launcher.
I have heard of brassier gun holsters. It puts new meaning into the phrase “packing a pair of 38s” (or in some members of Archon a pair of 44s)
It certainly gives a whole new meaning to perky nipples that can put eyes out.
Or that can cut crystal :)
For that the guns would need bayonets attached.
My wife is retired Navy and according to her the underwear varied by preference and job. If you were very physically active and stationed on a base you likely wore some kind of sports bra. There are many different kinds and people can shop around for the right one for their fit. Its already been stated that these ladies get a 10 figure monthly paycheck so they can all get the best stuff out there including custom pieces.
But if your job was an office type one you wore whatever was comfortable for you. Unless you were a Marine who are ALL trained combat personnel and pretty universally went to work in sports bras.
During deployments, pretty much everyone gets a large duffle bags (also called C-bag) worth of space for EVERYTHING that belongs to them. Consequently, pretty much everyone switches to sports bras because they take up very little space.
I love that ALL of the horseplay shown so far in this comic is entirely within the realm of a military outfit. It’s great.
Military standard issue only comes in two sizes, too big and too small, and the only shape it comes it is “not yours.”
I remember seeing a really old cartoon where there was a guy who had all these stereotype beliefs about the military and there was a narrator correcting him. The clothes being the wrong sizes one was part of it. Wish I could remember the name of that cartoon.
Those stereotypes were built up in tougher times. Plenty of troops in WWI & II had to make do with whatever was in stock. Especially when going straight from boot camp to the front line.
Modern US military can afford to make sure that their troops have gear that fits properly. It would only impact their performance if it did not. But I bet there are exceptions, and there certainly will be a ‘make do’ culture in various less affluent counties’ armed forces.
As for running in Boxers, I never did that, but I did stand in a freezing rain for an hour in February at Great Lakes RTC in my underwear with about 400 guys on the grinder.
It’s not “the grinder”, it’s just Grindr.
Zing!
I had planned to make a comment in the last page regarding how poor Brook keeps getting pulled into hi-jinks as an unwilling participant, but this page shows that she is up for a bit of mischief. I was worried that she might have lost her sense of humor when she was irreparably crippled by the loss of her toe. Heh.
Trust me… sport bra in the mornin’, sports bra in the evenin’, sports bra at supper time. I hate all other bras.
Math’s obsession gives him a real blind-spot. A normal person would never fall for dialogue that obvious. Which must be the point.
It is actually a common trait. Ignoring any evidence to the contrary, when the thing you are hearing is something you want to hear.
In fact it profoundly affects our lives as a consequence. If a member of a political party is telling their supporters what they want to hear, any inconsistencies or even outright lies will be ignored. Even when they are clearly implausible.
And our legal systems support it. Even if their campaigning was backed with outright lies about the current state of affairs and littered with promises which could not be fulfilled, we do not prosecute politicians.
In fact there are even laws protecting them, such as if speaking in Parliament, in the UK, a MP has ‘parliamentary privilege’. Meaning they cannot even be sued for slander, no matter how blatant the lie is!
OK it is there to ensure that MPs can debate freely, without fear of being persecuted by the powers that be, or sued by some irate members of the public, who disagree with their statements. But it also impedes us from punishing those who knowingly abuse that privilege!
But, even above that, our psyche craves to be told that ‘things will get better’, so we keep allowing them to get away with outright fraud!
Plus Yorp they only have to use that wonderful word of “Allegedly” to get away with pretty much anything.
I believe the point Yorp is making is that they do not have to rely upon the use of “allegedly” in order to disparage others without consequence. They can literally accuse their political opponents of child molestation and pig fucking without qualification (or any factual basis) and it is protected speech in that venue.
All these outright liars & self-deluded fools…
…I think they might even have their own “national anthem”:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0_FvK51wOQ]
There’s a name for this trait – it’s called the backfire effect.