Grrl Power #608 – Twofer
Well, I guess Deus delivers as advertised.
I decided on this page that Sciona can retract her wings down to something that looks like those Chinese spirit light things. Just cause, I don’t know, it’d be more convenient. For her, cause she wouldn’t have to worry about knocking her lamp over every time she got home and turned around to lock the door. Also for me, artistically at least.
So a few clarifying points about the last page, which garnered some, ah, mixed reactions. First off, I’m not defending any of the characters involved. It was definitely shady. Deus is a cad, and he knows what he wants and is good at getting it. But to clarify:
1) Sciona was not tied up at all. Some people seemed to think she was bound. I was originally going to make her nude under her armor, but then I decided to make it like she’s got some kind of liquid bodysuit in between her and the armor. Those are supposed to be gloopy tendrils of it retracting from her as she steps out of it. Drawing a sequence of things happening that would hugely benefit from animation is tough when you only have so much space on a page. I could have maybe done a longer shot once she had cleared the armor, but it didn’t occur to me people might think she was tied up, and also I would have had to put something over her bits, like hair hanging over her nurps, but in reality, hair doesn’t really come to rest there unless it’s taped. (or I guess it could cover stuff if she was slouching a bit) Or I could have put some obnoxious word bubbles in the way I guess.
2) Sciona wasn’t obligated to take a roll in the hay with him. He said he doubted she could meet his price tag, but she was free to leave and go knock over a bank or come back with a couple of Rembrandts under her arm. It was definitely the most expedient route, however. I guess some people thought Vale was there to try and kill her if she didn’t accept the deal or something, but the page doesn’t really make that clear one way or the other.
Again, not defending it.
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mem brane… clever
If Sciona does start traipsing around in other universes what are the chances that she will run into a frizzy gray haired drunk scientist in a white lab coat?
The question is, would he be in Pickle form at the time?
Rich was pretty dangerous even as a pickle.
Rick. Weird typo.
Freudian slip. It is your subliminal fixation with Deus’s vast wealth coming out.
Go, on, admit it. You have already figured out three different ways to … eliminate the competition!
Seven.
If she starts traipsing through the multiverse, will she run into a black-haired woman wearing reflective metallic panelled armour that can mess with your Mind and is all but impossible to outwit? No not Jenny Everywhere! Super-powered vs. Super-mind!
The characters of Jenny Everywhere, Jenny Nowhere, Jenny Anywhere, Jimmy Wherever and Jimmy Anytime are available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving Jenny Everywhere, Jenny Nowhere, Jenny Anywhere, Jimmy Wherever and Jimmy Anytime, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed.
Oh. I thought the wings being smaller was related to the sex, like her legs being wobbly.
Not the most fun author comment ever, but definitely one of the most appreciated.
Deus can literally bang a new power into someone.
“Hey there, care to expand your power set by making my power set expand?”
“Wanna do more with your superpowers? Then do more with my superpower.”
Maybe not the skeeviest pickup lines ever, but definitely skeevy.
In case it wasn’t clear (and it wasn’t, upon reread), I refer to the retractable wing-thingy power which was heretofore unseen.
I was here for the story and universe building, now that it’s mostly softcore porn and sacrifices to maintain it I’m out. Will be missed.
you wont be missed then
…You misspelled ‘Drama’! ;)
*high five*
Snicker :D
@Dromna
A comment like that is unproductive, dramatic, self indulgent, self righteous and overall extraordinarily Entitled.
News flash! We don’t make or own this comic! It’s not our Right to impose our will on it, nor is it our right to complain if the writer doesn’t follow our headcannons.
Don’t be like “Dromna” and leave a whinging pile of “not MY comic” anywhere please. It’s disgusting.
However one should criticize, and criticize well, Dromna is not doing that second bit but still, complaining can be done well
Sure it can. And there was plenty of that in Monday’s comments. But Dromma’s comment is, as Nonya puts it, ‘a steaming pile’.
Damnit, why is there no ‘Like’ button on this blog???
I followed Dabbler to this comic from Wereworld, this whole series has not shied away from sexual materials, and never come close to what Wereworld presented in graphic details.
I don’t have anything against soft-core, and I don’t agree with the “I’m out” – but I have to agree on most of it.
I also am here for the world-building and character interaction, but these aren’t characters I’m interested in, so their interactions could have been handled off-screen, without our knowing, and it wouldn’t have hurt a bit. Later, during some debrief scene, X says to Max, “She showed up looking for a specialty item – Vale convinced her to be polite about it. After we reached a satisfactory agreement, I showed her my inventory and when her legs stopped shaking, she took off.”
Or whatever. Really, knowing these two have had intercourse means vanishingly little to me.
The bit with Harem in the meeting?
I think if would have been better just to show the meeting, and have Harem get flustered in the middle for no discernable reason. Later, during a talk with Dabbler, or whomever, maybe a little flashback.
Or not.
I don’t have any objection to cake, of whichever type, but this comic has suddenly become something I can’t recommend to people who like superheros. Until recently, it was.
(Yeah, I’m a bit of a prude in some ways – I’ve read books that I planned to recommend to my mom, until the sex scene half-way through. Sorry, but even though I know my Mom knows about sex, I just don’t feel comfortable recommending sexy novels to her. Or anybody, for that matter.)
There have been other things that were a bit over the top – some actions of Dabbler, the perv Martial Artist – but they were mostly suggestive, or off-screen, and I could point to the character building as a sort of justification. There is just no reason I can see that we needed to see this.
Just My Opinion.
I just read through the comments on yesterday’s Mare Internum (there are a few remarks on how no comic can be good for everybody, since we all have different tastes), and realized that I was being a jerk here, in that I was saying what I didn’t like,as if that matters.
The point that is hard to remember is that one can NEVER please everybody all the time, so creators should focus on making something they like, and trust that like-minded people find it.
Often, what they like will change and evolve over the course of a comic, since people change.
So, if Dave likes a bit of sexy in his super comic, that’s cool and I need to remember to enjoy it for what it is. Even if I’m too embarrassed to talk about it…
I think you were respectful about your feelings and that is fine. Your opinion isn’t a “threat” to anyone here, no matter what they say.
I think however that the meaning of this page has gone over your head. I think Dave is showing this to us, and the flashback, to demonstrate that there is something super-powerful about Deus.
Vehemence became more and more powerful with every punch. I think Deus becomes stronger and smarter every time he seduces a new woman. Up until now every scene has been important. Why not this one?
True.
There is something interesting about Deus’s character though. In that he goes to lengths to tell the literal truth (even though that can be very misleading at times). Although quite often it is simply straight forward truth, where it amuses him that such will be considered to be false. For instance telling the incredibly powerful Sciona that Vale is tougher than him, despite appearing to be innocuous, when in the background.
In this case Deus has stated that ‘money is my super power’. Which is still open to the omission of ‘… but I have a bunch of real powers too’. However he, like Peggy and Math, could just be a normal person who excels at what they do, well enough that they can counter supers effortlessly.
For me, it wasn’t the soft-core, it was the apparent reason for this particular soft-core that bothered me so much
As for the Harem-in-the-Boardroom, that was a flashback, that was brought up by Maxi’s query about how if one of her being serviced by someone who ‘knew what they were doing and doing it well’, would that affect the her that is On Duty
Have talked with a couple of webic creators over the years, and they appreciate feedback, positive and negative, as long as it is constructive and well-thought out, not just a barely literate rant and slash or demands for what they want to story to be. Doesn’t necessarily mean they will do anything they weren’t already going to do, or change things they have already done, butt it helps them to know what their readers are feeling
Whenever someone leaves some of them like it make it a big deal to remember them that they left for whatever reason. I do get disappointed after awhile of the almost show. Hell, the Simpsons at least showed both Marge and Homer’s bare butts. Don’t have to have an “R” rating for that.
However this is the Internet and you can find just about anything you are looking for. Or put it there yourself. This isn’t even “soft core porn” anyway. And I don’t read it for that if it did.But each person has their tolerances. And telling us won’t change a thing. For most of us it is fine the way it is calibrated.
And a lot of the times, it’s someone who has never contributed to the comments before
In gaming circles, it’s referred to as “Rage Quitting”, or “Table Flipping”, or the even older “Taking Their Ball And Going Home”
it doesn’t really fit in that 3rd one, as the ball ain’t theirs. it’s Dave’s. and Dave is still playing. I think maybe he’s just adding or enhancing a few rules, but he’s still playing, and playing well.
Yea.
Dave is keeping to the rules, if you check out the about button above. I highlight relevant bits in another post elsewhere. This falls under the categories of ‘dating’ and ‘villains’.
Robbing vaults is just villains day job. This is how they unwind afterwards.
It is always a shame to loose a reader though. On the plus side more than a few have reconsidered, so we can hope that Dromna changes their mind when they consider that this does not even reach ‘softcore porn’ levels of exposed flesh or sexual activity.
It is just discreetly depicted scenes around the act. Albeit with a highly tacky way of initiating it.
That doesn’t stop some people from still</I< taking the ball and going home: if they aren't going to have fun, why should anyone else?
I wasn’t confused Dave. Everything that you did was perfectly clear from my point of view.
Agreed. It was pretty obvious to me what was going on with Sciona’s armor. Then again, I watched/read Guyver, so I had some reference.
And those that thought Dues was forcing Sciona to sleep with him clearly haven’t been paying attention to his personality.
yeah the armor thing seemed pretty obvious to me,
but yeah I was also a fan of Guyver, as well as Venom, Witchblade, and others that have had bio-armor.
Was? Guyver’s still running, just extremely slow due to the author’s health issues.
I am old, my access was an anime series, then a remake of that anime series, and two bad American live movies.
Although knowing its still going and this being the internet age I could track it down I guess.
the “was” however does fully apply to Witchblade…the 13 artifacts storyline and the time skip after, I lost interest.
Venom comes and goes depending on the writer.
I’d also include the character of “X-O Manowar”, from [Valiant Comics]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-O_Manowar]
Use to have an “X-O Manowar” ring, until one day left it on video game machine and took two steps towards the door before remembering it (had to take it off because it was too bulky) and some bitch stole it :mad:
Clearly I was overthinking it.
Still. Coulda telegraphed Sciona’s mental state better. That is all.
If you ever do have to sensor, do little chibi Dabbler heads making silly faces!
Like TGK (The Great Kazu) over in “By The Book” :D
Just so long as it doesn’t go as far as one artists I follow on deviant art who decided to use a little bug girl as the censor bar, but some pages now feel like she covers too much or the page was set up with the bug censor in mind where to stand.
Super Junk argument is starting to seem more likely.
I mean with her powers super durability is almost guaranteed, and yet he still left her wobbly. That requires metahuman levels of Wang.
Not claiming his Johnson does anything else, but if nothing else it is clearly ‘the best at what it does’. :D
There’s no reason not to defend yourself. These people are too sensitive, and very gender-biased.
I point out Dabbler is mind controlling people into sexual readiness and/or actual sexual activity, part of which seems to happen just by looking at her when she’s not actively tamping it down, and people shrug and say it’s fine, or explain it off.
Deus offers a woman who can kill him in an instant (she’s closer to him than Vale is to her, those laser wings can probably reach him first if Vale’s not Maxima-level) favorable terms in the form of sexual congress and whatever almighty weapon she desired to begin with. She gets pleasurable and apparently non-degrading sex she WANTED and didn’t have to work for and an item he values at eighty million dollars. He’s certainly no good guy, but let’s be real – that’s a good deal for anyone with all immediate bonuses entirely on her end of the bargain. She also could have killed him presumably at any time during coitus if this was truly something foul.
It feels like people are more upset (due to what they’re complaining about) that Deus is a man whom beautiful women find attractive. Bring up what the women themselves do that may not be on the level and you get a shrug or a spirited defense of how it can’t :possibly: be that way, but if a man does something not nearly as skeevy as a positive agreement between consenting adults like sex should be, the author is forced to write a note explaining himself in the face of oversensitive and angry closet sexism.
The double standards are high. There shouldn’t have been all this mindless outrage to begin with. We know Deus is a villain, we also know that as long as it serves him he’s rather cordial and amiable. Hell, apparently he’s not even a selfish lover. If something truly twisted and dark was going on, we can trust the author to depict things in such a manner as being a true act of villainy that is in no way acceptable. Considering it was depicted as fairly light-hearted and entirely in Sciona’s favor (people are seriously arguing in the defense of a rampaging lunatic innocent-murdering monster, saying the extremely powerful vampire blood-wizard golemancer might not have had the strongest bargaining point in the situation like she was someone innocent to be protected… how many children has she probably slaughtered, and you people are worrying she might have been coerced into mind-blowing sex and powerful weapons? That’s a little worrying.)
Frustrates me that people jump to conclusions, especially for such petty reasons, while ignoring other more important conditionals. Two evil people had great sex and made a weapons deal. The only reason we shouldn’t be happy is that Sciona is getting stronger because of this. Also that those selfish murderers had a whole lot of fun. Not defending the centuries old killer’s sexual status just because she lacks a donger.
Yeah it was just transactional but it still came across as very scummy as if he was coercing her. Then again that’s his MO; even when he’s doing stuff that isn’t that bad he makes it seem more evil.
He’s basically said “Lady, anyone can look a million dollars. You’re worth eighty million”
The problem is, he stated a price he knew damn well she couldn’t cover
Or he stated his normal price. And she could have met it. Just steal it. Not to mention someone as old as Sciona should have learned to save money. Sell some of her hideouts or something.
And you know this, how? She’s a SUPER VILLAIN! Think about what she’s *already* done! How tough would it be for her to go knock over a bank? Or an art museum? She’s powerful enough to fly through a wall, slice a vault/display case open with her wings, grab the loot, and fly off…all in the space of a minute or two. There is literally no way anyone could stop her, unless there was a super of the core team’s power level literally in the building already.
Sure, Deus is kinda skeevy, but he DID NOT FORCE SCIONA INTO ANYTHING!
She’s a Super Villain who has been off the radar ever since she had the top of her head removed, most of her assets (the ones The Council knew about anyway) would have been seized or destroyed
Oh sure, she could do something publically like rob a bank or art museum in the middle of the day!
She seemed more than capable of robbing one of the most highly fortified and protected vaults on the entire planet.
Pretty sure she can rob Citibank with a lot more ease.
Again, in the middle of a broads daylight
There is a cunning way to avoid that. Rotate the planet until the part of it you are on is in darkness. If you are Super Man you do that literally. Sciona though can use the same trick that the rest of us do and wait a few hours.
Only if there is some imperative, like Sciona being just about to die, unless she gets hold of the item, does the time taken to raise the cash have any bearing. Despite me floating that possibility, I only did so as a hypothetical,* as we have had zero indication that the item is needed for such a purpose.
As such Sciona can take as long as she requires. And Deus is both a business man and keen to keep her as a customer. So if she said ‘it will take me two months to raise that kind of cash’ I am sure he would be willing to reserve the item for her, for that period of time.
Perhaps requiring a deposit or some security, as a show of good faith. Or perhaps not. He seems to be unusually generous for a villain. Provided he can see a long-term benefit to himself.
* And I really should go back to that thread. I am itching to tease Pander about it. I just did not want to distract her too much from her sterling efforts countering the coercion/rape comments.
Or, teleport to somewhere that is already in the dark…
What Chronocidal said.
Also I posted something a lot longer in response to Guesticus, but for some reason it says ‘Your comment is awaiting moderation.’ Not sure why…. there werent any links or anything in it.
Oops never mind, my other post just came out of moderation :)
Er….. why does it have to be in broad daylight?
And before you say ‘because it’s daytime right now’….
1) It’s not daytime everywhere on Earth. She can always do it where it’s not daytime.
2) She can teleport via blood magic.
3) She robbed the Vault during the day.
4) She could have waited until nighttime here, and just give him the $80 million later that night. It’s not like he was selling everything right away.
5) She could have, as DaveB said, just stolen a few Picassos or other masterpieces. From somewhere at night.
Plus so many other answers to ‘But it’s broad daylight!’ – If you don’t realize, she started a ruckus at Deus’s office in broad daylight as well.
NOT coercion please stop misusing this word.
coerce: Perrsuade (an unwilling person) to do something by using force or threats.
And who cares if its a price she cant afford, theres a lot in the world that people cant afford doesnt make it scummy to name the price of a good.
It does not have to use force, stop misusing that
And Valeur’s comment immediately after Sci-frights’ declination of his ‘sleep with me’ offer was a threat: Sci-fright did not threaten SmugD, SmugD did not threaten Sci-fright, butt Valeur did threaten Sci-fright (it was basically “You had better rethink your decision if you want to get out of here alive”)
It does have to be force. It is not misusing the word. It is literally paraphrasing the dictionary definition (when including ‘or threats’ as correctly done). As you well know having seen the definition being quoted in previous discussions. It is you who is spreading misinformation by ignoring that.
Vales threat was in counter to Sciona making a veiled threat to Deus, by pointing out his mortality (with extra emphasis being placed by her on the word). As such it was the response of a bodyguard indicating that no such threat will be tolerated.
There was contextually nothing AT ALL to suggest that Sciona could not leave.
To the contrary, in the previous scene, on the rooftop, Vale had politely given Sciona the option to check out Deus’s offer. After having ceased all hostilities and turned her back, to indicate that force was not involved.
Yet you keep persisting in ignoring these facts, to spin Vale’s counter of Sciona’s threat as being sinister. Despite the author saying quite plainly that Sciona was free to leave at any time!
Mike I don’t know what you mean. How does this seem like coercing? Women sleep with men in exchange for gifts all the time! This is how normal healthy relationships begin… and also how normal SHITTY relationships begin. The only strange thing about them sexing it up is that they are 2 extremely evil people that just minutes ago were about to kill each other.
Otherwise this is normal behavior for adults. Children may have an idealized concept of relationships, but among adults in real life gifts and/or money in exchange for sex are the foundation of a lot of happy marriages… like everywhere… all the time…
It was coercion because Sci-fright dismissed his offer until Valeur threatened her
I disagree, but I also didn’t think Sciona was bound.
Furthermore, even if Sciona WAS bound. Deus didn’t have to offer ANYTHING at that point. He could have raped her right there while Vale held her down. Distasteful? yes. Disgusting? yes. It would have also been completely out of character for Deus and completely bizarre in this comic to have a hardcore scene like that, even off-panel. I think a lot of people got unnecessarily triggered because they thought something bad was approaching.
I, however, have read the manga/comic BERSERK. That takes place in a shitty world with TONS OF RAPE (like every issue). That’s how you know who the heroes and villains are. The heroes help people, and the villains RAPE EVERYONE, and the main hero is basically just killing rapists all day every day. As a result, I’m not triggered by the possibility of a rape scene. I require ACTUAL RAPE to be triggered.
This comic has a very different feel to it and a very different tone to it. I did not, at any point, feel that this event was non-consensual. I can understand how some people could make that mistake, it’s just bizarre from my perspective because of the hardcore things I’ve read.
Moreover, I ENJOYED watching Deus toy with Sciona and manipulate her for his own pleasure. Not because she’s a woman, but because she’s a murderer and a scumbag. Context IS IMPORTANT. This scene would have been satisfying to me even if Sciona was a man. It would have been weirder, but not by much.
We don’t need to jump on the bandwagon and suddenly show sympathy for Sciona because Deus has something she wants and he wants sex in return. I want a million dollars, but I don’t automatically get what I want. I have to work for it. Sciona didn’t have to do any work at all, she only had to say “yes”. She could have chosen to say “no” and she could have chosen to work for it, but she didnt. She chose this option.
Well argued.
It was absolutely necessary to clarify Scionia wasn’t tied up. I thought the goop was some hint at Vale’s Eldridge Abilities.
It is sensible to state you don’t agree with Deus’ actions as he is a narcissistic douche. But he does seem to be able to ask for consent first and would probably have taken a »no«.
Dabbler is a different sheet of paper. She uses her mind altering abilities on people without their knowledge or consent (In the first battle). She also harassed Maxima and continued to pursue her after she was rejected. But to my knowledge, she also only had intercourse with consenting humans. Even though the memory erasing hammer is a different story. She’s still interesting to watch as a fictional being.
In conclusion: imho the author’s statements regarding this scene were justified and I felt better after reading them.
Eldritch, I know you meant eldritch abilities! Unless the goop did come from the U.S.S. Eldredge then that is another whole can of trans-temporal worms…
Vale must be sure of himself to want to get so close to such a dangerous woman. Maybe that is just one way he finds life worth living. The perfect line from “Night of the Creeps” when the detective says to “THRILL ME.” Vale lives it every day.
*SLOW CLAP!!!*
Couldn’t have said it better myself Whatnow.
I’m a little confused by this last panel. Does Sciona want to go for round two? Otherwise the sentences don’t make much sense to me.
I think she’s trying to save face via buying time to get some of her strength back through the mechanism of Deus working his way through his drink.
Though sort of surprised he hasn’t offered Sciona both something to drink and a towel, as he seems to actually consider the needs of those around him.
Well he IS offering her his hand to help her up.
there’s also the implication that she’s hinting towards the possibility that she’s up for another round and he’ll need the energy, but I’m curious as to what the brand of drink is that he’s actually swallowing here, i can’t quite read it.
Given the list of items Deus is freely offering to Sciona, Apocalypse Soda seems likely.
It’s “Electro-Lotz”. It’s in the tiny text at the bottom of the page, too. Also, the strip’s title is “twofer”, that’s what tipped me off at first.
Deus Ex now say it five times fast. So did she.
hmm, I feel this page needs a Narrator panel noting “Sometime later” or words to that effect, after all, Dues looks fit enough to not require rehydration after a couple of rounds.
Okay, there is definitely something superhuman about Deus. No normal could get this kind of exhaustion out of a being like Sciona and leave her wanting another round with little more than a “I need an energy drink” effortless expression on his part.
Sciona is a flyer and uses her (rather magical appearing) wings in combat, in preference to normal punching or kicking. So she may not be as fit, with the rest of her body, as you think.
Bear in mind that she is not actually a super, so does not automatically get athlete type fitness. Unless she gets some kind of magical (or possibly racial) bonus that allows her to skip that.
And presently she is in a newly recreated body. Unless the artefact had the ability to give it several months or years worth of simulated exercise, her body may not be fitter than a couch potato’s.
Although I will grant that she did not end up with a body that had been atrophied from lack of use, such as with a coma patient.
Also? New body. Her old one was a scarred orc body. It’s probably like spending a year wrapped in cotton wool with earplugs in and sunglasses on.
Take it all off, and suddenly every sight, sound or sensation is going to feel as though it is massively magnified until you can adjust.
The body was orc, the head (from the jaw up) was original Sci-fright
Good points and correction. I think that touch is the most relevant in this instance, so the head would be less relevant for … ahem … most … ahh … situations.
*blushes and heads … walks … off*
She’s a vampire Yorp. Immortal, super strong, and undead, meaning she never gets tired, doesn’t need to breathe, etc.. So working sexual exhaustion into the second (or maybe third, depending on if you count tentacle monsters) most sexualized monster in human culture should probably count as being superhuman somehow.
I don’t think she’s a vampire. Seems more like some sort of blood witch/fae/drow type.
Yea, Dave did indicate that she is a custom race, of his design.
Plus no fangs and wings are unusual for vampires, but when depicted they typically are bat-like, rather than the distinctively different ones Sciona has.
Importantly it is best not to think blood-mage = vampire. It is just a magical specialisation, which probably could be learnt by members of any race who are able to cast compatible spells.
Yeah, the being a vampire thing has been a common, and persistent, false belief ever since she was introduced as being a blood mage, that and being a troll
I’m assuming people say vampire because she sometimes looks like she has fangs of some sort.
No, it was because of the whole blood business, same as with believing her replacement body was troll rather than simply injecting herself with a handy vial of troll blood
Ah, like a Tremere vampire from World of Darkness.
Yeah… but she just doesnt seem like a vampire at all. Not to mention she’s out during the day.
She’s not wanting another round, she’s telling him o drink up so he can help her get back what is hers
I think you are missing Sciona’s coyness in the final panel. Whilst she does start off talking business, there, her body language and subsequent whispery comment show that she moved on from that.
She was embarrassed to admit that she wanted another round, hence not saying it loudly enough for him to hear. Repeating it louder then shows she is serious about it and not just making an idle comment.
Although I reiterate that this interpretation hinges upon recognising that Sciona has a ‘come hither’ pose and expression. Without that the dialogue can perfectly reasonably be interpreted exactly the way you said.
She wants him to get hydrated for it.
By ‘it’ I mean ‘another round of the horizontal mambo.’ Because he was drinking the electrolyte thing to ‘recharge.’
No, she wants him to drink his drink for other reasons
If other reasons means she wants another go and needs him hydrated first for an impressive repeat performance, then I agree.
You keep believing that
I will.
Since I’m right. :)
Even though nothing on this page (except your idol) indicates that to be true
Panel one: she is wanting the tablet with the list of stolen items (alleged stolen items, he’s just ‘keeping them safe’, from the authorities :rolleyes: )
Panels three & five: she is still wanting to kill him
Panel ten: se wants him to ‘recharge’ so he will honour their deal ad help her get back what is hers
Panel 3, Sciona frowning.
Panel 5, Sciona frowning.
Panel 6, Sciona frowning.
Panel 8, Sciona’s knees wobbling.
Panel 9 Sciona falling back onto bed.
The final panel has Deus attributing that to him being so good.
Importantly Sciona does not deny this. She does though wind up their business deal satisfactorily.
Then a key thing happens, Sciona lowers her voice, to the extent that it becomes imperceptible. If she were still only interested in talking shop this is inexplicable. There is no reason for her to go all quiet. Rather she should still be frowning and angrily telling him to get on with it.
Further her persistent frown has gone (despite not getting her item). As Deus has agreed to help find it though, we might expect her frown to lessen, or her to assume a more neutral expression.
However Sciona does neither. Instead she has her lips pursed. Almost having a smile. And note that her eye line is not up at his face, as it would be if she were still negotiating with him. Nor does Sciona have the tablet held up in front of her, to explain why her gaze is so much lower.
I won’t try to say where she is looking, rather I will just point out that her eyes are downcast, which, in that situation gives her a demure pose. Especially when combined with her other body language.
All of which points strongly to Sciona wanting to get back in the sack, once Deus has recharged.
On top of which we do have the author’s comment at the top of his blog:
“Well, I guess Deus delivers as advertised.”
Which pretty much confirms that Sciona had a good time. And supports her wanting more. Although, cleverly, it is also a play on words, as it could be taken to just referring to him honouring his deal, even though the item is not in his possession.
As such the seamier side of things is nicely discreet. So if you wish to carry on interpreting the scene without that, then such is entirely your prerogative.
She also says it so low because she doesn’t like to admit that Deus really is that good at sex’ing the sexy sex that she is wanting another go at it.
Also the kill thing in panel 3 and 5? She wanted to kill him ‘just a little.’ Clearly not serious – just enough to acknowledge that she is annoyed at how smug he’s being about being right about being astonishingly good in bed, and that she has to admit he’s right.
Because you don’t kill someone ‘just a little’ – it’s usually pretty much and all or nothing deal with humans.
Or, she said it low so as to not tip her hand about what might also happen with SmugD drinking that drink
Nope. You’re missing the very obvious, intended meaning of the page in favor of something to reinforce your view of Deus.
Ms Pot, meet Ma Kettle
Sildenafil is Viagra: what does Viagra do? Cause increase blood-flow to a man’s penis. What can Sci-fright control? BLOOD!!!
We saw that she can kinetically control blood when it is in the air, how do we know she can’t also control it when it’s still in the body?
Because before now she’s seemed to always need to bleed out her victims before using the blood?
She’s a blood witch of some sort, not a bloodbender from Legend of Korra/Avatar :)
Although that’s now giving me all new ideas for Legend of Korra fanfics.
To support Pander’s contention Sciona could not just make Cooter explode, because he has blood in him and she has power over it. That is how a super power might work, as per Magneto controlling Wolverine’s metal skeleton.
The opening of the comic, in the table-top game context, hints that super powers can indeed have power stunts developed (it seems likely that they would be playing an RPG with ‘realistic’ rules factoring in what has been observed in real super power use).
However Sciona is a mage, and their spells work in specific ways, which are not anywhere near as flexible as super powers.
So Sciona manipulates blood when it is outside of a person, not in it. Hence why Sciona had to get Cooter to drink a potion, to gain power over his body. That she could have either contaminated with blood, or introduced some agent to give her power over his blood, or likely both.
There have been warnings that Sciona may have done the same here. But I find it unlikely that Deus would be stupid enough to use anything other than a sealed bottle, from his own supply. Plus Vale is right there watching for any tricks. So even if Deus was distracted, Vale could watch his back.
And other bits. But she has a wide enough field of view to see potential dangers too.
I most confess i do also find that the recent comics have begun getting a little grating.
It feels less and less like im reading a superhero comic.
And instead more and more like im reading a fancomic written by Deus himself.
There are a number of folks who have not been happy with the latest turn of events.
Plus I will agree that this is not normal for a superhero comic. It is going a lot more into personal lives, and the sordid side of villains’ machinations, than usually happens.
However it is consistent with Dave’s mission statement. Just click on the “About” button above. Here is an excerpt though:
We have, temporarily, deviated from it focusing on the heroines, so you are right there. Beyond that though I highlight the relevant parts.
The bit in italics is a bit more speculative. But should be expected, as they are in the mission statement!
A thought which may in part explain wobbly knees: When Sciona regenerated her body did it come back in the state of ‘virgo intacta”? Deus seems to be a considerate sort and I’m sure her was ‘gentle’ if this was relatively her first time, still it’s matter of unused and out of shape body parts and muscles, or so it seems to me.
Or Deus can simply be extraordinary in bed.
I am calling for a combination of effects.
Deus is a egotistical overachiever obsessed with being the best at well everything. Enjoys petty drama to the point that he owns a dramatic lighting machine. nothing wrong with this page or situation as it relates to Deus’s perceived character and vices.
Interesting. Deus has the “super” physique.
I’m betting his power has to do with information. It overlaps with sex, i.e. he’s scary good at knowing how to make love. Presumably it’s how he got his bodyguard to sign on. It might be “telepathy” but it also might just be “information” in general.
Vale the Voyeur didn’t say that Sci-fright couldn’t kill SmugD, just that there is a surprisingly (only for someone who has never spent more than two minutes with the git) long line, probably starting behind Vale
Vale’s actions have been ‘you can’t kill the guy who I”m hired to make sure does not get killed.’
Butt not her literal words
True, she didn’t say ‘Do not kill the person who pays my salary’ but I’m assuming Vale likes the job and has loyalty to Deus, since he seems to be loyal to his employees AND pays exceeding well.
And who knows, he might be the reason for Vale’s special nature to begin with (assuming Ex Machinae Industries has anything to do either with her creation (if she’s an android or cyborg of some sort) or her outer casing (if she’s an alien or goddess or demoness of some sort) or something along those lines.
Until (and likely) proven otherwise my head cannon is kid Deus playing around with a legitimate spirit board he found stashed in his family’s (secret) store house, combined with random scrolls to *spice things up because talking to dead people and the devil is SOOOO pedestrian* ended up randomly contacting and contracting with a being from the Far Dark.
-or unsealing an ancient horror from his family’s basement built on an ancient alien temple and making a pact with it.
Funnily enough, in my mother tongue, “queue” is an euphemism for penis. Which left me for an instant MASSIVELY confused at that line.
if you really think about it, queue could be a euphemism for penis in any language in which it’s used, as it means a long line, (or even just a line) and a penis just happens to be a line (although in Deus’ case it may not be the shortest distance between two points.)
If I were Deus right at the moment of the last panel, I certainly wouldn’t be finishing that drink.
Sciona has most likely done something to it, considering how insistent she is on Deus finishing it off.
I wonder if his “ELECTRO-LOTZ” tastes vaguely of ancient bloodmage blood?
The impression I got was more that she was thinking “Hurry up and finish that so you’re properly hydrated we can get back to boning.”
She likes it! Mikey likes it!
Not normally a poster but I feel it’s unfair to bash the author for this. I found she chose to go this route quite willingly. It may be smutty on her part but evil does what evil does.
Also there are many many times in the course of the comic sex has been used . Weather just sexy pics in shower interludes or dabbler taking advantage of the detained.
And speaking of dabbler. She is the embodiment of sex. She thinks it, encourages it , and recharges from it. If we’re not expecting sexy in a comic with a character like that there is an issue.
*gets off soapbox*
I can’t read that tiny print in that last panel.
It’s exactly the same as her final sentence
Thanks!
I found this extremely icky. You can debate or whatever all day- this was icky to me.
The worst part? I feel as though Sciona has lost a lot of agency here. Perhaps if she had brought up sex, it would be ok, but she was coerced into it. This is, at it’s core, Dues using her need for this item to coerce her into sex. It’s right next door to rape, IMHO.
I feel like she’s not powerful anymore.
i really hope Dues gets his, HARD.
Note- these are MY opinions, you are entitled to whatever you want to think.
“The worst part? I feel as though Sciona has lost a lot of agency here”
The only agency that Sciona lost was the agency to murder Deus. That’s not a bad thing.
She didn’t lose the agency to turn down Deus’s offer.
“Perhaps if she had brought up sex, it would be ok, but she was coerced into it.”
So when a woman asks about sex, it’s okay. When a man asks about sex, it’s not okay. That sounds sort of sexist.
Also, she was not coerced into anything. Once again, and I think I should just have something to cut and paste for people who don’t understand what coercion means, there was no force or threat made by Deus or anything in order to get her to have sex with him. In fact, the only two reasons he even gave for having sex with him were 1) she hasnt had sex in a long time and might want to, and 2) he’s really good at sex.
“This is, at it’s core, Dues using her need for this item to coerce her into sex.”
That’s not coercion.
1) She doesn’t need the item. She wants the item. She doesn’t have a right to something just because she wants it.
2) Even in the unlikely event that she NEEDS the item, that still doesnt give her a right to it.
3) She could give him $80 million instead.
4) She could leave, and try to rob Deus, although apparently he doesnt even HAVE the item, and he’s going to help her get it anyway.
5) She could take her chances and try to kill Deus, although Vale would stop her. Not being allowed to murder someone to get what you want is not coercion.
“It’s right next door to rape, IMHO.”
It’s not only not next door to rape, it’s not in the same solar system as rape. When you redefine rape to mean ‘whenever you want something but can’t get it’ or ‘when you regret doing something you voluntarily did afterwards’ you water down real rape and make a mockery of real victims. Stop it. If you ever met a single person who was actually raped, you would not be so flippant with that word.
Ok that last sentence might have been a bit ‘shaking my finger at you’ – but yesterday there were way too many people saying ‘Raaaaape!’ when it’s not anything close, and it’s a pet peeve I have when people try to redefine certiain words which water down the real word.
Correct dissection of arguments.
Well shook finger!
Spot on, Pander.
Believe ‘agency’ has a different meaning here
No, agency, in the context being used, means the capacity of an actor to act in a given environment.
The ONLY agency Sciona has lost is her ability to just kill Deus willy nilly, and anything else I’d say would just repeat my above post. :)
Or, English is not Ladyredfingers‘s first language and ‘agency’ was the best they could come up with
Plenty of others have managed to use “street cred” (or similar) with no objection or confusion
One thing that is being to really annoy me, is all the counter “stop speculating with nothing”, usually filled with “speculating with just as little” to ‘back up’ their own claims
Normally people who are not good at English aren’t going to use words like ‘agency’ which has a particularly nuanced meaning.
I’m not sure why you keep going towards the extremely unlikely scenario instead of the obvious one – that Ladyfingers was simply wrong about Sciona losing her agency – when the only agency she lost was the ability to murder Deus with impunity.
As for Sciona losing ‘street cred’ – no one else knows about this anyway, and Sciona’s current street cred is she will murder and betray you even if you partner up with her as soon as she gets what she wants. I don’t see how having sex with Deus ruins her street cred unless Deus goes around shouting to everyone how he has sex with non-human supervillains. Which I’m assuming he does not do since he’s intelligent.
And yes, you do speculate massively, at least where Deus is concerned, based on very little, or nothing lately. Meanwhile I HAVE backed up every claim I’ve ever made about him, usually with VERY verbose reasoning, sometimes numbered out in bulletpoints or pointing to established legal definitions and logic. I think that, at least where Deus is concerned, you just have a bit of a blind spot. It’s a little weird mainly because you argued so intently defensively for Maxima during that Krona incident – in a situation where Maxima was completely in the wrong legally.
Was talking about her ‘street-cred’ as a big bad monster in the readers’ opinion, which several people have already stated they now view it as having taken a huge hit
Oh, and just because you are good at arguing, does not mean you are automagically correct
And no, Maxi was not wrong, in any sense, during the Kronachrome ‘incident’, no more than any other officer of the law requesting someone who has demonstrated performing a dangerous act (that they subsequently admitted to not knowing what they did, and appeared to be in the process of tampering with it further to see what went wrong) to accompany them to the nearest station for processing
Sure, just like Sci-fright now, Kronachrome was free to decline the request, butt she agreed to go with Maxi
“Was talking about her ‘street-cred’ as a big bad monster in the readers’ opinion, which several people have already stated they now view it as having taken a huge hit”
Nah, Evil-Lyn was no less a villain just because she didn’t kill Skeletor, and the Baroness was no less a villain just because she didn’t put a bullet in Cobra Commander and Destro’s heads either.
“Oh, and just because you are good at arguing,”
I hope I would be, my livelihood depends on it :)
“does not mean you are automagically correct”
Correct. My being good at arguing doesn’t make me ‘automagically’ correct. My arguments being factually correct and my opinions being based on what has happened in the comic (or in law when I argue legal things as they relate to the comic) make me correct. I agree that there’s nothing magical about it.
“And no, Maxi was not wrong, in any sense, during the Kronachrome ‘incident’,”
She was definitely wrong, and we went over well over a week of arguments about this, during which I even used case law that anyone could look up, and law from basic first year law school :).
“no more than any other officer of the law requesting someone who has demonstrated performing a dangerous act (that they subsequently admitted to not knowing what they did, and appeared to be in the process of tampering with it further to see what went wrong) to accompany them to the nearest station for processing”
We’ve also discussed this as well, and I’ve given so many reasons why I was correct here as well – if anyone wants to read it, it’s still in the comment forums from those strips.
I do find it odd, though, that with Maxima, you’re hellbent on defending her abusing her authority, while with Deus, you call him SmugD and say he’s abusing authority which he isn’t doing, since he has no actual authority over Sciona to begin with. He just has access to something she wants. It’s almost like you have a different set of rules for male and female characters moral values.
“Sure, just like Sci-fright now, Kronachrome was free to decline the request, butt she agreed to go with Maxi”
With Kroma, she was NOT free to leave. That’s the whole point. She was specifically told she was going to come with them. She was not ALLOWED to leave. Sciona, on the other hand, was perfectly free to leave with no arrest, no death, no anything – except not getting access to what she wanted. Totally different than what Maxima did – Sciona has no right to the object – just a right to leave, which she had the full option to take. Krona, on the other hand, should have had a right to leave and wasnt given it.
Ok might have sounded a little haughty there actually, but you did just say ‘just because you’re good at arguing doesn’t mean you’re magically right.’
I mean what can I really say to that? Haven’t said I’m magically correct on what I’ve been arguing – just that I’m correct because my arguments are consistent with law, definitions of words, and what’s actually happened in the storylines instead of some assumed off-screen stuff which was never even alluded to (like when you did the ‘Deus stole from her hideouts’ argument without any source of why you’d think that).
I’m assuming when you said I’m good at arguing that I’m good at making logical and persuasive arguments that have some sort of basis in fact, which pretty much means I’m not saying I’m ‘magically correct.’
You cited case law but predicated on the assumption that the expert testimony by Pixel that Chrona was endangering putting the universe into a time loop. Whilst I respect your opinion to disagree with her assessment, that does not make your opinion right.
With an expert advising Maxima of such an opinion she had every right, as a police officer, to take precautions to prevent the universe being doomed. Such is an extraordinary threat to the world, and as such is wholly within Archon’s mandate.
Whilst a defence lawyer (should it ever get to court, which it would not as all parties were satisfied with the actions taken) could argue the case you put, that would be a matter to be resolved in court. However the police have to make a judgement call, in any dangerous situation, on the spot.
Personally, if I lived in that universe, and had been spared from such a risk continuing I would be glad that she had correctly fulfilled her oath ‘to serve and protect’. Had she not the tinkering that Krona was making, to correct her botched job, even as Maxima intervened, could have made things worse!
And we had ample evidence, from Krona’s own testimony, that she had made errors. So there was proof that Krona had been acting dangerously and that her power was not under control. Harem’s memory had been messed up, as a result. Giving us proof that harm was being done.
So your repeated arguments, that Maxima was acting on things that Krona had not yet done, did not hold water with me either then nor now.
Any chance of a Sciona pinup in the votes or maybe VDSD next year?
The VDSD this year wasn’t enough? o_O
Hope Deus isn’t taking any nitrates for any reason.
…Deus where are your nips sir???
He has the same subdermal nipples syndrome as Disney’s Aladdin.
I prefer your response, made me chuckle.
Naked males in cartoons and comics do not have nips (or discernable ‘bulges’ even wearing virtual skin-tight underoos)
i dunno what im more annoyed at in this comment section.
the tumblrinas winging because sciona didnt fill out her affirmative consent forms in triplicate before getting her actions approved by the society for the sounds of bitter feminists.
or…
the neurotics complaining that the villain is getting some character development & screen time, rather than being left as some 2 dimensional saturday morning cartoon villain.
But he still is basically a Saturday morning cartoon. His entire character is “I win because I’m great, fuck you.” And a previously interesting character, Sciona, is now being brought down at a time when she SHOULD be more powerful and more fearsome than ever before. The scenes following the villainess ascending to her true form should not be getting her ass kicked followed by post-coital pratfall. Just sayin’, this is more than a character turn, this is character whiplash.
Huh. For me, the bit with the bamboo did considerably more to take the piss out of her villain cred. This is rational adult behavior compared to the petulant psychotic idiocy that preceded it.
“the tumblrinas winging because sciona didnt fill out her affirmative consent forms in triplicate before getting her actions approved by the society”
I literally had to laugh when you wrote that. Very funny :)
i cant read what she says in the last panel, its too freaking tiny. And thats not the first time that has happened. Please stop making the text that small.
what Sciona says in the last panel in small text is the same thing that she says in the last panel with an EXCLAMAITION MARK! (I think she wants more Deus and I don’t blame her)
Chill, she says it louder a second later. Making it too small to read was probably a conscious decision on Dave’s part, since if she said it too quietly to hear, why would it be large enough to read?
Wow. Really? People got that idea? o.O Never thought that was the case at all. Maybe it was just people trying to hate :p
I can promise you Dave, my hair does indeed rest over my “nurps”, as you call them. Sciona’s seems about the same length as mine. If i have it over my shoulders, I’m practically decent, even shirtless. I’m not sure why you think hair wouldnt rest there without tape.
rest. sure it would tend to rest there. but a small breeze, or a motion, hair moves.
True. Even I thought it was obvious he was giving her a choice. ( or at least her right now, since she was asked about how long it had been since she’d been female)
If we ever learn about Vale’s past,what would she’d been like as a kid???
Maybe she is like Jones in “Gunnerkrigg Court” and has always been like this
Assuming she ever was a kid.
Anyone else hear the pokemon theme with dues now?
Got’a bang em all! It’s just you and me…
Somewhere in the Valley, a porn producer is finalizing an offer to let Dave write their next superhero themed porn movie.
or just completely ripping off and subverting the ideas behind this comic into their own fluff
Like I said in my previous post, Sciona is now displaying signs of having an actual emotional connection with someone. Even casual sex is a somewhat bonding experience. Great Sex is a powerful bonding experience. The first connection she has had in however long, (I forget how long she’s been in the wrong body). The fact that her connection is with Deus is worrying, but anything that would mitigate her tendency towards mass murder is most welcome.
Yorp TY for your kind comments earlier, duly noted.
One thing about the readers of this webcomic (the ones still here, and posting) y’all are some seriously smart people. I have really enjoyed reading your comments. Thanks. :D
I don’t know if anybody’s brought it up, but I think this scythe she’s looking for is the one Cooter/WormGuy used during their escape.
OK, I just used the “find” function and yeah I’m not the first to have this idea.
This page is looks like some teenager boy’s wet fantasy.
Sciona was a credible and interesting villain, who is intelligent, powerful, she survived her own execution… And now she is just a joke. A bad one. After the first time she was overpowered, she just succumbed and sold her body (for nothing). This makes her look like not just a common whore, but also an idiot. I’m wondering how she survived this long. Luck, i guess.
since Sciona is a blood mage…i kind of wonder if she can work with other bodily fluids and Deus just screwed himself by screwing her because now she’s collecting samples? O.o
Was thinking the same thing :D
As a person who is acutely aware of consent vs. nonconsent in potentially sexual situations, I didn’t think she was bound in any way, and I read it quite loud and clear that she had two free-willed choices, consensual sexual activities or finding a way to come up with a craptonne of wealth. He does come across as a slimeball, but he’s a consent-seeking slimeball…which, alas, is more than some guys manage to be. (*Notice the use of “some” in that statement, so if you try to fire back with that dumbass notallmen hashtag, I will bind you and toss you into a room with Sydney off her meds & under the admittedly mistaken belief that you are just an hallucination that’s trying to kill her. Her aim is pretty bad so you’ll probably survive, but god help you anyway.)
Agreed. He’ll do many things. but he’s also aware that he can go forth have a pick of willing ones who 1) find his wealth and phsyique sexually stimulating. or 2) just his wealth 3) just his physique.
Why would he need to force the issue on that.
Because he gets off on the power trip and the ego: he can produce an orgasm in five bodies simultaneously, and he’s now slept with the most wanted criminal (not counting himself) on the planet!
Well there’s still convincing Maxima. I’m not sure if he’s managed that yet.
Convincing Maxima… of what? You saying that Maxi is the most wanted criminal? o_O
Convincing Maxima to have sex with him. Since he obviously has a mad-on crush on her and just tries to play it smooth and ‘cool’ with her instead (sometimes by acting like ‘the jerk with a heart of gold’).
Hmm, wasn’t talking about what hasn’t happened, in fact, deliberately refrained from mentioning Maxi because that hasn’t happened!!
Why would he brag about something that hasn’t happened? That would impact negatively on him and actually hurt his ego, way to go bringing that up!
Okay i’m confused about what you’re talking about now.
I didn’t say anything about him bragging about Maxima. I said he wants to be in a relationship with Maxima, or sleep with her. But he knows Maxima’s attitudes on feminism, so he takes a different set of tactics when dealing with her – it goes back and forth from him making it seem like she likes HIM despite his ’bouts with jerkishness’ by occasionally showing how he has a heart of gold or knows exactly what sorts of things Maxima likes (the combat boots, the idea that $250 million could be used for all sorts of things to help women charitably, how he saved an entire country, how he helps Archon with his tech, how he actually was getting along with Sydney, how he keeps her secret about the geode, while at the same time getting a rise out of her over it, etc).
Even Sydney thought ‘Did you guys date or something?’
Meanwhile, when he’s alone and sees her on TV, he’s pawing at her image like a lovestruck puppy. Which is not something he’d let Maxima see. Which Vale sees. It doesnt hurt Deus’s ego at all that Vale knows that he has a bad case of the ‘I wuv you’s’ for Maxima.
Nicely remembered about the TV pawing. I had not thought of that in this context.
My opinion of course
Nah, she thought she was seeing things just before the big fight and reacted controlled.
Just tell Sidney, on or off her meds, he badmouthed the Batman, I don’t think there will be much left.
No, the fight at the Wars Factory was not ‘the big fight’