Grrl Power #628 – Maxima’s MFP attack
Sciona is crazy resilient, that’s really all she’s got going for her in this fight. She does have a mess of powers, but obviously, she hasn’t gotten a chance to test them. Even with this arsenal, she’s outnumbered and arguably still overpowered. But she’s not trying to actually beat them. She would definitely brag about it at the arch-villain conference if she did manage to take a few of them down. At least add it to her resume.
Maxima doesn’t herself name her different levels of punching, but when your strength range goes from “opening a door without shattering the foundation of the house” all the way up to “what mountain?” it’s maybe not a bad idea to visualize the scale. With Maxima, it’s not just a matter of her flexing harder, she also has the power pool draw from. It’s not like she sees a UI like she’s playing a video game when she moves her power level around. She just flexes whatever superhero muscle she flexes until the power is in whatever buckets she wants. So her punches (and kicks, headbutts, Indian Burns, etc) have a fairly distinct feel to her. It’s not like in a regular person, where punches range from “hitty girlfriend” to “anti-hysteria slap” to “friendly boxing match” to “I’m seriously trying to hurt you” to “haymaker.” Maxima has like 50 different levels of punch. The MFP is closer to the top of the scale than it is the bottom, and Sciona is only the third person she’s ever hit with it that hasn’t been instantly decapitated. (Keep in mind that Maxima fought other supers in some overseas action. If you misjudge the toughness of an opponent on the superhero scale by even a little bit, stuff can get fatal real fast.)
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Relating to Max decapitating/insta-killing people by misjudging her strength:
Because Science did a great video on why having super strength would suck, and that’s one of the major reasons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD06SQtfA5s
I also liked his “why you don’t want super speed” one as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTEDZQaEIts
I love how Kyle breaks all the super abilities down and more often than not its a you REALLY don’t want this!
Super intelligence. Whatever it is that got that power, it would no longer be you. It might remember its feeble origins, but ‘you’ would be no more in control than a kitten would retain the essential mental characteristics, that defines itself, if it was magically made smart enough to fly a jet fighter.
That would depend on mechanism of “super intelligence”.
Are any mind affecting medicines killing patient, because his/her reactions change?
Better memory (maybe external memory with interface?), perfect nutrition of brain, maybe changing local speed of time <- these things would give something like "super intelligence", but I do not thing it would change who we are.
True. But equally it would not give you the ability to replicate Iron Man’s suit nor whip up a super science gadget, like Mr Fantastic. Which are the kinds of things that we would want to be able to do.
It certainly would not grant a kitten the ability to fly a plane.
Hence the difference between “Intelligence” and “Knowledge” Super Intelligence might make it wasier to GAIN the Knowledge to build an Iron Man type suit, but you’re not gonna just pick up a wrench and do it.
A lot of “super-intelligence” powers work more like they are a “techno-mage” power. As in – the person can make an art piece with specific functions in mind – and it will actually DO those things. But no one else can make a duplicate of the tech work. (Unless they have a similar “techno-mage” power and want to make a copy of the cool thingy because it was cool) This seems to have the limitation of only working if the person thinks they are making something according to the rules of science. Break the illusion, and they lose the power. Iron Man is this type.
Other times its more of a… “know the future” type power. As in the person can make truly informed decisions because they actually KNOW what will/can happen. Most “smart” protagonists seem to have this power, especially in poorly written books.
Or it is a “know the present” type power – the person can gain information about anything they perceive. (hear, see, read) Like the entire world has wiki notes attached. Aka – Shawn Spencer in Psych.
Tony Stark’s super intelligence is not some technomancy, it is pure genius super-intelligence. Yes, he does not have supper knowledge, but he is able to become an expert on Nuclear Physics literally over night just by reading a mission briefing dossier (Avengers Assemble) and is able to master any theoretical and technological discipline by having enough of a passing interest in a subject to read a book. I don’t know if he was born with super intelligence or if he gained it later but I don’t think it has in any way killed who he was and created a new person in his body. I believe only few select Heroes (Rogue, Nightcrawler, Batman, …) but many Villains (Joker, Magneto, Hatter, Scarecrow, Toad,…) kill off who they were and become somebody else when they gain super powers.
Maybe not the best argument to raise to contest that his intelligence isn’t magical.
That said though one of the greatest mathematicians, in recent history, was born in India and, if I remember right, he only had a basic maths text book, to teach himself the basics. From which he extrapolated a theory advanced enough that he got an immediate invite to join Cambridge (or Oxford – names are pretty randomised in my memory).
Clearly also a mage!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan
Cambridge indeed.
“Super Intelligence” what could it do to you? In the original Outer Limits “The 6th Finger” does some exploration of it. Eventually if it keeps growing it may make you incommunicado with everyone else as was in an episode of Fringe. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Though language would be difficult if you go way beyond the language we have. When you need to coin new words to explain things. In Lost In Space 1st season Will Robinson gets an I.Q. boost and he talks down to everyone and doesn’t bother explaining things as “it is too difficult for you to under stand” answer.
If you get it besides picking things up at a glance and learning then synthesizing from that knowledge new things would come thick and fast. Though since none of us, that I know of, have such a mental upgrade, we are only weakly speculating on it. Those with enhance intelligence manage, but it is difficult for them unless they are personable. Though the young ones can burn out too fast and are lost if they aren’t too careful.
I don’t see much of a problem with that, actually. That sounds like I am no longer the same person I was when I was a kid due to my new knowledge / understanding of the world / new-found wisdom. Heck, I would even say I’m not the same person I was before I moved out / started university. We are changing all the time in that regard and we don’t have a problem with that.
Sure, with super-intelligence you might’ve become a different “person” and you will cringe at what you’ve done in the past, and your feelings about things and world views may differ, but that’s not much different to what normally happens anyway, except probably in a much larger magnitude (maybe).
A good counter argument. Which I would agree with, if it were a gradual process, where you advanced a bit, continued interacting with society, in a meaningful way, incorporated your past experiences, updated them with your new skills sets before repeating for the next iteration.
But get bitten by a radioactive Sheldon Cooper, and waking up, the following morning, smarter than Einstein? The old you died the previous night, and something else is wearing your pyjamas, eager to start its new life!
I hope not, I sleep skyclad!
Genius you doesn’t want to catch a cold, and can multitask, even whilst sleeping.
I mean, all your memories and biases and beliefs would still be intact. You’d still be you, at least until the rip-tide of cognitive revelation has you slamming your face into the nearest solid object while mumbling “you dumb, dumb motherfu*ker” over and over again. I mean, assuming your super intelligence doesn’t also enable you with some sort of super denial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikjx50RbNvM
Memories? Yes. Biases and beliefs? How do you conclude that? The smarter being replacing you doesn’t think the way you do. Your biases may have been against your bosses. But now the smart you realises that they are insignificant. Mere pawns to be used, or ignored, in the grander plans. Railing against them failing to recognise your worth is no longer a driving factor in your psyche.
Your belief that ‘family is the most important thing’? Maybe it will retain that. Or maybe it will conclude that they are like bosses. Just things that have been weighing you down. And unable to contribute anything to you, as they are antiquated throwbacks, not even worth holding a conversation with.
The thing is you have not asked the genie to make you uphold your beliefs better, and to retain your prejudices, despite you gaining greater insight. You just wanted to be smarter (and a lot smarter, at that, if you want to do the really cool things we dream about). Which means thinking in a radically different ways, to how you do now.
Which means ANY predictions you make about HOW or WHAT you may think are beyond your ken. By virtue of your own upgrade. If the thought processes were within your capacity to think them before you would not need the enhancement. Once you have them though, your old thought patterns are just as far removed as the new ones were (barring the fact that they can remember you).
The being that replaces you may or may not cling to some of those behaviours, out of nostalgia. But that is their choice to make, not yours.
+1
. . . So you just read that half of my first sentence and then launched into a multiple paragraph breakdown why it’s wrong while missing the fact that you’re essentially agreeing with me?
No, I read it all, and watched the link. Which, whilst amusing, with some interesting snippets, was four minutes long and seemed to drift over quite a lot of territory, much of it seemingly unrelated.
So it was hard to get the gist of what your overriding intent was. Hence I returned to the unambiguous opening line. Which I disagreed with.
By the end of which I felt my reply was already too long to try and address the remainder of your post.
Whilst there is an overlap (both of our hypothetical future entities have behaviour dissimilar to the starting person), I felt you were portraying that as a breakdown of the intelligence boost. Thereby becoming dysfunctional.
Whereas I was choosing to take it that the result would be a Tony Stark-like intellect, but just unlikely to have the same personality as the starting entity.
There’s actually a comic called Mindmistress that deals pretty heavily with it. The main character started out as a girl with severe mental impairments, but then she got a locket that turns her into a supergenius. There’s a whole arc about how incredibly lonely both lives are.
I enjoyed Phenomenon, which handles that pretty well.
He has some magical like predictions that he makes. But is so busy trying to do the wonderful things that he can now achieve, that it is hard for him to waste precious moments of his life, to explain such simple things to primitive primates. When he does though, it shows Sherlock Holmes-like clarity of thought.
Then, of course, there is Lucy. Who will evoke nerd-rage, due to the usage of the totally busted ‘humans only use 10% of their brains”. Get over it. That is the central premise, if it bothers you that much don’t watch it. If you can manage the yoga meditation enough to retain your cool, over that issue, it is enjoyable.
Even talking about it gives me the urge to rewatch it. Despite its flaws. Its good bits are really good.
And it has Morgan Freeman telling us about the 10% thing. So I suspect that modern science has it wrong, because, well he is God!
Kinda like Girl Genius?
Heh. Similar looking mechanism. Similar apparent result.
Fundamentally different underpinnings though, given that the locket suppressed Agatha’s true genius, and made her seem incompetent.
Cunning analogy though.
:)
Which locket? She has had to wear two now: going by the second one, believe the first was designed, as you said, to suppress her true Sparkitude, [spoiler]not just to make her seem incompetent butt also so as not to attract the attention of The Other (the second locket is designed to stop The Other asserting control)
The first one was the one reminiscent of Aylee Drake‘s description.
and i hate how he does it. often enough he has no idea what he is talking about.
I mean, sure, i sure, he might be able to calculate the force of impact generated by an object moving at arediculous speed, however, where he fails is to consider HOW IT GOT TO THAT FUCKIN SPEED!!
you don’t requre secondary power, when the spesific power IS ALSO THE PRIMARY!!!
Another problem: super perception, ok. But HOW do you process all that data? Time dilation, sure. I have attended meetings/lectures/classes that did seem to dilate time measurably, slowing time to a crawl…
Time is relative.
Time is subjective.
Time is imaginary.
Time does not exist.
I’m pretty sure “time” is just a unit of measurement.
you have minutes and days for time, grams and tones for weight, distance qubed for volume, etc.
in the end, all there is, are “points” that endlessly travel and collide with eachother, always moving at the same exact speed, relative to the space they occupy.
Nope. Pick up two identical clocks, and send one up on a space craft orbiting the Earth, and they will show that time has progressed at different speeds for each, as they will no longer match. From each of their respective points of view time has progressed at the same rate. Yet comparing one to the other they are different.
So is the Bloit.
Doesn’t make it real.
What is time actually measuring? How long it takes for something to happen (for instance the decay of a radioactive particle). But that varies depending on where you are (see relativity above).
You can see how big an inch is.
*holds up paws exactly an inch apart*
But how long is a minute? The only way you can tell is by watching an artificial device, which tells you. Or guessing. And that artificial device will not always tell you the same time as another perfectly identical device. Move one of them and they are telling you different times.
Plus you only see time in one direction (others of us are less linear). Except for entropy (things tending to become less ordered) there is no way to identify whether time should flow forwards or backwards.
So in order to even tell whether this ‘time’ you have invented is a positive measurement, or a negative one, you have to observe whether eggs turn into scrambled eggs or vice versa.
There ain’t nothing there. It is a made up thing.
You can put one on a jet, even at just hundreds of miles per hour the time will slow, just harder to see it.
Try a Cesium clock.
All that does is prove the same things, with more accuracy. Incidentally if you want to do that even better you should opt for strontium clocks.
Which have shown that
just being in a different location on Earth you are subject to different time! Time is not absolute, as predicted by Einstein.
But both are just types of atomic clocks. And earlier ones were what was sent whizzing round the world, to prove the points I mentioned in my prior comments.
I dont even know whether you were trying counter or add to what i was saying, se here is a vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpuGjzdHqgI
I am a subscriber to PBS space time. As such I can raise you with this.
sooo again, i am not sure. are you countering what i said? or adding to it? i am confused.
And I am not sure if your initial reply was countering or adding to what I said. I iz confuzed!
What is the cause, and what the effect? Did you think that this conversation took place in linear time? Or has it always existed and we are just creating an illusion that time is passing?
Psst. It is the latter, even if I am unsure about your stance on the former.
To prove that though I would have to let you in on the fact that I have seen the future (in dreams).
However I have absolutely no way to prove that, as I failed to record them and post the experiences on YouTube, prior to the events coming to pass.
Now that we know that time does not exist though, I shall see if I can figure out a way of doing that.
*steps through the 4th wall, to try and examine space/time from a different perspective*
However it would require creating YouTube decades before the internet was invented, to capture those experiences.
But if I will succeed in doing that, the results would already be there. So I guess I iz not smart enough.
*sigh*
urgh, should have known better than to try and argue with a dog.
Only confusion comes out of that.
EH, what the hell, might as well add to it. Did you know that at no point do you perccieve the present, but anywhere from 0.001th of a second (when you look at your monitor) to millenia (if you look at the night sky) ago?
Time is on my side
Does anybody know what time is?
Sorry could not find a ‘time’ song that was any good.
Time is the essence
Time is the season
Time ain’t no reason
Got no time to slow
Time everlasting
Time to play b-sides
Time ain’t on my side
Time I’ll never know
Mmm. Not bad. I consider pretty much most music just to be ‘background music’. Stuff that is better than silence, or traffic noise, when on a journey. Barring the ‘songs’ far enough away from my personal tastes that it prompts me to change channels or turn it off. So no disrespect to folks who enjoy different music. We all have our own tastes.
But contrast that to this song, which makes me tear up. I sang it to my Jack Russell, whilst she was approaching death, last year.
Same for space.
Neither is real, but both can be calculated. It’s almost like math itself is fake.
Regarding the “Soupcan Returned” scene: he wasn’t stopping the plane as much as slowing it down to the point he could stop it, you actually saw his hands start to crumple the front and the fuselage ripple
As for that equal and opposite reaction business: if you notice, a lot of the time, the one doing the initial action braces themselves so they don’t get thrown back (it’s… kinda like a Ping-Pong domino effect: they brace themselves, and what they brace against in turn pushes back, butt because they are still bracing they push back again, back and forth until they are remaining basically where they started from, with some damage applied to what ever surface they are on)
Also, once you get something moving, you don’t have to continue applying force to keep them moving depending on friction being applied in an effort to stop them, this is where kinetic potential comes into play: take a look at a baseball game, when you hit the ball with the bat, what is stopping the bat from causing the batter to spin in circles or get knocked back is the kinetic potential of the bat is being applied to the ball, which is why the ball shoots off at a greater speed than if had simply hit a stationary object
If you slap something, butt stop the slap at the instant it connects, all of that potential kinetic force (or energy) is being applied to what ever you just slapped
Another thing to consider: if you aim for somewhere beyond what you hit, which is often the case with baseball and golf and even football, that’s why they don’t end up being knocked back because they are still going forward
super charisma would be cool. or the TASP..
….. Medic….
That “what mountain” remark reminded me of a gag that Shinez had going on… a recurring theme on Superman, Wonder Woman and Mount Everest… In one, WW pulls a piece of rock out of her hair and the thought bubble says, “Friggin Everest Crumbs…”
Everest Crumbs indeed…
The other one had Edward and Bella going “We broke the bed” with Wonder Woman looking at them and saying “How cute” with Everest basically cut in half and Superman going “We need to get out of here.”
I wonder what that blue beam is doing to the ceiling? It has already had a number of pillars punching holes in it!
Although if it is Cthillia’s death beam, then it may not inflict damage, of a sort that would bother a mountain.
Unless it is a sleeping stone giant.
It seems like, if Sciona needs a get out of jail free card, she would only need to mention that she’s developed a method of copying / transferring super powers?
I don’t think she’s expressed that that’s what she’s doing currently to the team yet. But once she does, she presumably would immediately become a capture at all costs target? Likely one that could write her own ticket by offering to share her knowledge?
As nations appear to be weaponizing supers, the ability to mass produce them would seem invaluable? Or every law enforcement officer could be given death toll’s power (useless on it’s own, but invaluable when it comes to policing a populace which might have super abilities (although I’m sort of curious what would happen if Death Toll fought Death Toll). Presumably in narrative this won’t work because of the “side effects” that Sciona mentioned before injecting herself (and given that it’s blood magic, possibly the horrific cost, but then again… Military). But we, and the team, don’t know that yet.
Notably, merely beginning the discussion of her surrender and why the team should care would likely allow Sciona to run out the clock on her interdimensional can-opener gambit?
She does not need to. They have seen that she possesses the techomagic to copy super powers. The uber construct demonstrated gaining laser claws and regeneration, from Pixel’s blood. Plus they will have a file of her known capabilities from the Twilight Council. So they will easily be able to join the dots, to figure out how Sciona is gaining these new powers.
Although …
*hangs head, in shame*
… it took someone else to point that out to me. I had seen her injecting the cocktail of blood, yet forgot about it. In my defence mind I was concentrating on the possibility that she gained them from artefacts. Which, I guess, Archon may do too. OK, OK … you made a good point.
*ruff fluffs up*
The rest of your comment has various well-thought through aspects.
Don’t you mean the Periwinkle Butt Sniffer?
A chuunibyou stare-off?
No his name is Death Toll, because despite what rubbish Sydney might spew out, then having a pr team does not mean you get to decide other peoples names.
I had forgotten his name was even “Death Toll”, because people very rarely ever use it. Whereas “Periwinkle Butt Sniffer” is cited often.
You are right that a PR team does not get naming rights. In fact, the only person who gets to decide someone’s name is their parents, or the individual in question.* Barring names that are grossly offensive to society, or that the appropriate official deems would subject a child to ridicule. Which is fair enough.
That said though what a person gets called is actually down to usage. Nick names can and do stick, under the right circumstances.
* Unless you are in a restrictive country like France, which has laws to ensure that only suitable names are allowed. Although they have gradually been easing the corn cob out of their butts, and allowing a wider range of names than just the boring traditional ones.
No disrespect to those who like the historical ones mind. People like Jeanne d’Arc do need to be celebrated and remembered. And carrying such a name is a source of pride.
But even she is now known as Saint Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orléan.
Some nicknames are easier to “own” than others. look at Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik.
Good point, Sydney better hope SmugD doesn’t get cross with her as his PR team is greater than Ari’s worst nightmare
Heh.
I wonder what a Sciona/Varia team-up would look like. Which might happen if Sciona makes that offer.
There is also the probability of it being a temporary boost at best. Otherwise by now she would already HAVE all of the powers as she has been working at this for awhile now. Im guessing the side effects are more for the sheer number of powers. Its probably a massive strain on even her system. I bet a human would die really fast.
she would only need to mention that she’s developed a method of copying / transferring super powers?…As nations appear to be weaponizing supers, the ability to mass produce them would seem invaluable?
I doubt very much that she can “mass produce them”. We are probably looking at decades worth of work, and untold numbers of people tortured to death, for several minutes of power.
And none of that is the “side effects” she’s concerned about.
That is the kind of rationale that would be essential in any setting which wanted to keep super powers unique (barring from copying supers, of course).
Not that it has much bearing on how things really work. Because once you have done those decades of work you can then replicate the results. And we still make use of things which we know were discovered with the use of torture and/or unethical experimentation. For instance animal rights activists would point out the exploitation of animals, for testing cosmetics, as an ongoing issue. [Smugness +1] *
So it requires introducing ‘something unique’ about super powers which means that they can only be used once when replicated. Thus requiring decades of research and/or development each time.
It would be interesting to see how long the world would survive if anybody could pop down their local chemists and buy a selection of super powers, over the counter, for a modest fee.
Clearly six would be pushing the side effects to unpleasant levels (if even Sciona is worried about them). So most normal people might go for less. Say three, for average folks, or one for more cautious people?
The good thing being that Sciona has probably only gained these powers temporarily, so even a society gaining this would still have a distinction between actual supers, and a super-out-of-a-bottle. The latter is transient, and subject to loss of power just by smashing the containers.
Assuming that the results of using a super power remained (for instance that super healing will permanently cure wounds, rather than just have them sploosh open again at the expiration time), i would definitely buy a rejuvenation/regeneration potion. Doggies only have a short lifespan, and it would be nice to get rid of my various scars.
Not so cool that I might get appendicitis again mind!
Keeping a few bottles of strength and super toughness, for emergencies would be nice. And I think I would be a regular user of super flight! Depending on the side effects, needless to say. If they made me look like Sciona, I think I would pass.
* Clearly OK though, if they only use ugly animals. [Smugness -1]
And scuba gear was invented by nazis torturing people with drowning and hypothermia while observing their death throes and observing results.
Recognition of own smugness penalty, Smugness +1
Not that it has much bearing on how things really work. Because once you have done those decades of work you can then replicate the results.
My expectation is, even without perfect knowledge, she needed to kill people for making her power thingy. I suspect she was NOT simply duplicating supers, but rather was creating the powers herself. So “strength of 1000 people” meant “sacrificing 1000+ people”. Her Troll regen was created by sacrificing Trolls. Her Cyclops beam was created by sacrificing however many of whatever alien has that sort of ability, and so forth.
So she’s been sacrificing people and putting their “whatever” into her potions for a long time, and the longer she’s left too it the stronger her potions get.
That is rampant speculationing : we don’t know if she needs to kill to gain the power, or simply drain the blood, and Sci seems to be the type who knows they would get a greater volume by keeping the ‘donors’ alive so they can regenerate the precious red-juice
Sci commented to (and seriously freaked out) Sydney about whether it was her blood that enabled her to control her balls, and, contrary to popular myth-belief, Sci is not stupid enough to kill Sydney before testing out that theory. And if that didn’t work, then she would move on to the logical ‘Control the Controller’ stage, and only if that didn’t work would she kill Sydney
Don’t forget that Sciona gave her uber construct the ability to copy super powers. All it took was a sample of Pixel’s blood and it was able to replicate her laser claws, by giving her mace laser spikes. So there had not been 1,000 sacrifices of laser claw generating supers. In fact it was not even necessary for Pixel to be sacrificed.
Now we do not know what process was involved in creating the uber golem and the super power replicating device. So, in that regard, it is possible that many sacrifices may have been required, and who knows how many rare components or exotic resources (eye of newt and wing of bat seeming a bit old school for a techno blood mage)?
However, as Guesticus says, we have had no hint that sacrifices are required. The only one we saw was Cooter, and that was less of a sacrifice and more of a living bomb.
We don’t really have the relevant info to say. From a narrative standpoint, there absolutely has to be a reason it can’t easily happen, or else the setting will basically be broken.
I was trying to point out that she’s clearly demonstrating that it can be done in some form. Since the setting is vaguely realistic, that ability would be incredibly valuable militarily almost irregardless of the cost. An injection allowing anyone to be Maxima for 10 minutes could essentially be a city killer that could be deployed with no warning and likely massive deniability. Since most of the team is military, they’d likely realize the potential.
All of which is to say, if Sciona only needs to buy a minute or so, she’d probably be better off demoing one of her new powers, explaining that she’s copying, and offering to negotiate a surrender. Her plot would have completed before she got very far into it at all, she could easily have lied about the details, and there would have been significantly fewer people punching her.
Superbly argued.
One flaw. Talking is a free action. No time would be lost, whilst negotiating. ;-)
Hah!
I think that only applies during action shots, but I cracked a smile regardless.
:)
Just so. That was most definitely ‘spoken with tongue firmly in cheek’.
Or they could punch out and/or kill Sciona anyway and give all of her experiments, research, and equipment to Dabbler.
You know, the literal magi-tech super genius they have on their team that even helped a reality warper figure out their power?
Dabbler doesn’t share the results of her research. It’s part of her Star Trek-esque Prime Directive.
Now, I know that doesn’t make much sense given her actions in the past, but it is supposedly the case. It also prevents Dabbler from breaking the setting, since she could very quickly uplift Earth into an unrecognizable magitek future.
And if things devolved into fighting (the state they are in now) they would do so after some period of stalling. From Sciona’s standpoint, every second wasted is one step closer to victory (without someone punching her).
Everything Dabbler has done on Earth has remained consistent with that philosophy. Barring humans seeing her tech in action, and perhaps gaining insight, she has not provided any of her gear to anyone.
No matter how hard Sydney begged.
As for her prior adventures, I have purposefully not read Wereworld, as I want to see this story from Sydney’s perspective. Should we pass a point where Dabbler tells Sydney her life-story (even if we only see a montage to represent that), then I will check it out.
However there are a couple of significant things which are likely to alter Dabbler’s behaviour, on Earth, compared to elsewhere. Here there are a bunch of supers. With such vast and varied powers, that they could potentially affect the entire universe!
Just look at Krona’s power.* Initially Krona believed that she had the ability to directly manipulate time. It turns out that she did not. However others may. Should Krona have been correct though, she could pause time, reverse it, put it in a loop, and so on. Which would have affected every member of Dabbler’s family, her friends on the remotest of planets, and every member of her race!**
Plus humans are considered so dangerous, by every other sentient race and faction present on Earth, that a global illusion had to be created, to hide from them!
Good reasons not to make them even more powerful, by handing out galactic technology!
* Technically Krona is a member of the supernatural community. But we have no idea how her powers originated. And she is clearly unique, even in her community. Given that she is in a faction all of her own. and the only faction in the Twilight Council to be like that (all the other factions had at least two, and usually three, members).
Plus her powers clearly have some similarity to Sydney’s.
As such she is more like a super, than her peers. And she may well be just that. We have seen that they do not discriminate against humans being part of their society, nor even becoming leaders. As at least two of the mages are human (one delegate being Zephan Zoeng). So they are unlikely to bar supers from joining too.
** Or, at least, those who are in the universe, (i.e. sharing the same space time).
As I stated, I don’t believe that’s the case.
It’d take me some time to dig up the original time we had this argument, so I won’t bother. As I recall, as her motivation in this regard is stated Dabbler shouldn’t even be providing the insight. She also shouldn’t be allowing anyone else to teach her (Dabbler) anything, since the underlying principle of her philosophy was apparently if you can’t figure it out yourself you don’t deserve it. Yet she’s had no problems with Sydney explaining things she’d missed (using a tracking rock on the blood portal, that “math” would somehow lead them to Sciona’s hideout).
Even ignoring that, she’s selectively given Earth the benefit of her technology / magic. She deployed her radiation eating toy when Jiggawatt’s black lightning should have irradiated most of the cast, used her scanning powers to report on Syndney’s orbs, used “math” to locate Sciona’s base, etc.
If we view her creed as being that Earth can benefit from her work so long as it’s not understood we get back to the sticky problem of why she doesn’t create an obscured way of curing cancer, regrow Peggy’s lost limb, and solving basically every problem the team should ever run into (thus removing most of the drama from the story).
Dabbler’s prime directive is inconsistently applied, and even when it is applied, it doesn’t make much sense. But it does provide a quick and dirty narrative excuse for how she doesn’t break the setting. In this particular case, were she asked to duplicate Sciona’s research (which would, as noted before, probably break the setting) she could simply point to her directive and say, “Nope.”
You will likely disagree with me on the particulars (at some length), but I don’t have much interest in rehashing the argument. I simply wanted to point out why Dabbler probably wouldn’t do what was speculated.
That’s the thing you don’t seem to be understanding: it is Dabbles’ ‘prime directive’, just because we can’t understand her motives doesn’t mean they are not consistent to her
You are correct, I don’t understand an inconsistently applied absolute philosophy.
You must be a Jedi, only Jedi talk about absolutes >.>
This isn’t the disagreement you’re looking for.
There’s no real meaning behind that, it just seemed like it’d be fun to say.
:-D
If you are extrapolating Dabbler’s philosophy, from her actions in the comic (given that she does not state such at all), then you need to make sure that the philosophy you attribute does match her words and deeds. If it does not then it is your model that is wrong, not the comic!
What we do know (because the author has stated that) is Dabbler likes to dabble. She is very impatient so does not stick with any task for long. Hence why she has very broad if (relatively) shallow experience. She is a good swordswoman, but not a great one, as an example.
Dabbler takes existing technology, magic, or whatever, and tinkers with it, until she has found a way to improve it. And possibly radically so. Whilst we would assume that a human engineer would only be able to do that once they fully understood the device (/spell etc), Dabbler probably does not have the patience.
Once she has grasped the key elements, pertaining to the bit she wants to upgrade, she will just go ahead and implement it. Then get bored, and turn to something else. Not caring that there were other things about that, which she had not yet fully explored.
Which contradicts your quoted statement, in that Dabbler is quite happy to make use of stuff that she does not fully understand. To corroborate this interpretation, we have seen Decollette making barbed comments about how Dabbler did not even complete succubus finishing school.
Separately the author has confirmed that, as a result, Dabbler only has a rudimentary understanding of her racial illusion ability. Yet she is perfectly happy to use it, to copy General Faulk’s fantasy of green-skinned alien girls.
Then there is the other side of the coin. Whilst Dabbler may be contemptuous of the inadequacies of monkey brains, she has not stated that as a reason for refusing to share her toys.
So Guesticus is right that we (myself included) are trying to impose human ethics and morals on an alien. Given that she literally thinks differently to us we may not be able to fathom why she behaves that way.
However I am happy that my interpretation remains consistent with her behaviour in the story. Whereas you are saying that yours does not satisfy you, when compared to the way she acts. So mine sounds like the better interpretation, given that I can convince myself, even if you remain sceptical.
*wags tail conclusively, and cheekily*
By the way, my attempts at rationale aim to give her a higher purpose. Dabbler may simply be really spoilt and dislike sharing toys.
Unfortunately for your argument here, I was not extrapolating Dabbler’s philosophy. As I recall, this was the author’s summation of it. As I said, I’m not keen to dig through several hundred pages of commentary to dig up the relevant page, so I won’t. But if Dabbler’s actions don’t match the author’s statement on her “prime directive” then I don’t know what to call that other than inconsistency.
Oh, cool, you linked to the page I was talking about below. The author said:
“The short version is that she’s in the camp of “Don’t give a man to fish or even teach a man to fish, he has to learn on his own not only how to fish but also the ecology of the oceans and the economics of the fishing industry.”
With that as her guiding principle:
Why would Dabbler give the benefit of her technology, even selectively. That’s giving a man a fish.
Why would Dabbler give insight on possible tech? That’s teaching a man to fish.
Why would Dabbler allow others to teach her anything? That’s being given a fish and being taught how to fish when she hasn’t figured it out, and clearly hasn’t understood all the facts which result from it.
As the Author notes elsewhere on the page, her principle let Dabbler invoke “Reed Richards is useless” to save the setting from being broken by her tech. But it’s not executed particularly consistently. And that’s fine, it’s a work a fiction (and an entertaining one). But that doesn’t make it immune to critique.
Ahh, I stand corrected. Sorry, I had forgotten that.
And you apply your argument well.
To which though I will have to point out that you are applying the principles as absolutes. Whereas in the real world we have to accept compromises. So I point back to the possible contamination of Mars and Vostok as still being pertinent.
We don’t want to contaminate Mars, or that lake, as a point of principle. However we do want to study them. So we compromise.
Dabbler is doing the same. She wants to have fun on Earth. She does have principles though. So she makes effort to minimise the impact.
Hence, on this basis, I will offer counters to your arguments. Whilst admitting that yours remain fair. However it is a matter of where you stand, as to which people may choose to agree with.
Companies keep propitiatory secrets. They do not want others to gain them. Yet they sell products which provide the benefits of their technology. Their need to make money conflicts with their desire to keep their secrets. So they do their best to conceal the trade secrets, but accept that others may learn them, for instance by breaking open the case and reverse engineering.
Dabbler is doing the same. Except her benefit is the kicks she gets from her activities (I am guessing), rather than making a profit. And she is ensuring that no direct reverse engineering is possible. Even if she is opening up the potential for us to learn for ourselves (but with the benefit of ‘hints gained through observation’).
Ditto to my previous reply. To which there is also the practicality of team work. Her colleagues (and the society she lives in), need to know some basics, in order to:
a) trust that she is doing things safely. Obviously we would prefer detailed information, but at least the headlines give us some clues as to the kind of things Dabbler is doing.
b) know when to duck (Sydney will know to do that whenever she hears ‘viscous fluid incoming!’). In other words people need some idea of what Dabbler’s capabilities are, and the side effects or dangers, in order to formulate effective plans.
Did you not see how dismayed Dabbler was when Sydney taught her how to cast a spell on a rock, to solve the problem? This cut her to the quick! It is something she should have figured out herself, but failed to. Hence acknowledging Sydney as ‘the true genius’.
When Dabbler says to Krona ‘tell me what you think your power does?’, there is some middle ground in between ‘Krona is teaching Dabbler’ and ‘Dabbler is doing research’. Namely Dabbler is learning stuff from Krona (which she finds out to be flawed), but only as a means to an end, given that is necessary to research the powers, and find out what they actually do.
In this case they worked on it jointly. So they are learning together. Which is not prohibited by that philosophical statement you quoted. Neither of them knew how to fish (not properly anyhow) and neither had a fish. Yet the only way that either could learn was to work together.
And Krona is not a muggle, so Dabbler probably doesn’t care about her learning stuff.
She did need to pass on the results of that research mind. But we do not know if it was more than the headline summary (which I suspect is more likely than not).
Which, ethically, is perfectly correct. Krona’s secrets are hers alone. Dabbler needed to vet her powers, to make sure they were safe. She did this, and reported such to her bosses.
Providing deeper information, which their monkey brains could not figure out themselves, will not be in her contract.
To summarize what you’ve said: Dabbler often deviates from her “prime directive” (for various reasons).
Thus, it appears that you agree with me that she inconsistently applies her “prime directive”.
Unfortunately, the instances in which she does choose to stick to her directive (not sharing knowledge with Earth) have real and rather drastic consequences. This allows her to invoke “Reed Richards is useless” to protect the narrative, but it does not stand up to much analysis.
No, I absolutely do not. There is no inconsistency.
___________________________________________________________________
There is a divide between idealistic morals and implementing them in practice. You seem unable to grasp the grey area that results. This is a fundamentally dangerous mind set to have as it can cause far more problems than it cures.
There is a community in India, which was set up under the principles of a Utopia. What it actually ended up with is a bunch of people living luxuriously, off the funding provided by the international community. Whilst exploiting the impoverished people who have to come in to work in their “Utopian” society.
A “utopia” of economic enslavement. And I do not use that lightly. It is appropriate though because levels of abuse and sexual exploitation are staggeringly high. It is a monumentally failed experiment!
Likewise communism was an ideal that, blindly implemented, results in heavily corrupt and repressive societies.
In order to match principles with reality you must find ways to implement them which are actually workable in the environment they have to be used. China is experimenting with ways of reducing the flaws in their society.
Which may or may not pan out in the long run. But at least they have recognised that applying principals blindly is BAD. Adapting the principles, to correct the flaws, is vital.
The only way to guarantee that ‘prime directive’ type principles are maintained is to have zero contact with any such society or eco system. So Dabbler would not have come to Earth. And we would not go to Mars.
Which ain’t happening. So, as these things are going to happen, ways have to be found to minimise the harm.
If we want to stop the ocean floors’ from being ripped to shreds, by mining, we have to find practical solutions to problems like this. Just complaining is not helpful. Finding solutions is what is necessary.
Dabbler’s technology, which teleports back to her lab if she is no longer holding it, is an example of a cunning solution. The fact that it is not a 100% solution should not be derided. It reduces the problem significantly. Without Dave having to write Dabbler out of the script.
She has a principle which she often deviates from. You’ve provided numerous examples. Therefore, by definition, she is inconsistent in the application of the principle.
You can redefine the word, if you want, but at that point communicating to continue the discussion will become difficult.
Very little of the rest of your post has any bearing on the topics being discussed, but I do agree with you that Dabbler could respect her Prime Directive by being entirely absent. She chooses not to do this. As I’ve said before, her prime directive serves a narrative function, but it doesn’t make much sense if you think about it.
You are reading too much into the ‘teach a man to fish’ part. It does not say ‘do not let a man see you fishing’.
The only inconsistencies that can be read into it result from you applying that analogy incorrectly. You are applying it as ‘prevent them from learning’, whereas it is only ‘do not teach’.
Likewise with the “don’t give a man a fish”. It is an analogy for not giving her toys away. It does not say “do not feed yourself fish, whilst you are doing chores, to pay for your keep”. Nor does it say “you are not allowed to help people”.
Stop abusing the analogy!
The analogy is not Dabbler’s philosophy. It is an analogy of her philosophy. Nor is it her mission statement. I linked you to the canon on that, from the press conference. To which Dabbler has remained wholly consistent.
I must admit to being a bit crotchety here, partly due to proposing that I was agreeing to your claims of inconsistency, and partly because I am overdue my snooze.
Plus you are totally entitled to your opinion. And it does have some merit. However I feel you are not being fair to Dabbler here.
Finally, if you remain adamant that Dabbler is breaking the analogy of her philosophy, as described by Dave, then do not forget that it is the comic which is the ultimate canon.
Dave has stipulated that where there is a conflict, the published comic takes precedence (as is the norm anyhow). Plus he reserves the right to change anything he has mentioned in blogs, or comments, if he later decides it would be better handled a different way, when writing the story.
I don’t see Dabbler being so anal as to be bothered by following the absolutes, which you are trying to use to paint her into a corner.
Yeah, but watching someone do something can be a form of learning.
Dabbler wants people to learn. Learning is good. It makes people more self-reliant.
She just will not teach them. But is clearly unconcerned if they can get clues from observing her. I have no idea how to build a rail gun that can shoot through a mountain, just from seeing her fire it.
If I want to replicate that device, I will have to work hard at it. In particular learning many different things. Is Dabbler bothered that we know such research can eventually lead to a cool weapon? Not really. There is nothing in her philosophy that says ‘thou shalt not let a man know that fish exist’.
And the reason why Dabbles won’t teach them… is because she barely understands what she is doing herself
Do note the distinction though. Willing to use it. Not willing to share it. If that gives humans clues about how to progress, she clearly is not bothered. Narrowing down the paths to go (railguns and rad munchers work, ergo are good routes, zombies don’t exist, so don’t bother researching necromancy for them), clearly does not bother Dabbler.
Whereas giving a huge leap-frog, by handing out items for full reverse engineering, is a completely different matter.
We do exactly the same with aliens ourselves. We take effort to minimise our contamination of the Mars (and Lake Vostok, here on Earth). Yet there is still a chance that our devices can profoundly affect their ecosystems.
Both Dabbler and our scientists take time consuming and expensive precautions. Which may not work. It is just a matter of reducing the risk. Because she (and we) still want to go to these places and do stuff there.
It is wholly consistently applied. Dabbler will use it, and show it off, but will neither share it nor explain how it works. Although she does not mind saying a brief statement about its nature (such as being ‘viscous gas’), design (‘I built it to shoot down satellites’) or use (‘it is intended to tow satellites’), she does not elaborate in depth.
Thanks for the link. That’s the page I was talking about above.
Other than that, I refer to you my comments above.
*Shrug* I just like that you can summon a demon to learn about space travel.
Sydney uses her phone.
If the reason you haven’t read “Wereworld” is because of Dabbles, well, that is silly as Dabbles only makes a guest appearance towards the end, she is not the focus or plays too large of a part in it
Well I would not know that, without reading it (barring you just mentioning that). And I do not even want to know that brief part, as it may provide spoilers for things which could affect this story. We have already had a major hint that part of Dabber’s past WILL be brought into this story. But I still want to experience that the same way that Sydney does.
Plus, as Dabbler is a shared character, then whilst reading it I would be contemplating issues about whether that setting is incorporated into the Grrl Verse, and whether there are continuity issues between that and here. However these are just HYPOTHETICALs, as I specifically do not want to have such distractions or thoughts.
I do not want to know the base level of technology or magic in that story, nor whether it is reflected in the items we see Dabbler (or other aliens) using on Earth. Nor find niggles if there are inconsistencies, or continuity problems (the number of boobs Dabbler has being one prominent example which I am aware of, due to the relevant picture of her, like that ).
So there are many things from the story which I am avoiding, not just Dabbler. She is just the single biggest element.
It has been stated, several times, that what happens on Wereworld stays on Wereworld
Not attempting to force you to read something you don’t want, butt if you are going to use the ‘don’t want to read about other technology as it may spoil knowledge and usage of technology in this comic’ argument, then you has’t best not read anything, or watch anything, with any technology as DaveB has been shown to use snippets from multiple sources
Snippets I don’t mind about. It is trenches of (possible) canon that I am avoiding.
Just remember: Wereworld is someone elses Universe, Dabbles was only visiting very briefly
Butt, not going to force you or try and convince you to read something you are not interested in reading
Not true: Dables does share the results of her research, specially if she is working with someone (like Gadget the SPARQ-gnome), she just doesn’t share her toys
I propose a thought experiment.
Given what we know about Dabbler, do you think her capable of researching and then recreating Sciona’s technique of copying super powers, whatever it happens to be?
If you think she can do it, do you think she will then share that research with the team?
…If she can replicate blood magic, then yes, believe she would share, specially seeing how she would have studied, learnt and recreated on Earth
What do you think will happen to the setting of Grrl-Power if the team (and thus the US military) suddenly got the ability to use blood magic to create supers?
Do you think the military would attempt to weaponize super powers by spreading them more widely?
What if the ability transfer was temporary?
Do you think the military would attempt to weaponize super powers by duplicating particularly destructive abilities for short term use?
Sounds like fun.
You are speculating on something that has not even been hinted at being a possibility
Yes and no. Sciona can use blood to copy super powers. Further she was able to give that power to a construct. The combination of those two is a good hint that the same may be possible with humans too.
Not definitively mind, but if talking ‘hints’ then, yes, that door has been opened.
However Sciona is a blood mage, and that may be an intrinsic part of how she is able to gain the super powers. Other mortals, without their unique capabilities may be no more able to pull that off, than they could cast a fireball. Just because injecting blood was involved does not mean that is the only requirement.
Likewise the construct was purpose built. We can grant flight to machines, or give them the ability to lift up a dump truck, but that does not mean that we can do the same to people.
So it does just remain in the realm of speculation, as there is nothing to show that it is possible.
I do not doubt thought that the military would want to investigate the possibilities. They would be foolish not to.
And historically we know that the US were perfectly willing to cut a deal with former Nazis, in order to gain rocket technology. So you may get to see Sciona working in Arc Sparq. ;-)
I was just trying to show that if Dabbler could do it, it’d probably have a big impact on the setting. Certain things would probably follow from the ability. It could turn into a Plot Tumor (see tvtropes for more on those).
There are a lot of ways that Dabbler could say, yes I’ve taught you this thing, but it’s useless for various reasons… (she told them how to do it but it doesn’t work on humans; she told them how to do it, but it requires too much time / blood; etc.) All of those would take more time than it’s really worth to explain, though.
Long story short, it’d be a lot easier for Dabbler to say this is one of those things you have to figure out for yourself. She’s got a built in excuse she’s used previously to minimize her impact on the setting.
That’s just my guess though. We’ll see soon enough how things go.
“all the other factions had at least two, and usually three, members” = “all the other factions had at least two, and usually three, delegates“
Periwinkle Butt Sniffer vs Periwinkle Butt Sniffer DEATH BATTLE!
1 throws punch.
2 drains the kinetic force of 1
1 “backlash wave” (Inu Yasha. Your power multiplied by enemies power, then throw power back at them)
2 absorbs powered hit, attempts to also convert them into living armor (as seen with Jiggawatt)
1 doesn’t get absorbed but gains the armor they would have become themselves
ALL THIS IS ONE SINGLE PUNCH
And just like that, I will never be able to take Cyclops or Superman’s heat vision seriously again.
Thanos did something pretty similar to Cyclops during the original Infinity Wars. The difference being that Cyclops didn’t survive.
I don’t mean for the “shrugging it off” of it, I mean the “not seeing a d@#% thing when you use it” aspect.
Superman has destoyed a planet with his heat vision.
The swine! I always thought he looked shifty!
At least most illegal immigrants don’t come bearing superweapons.
Hadn’t it been mentioned that Cyclops’s “secondary power” let him see through his own energy?
You mean the one that makes him unaffected by the effects of his ‘primary power’ and Havok’s? Sometimes it’s just immunity to the force/pressure it exerts. Sometimes it includes seeing clearly. Depends on the writer, and what they need to happen in the story.
The thing that makes him immune to Havok is the same that made Black Tom and Banshee immune to each other’s powers (Well before Tom went Treant or whatever). Close Genetic relatives tend to be resistant, if not immune to each others powers.
The unified theory of Superman’s powers.
https://www.qwantz.com/fanart/superman.pdf
That doesn’t let me take the heat vision more seriously, but it does let me take supes a bit more seriously. Cookie for you!
I’m not the smartest person in the world, but I don’t think Mother Fucking Punch is a sound effect.
Of course it is. Just listen to it.
*pawses to listen*
See!
Now that I look at the last panel it looks like Max is doing a shoulder charge instead of a punch. I see the blur affect that Dave is using on her fist, but with the way she’s angled it looks more like a shoulder charge. I think a right straight punch, uppercut, or shoulder tackle into the wall would have been more dynamic.
I think the MFP goes way, way beyond sound.
yer right, it isn’t one, it’s a caption to describe a punch so mind-bogglingly awesome that it boggles the mind and defies conventional description
…MAAAAYBE, but it si more pithy than ‘BAGOOOOM!’
the mark is still missing from #626
What mark? He looks fine to me. https://www.theshirtlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/EXPERIMENT-626.jpg
You do make a good point. Sciona did cast a spell that can be defeated by being rinsed off by a good shot of water from seltzer bottle. (because club soda supposedly removes blood stains)
Maybe Sydney keeps a squirt gun in her utility belt next to the arts and crafts?
Now that is how to recover from a seriously humiliating predicament!
I really am looking forward to watching that movie, some day. And Despicable Me 4, and Despicable Me 5 and …
That gives me a flash-back to that famous Indiano Jones moment with the swordsman ;-) Villain moving up to use awesome power. “Squirt”. Supervillain powers down.
This one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I_Ds2ytz4o
Great scene. Mind you Mythbusters showed that if the swordsman had just rushed at Indy, he could have killed Indiana without being shot!
I think the squirt gun scene is more reminiscent of this.
Supposedly the one from the first movie was improv – Harrison Ford was sick that day and didn’t want to film an action scene, so he ad libbed and it was so funny they left it in, even though it threw out all the practice and planning for the poor swordsman. I think the follow-up was both a callback and cashing in on the work they’d already done planning a sword-fight scene.
Super strength is hard to integrate into everyday life, but this page really points out the even bigger drawback to shooting beams from your eyes. People use those to see! How can anyone hit their target like that!? Plus, Sciona doesn’t have the required secondary powers to use them with any degree of safety, like built-in filters to keep her white-hot eye beams from zorching her own retinas.
Her power’s so bright, she’s gotta wear shades.
I wonder if she zorched anything important with her eye beam while tumbling through the air. Well, if she did, she’ll be the last to know.
Dabbler might have been the first.
I assume that any transfer/acquisition of powers comes with immunity to that power be default, just like it does for Varia. Partly because *mumble mumble pseudoscience * … but mostly because of the Rule of Cool, and because a universe where any wanna-be villain immediately incapacitates themselves at their debut makes for a short story. Potentially hilarious, but short.
Dave at least gave this a nod with her being unable to see clearly, which is the kind of trope-lampshading I love about this comic.
She doesn’t need sunglasses with all the shade we cast on her!
Nah, Sci is pretty shady already
I’ve made up my mind.
The best thing about this page isn’t the realistic effects of the eye lasers, but it’s that Halo figured out how to make teamwork, work, on the page after wondering how does teamwork, work.
She loves it when a plan comes together, on the Alpha team.
Not quite as nice has having someone else’s plan come together to your benefit, but it’s a pretty good feeling either way. I
completely understandcould imagine the impulse to monologue gleefully when years ofschemingplanning finally comes to fruition.And how upsetting it would be for someone to ruin your moment of triumph.
Too bad Dave didn’t pick a construction site for this battle. Then Maxima could have responded to Sciona’s eye beam attack by hitting her with an I-beam.
Aye, eye have to give that one to yea.
The ‘bucket’ comment doesn’t sound like the gauge we saw when she was fighting Vehemence, though. It looked more like a stat set that took power from other things if you wanted full strength.
Pissed off Maxima is awesome. Well… Maxima is awesome. What I mean is that… eh… pissed off Maxima is awesome. Yeah. That´s it.
Max is awesome. Period. Full stop.
When’s she’s pissed off, it’s just got a drizzle on top that adds a bit of extra tangy MFP to the usual flavor of Max’s awesomeness.
*gets out the pom poms, and starts dancing*
Rah Rah Maxima!
Rah Rah Maxima!
That’s exactly what I wanted to see.
I am reminded of an old bit,
“I have killed dozens of mutants, I have all their powers now, I am invincible!”
-Did their powers stop you from killing them before you had their powers?
“What? Of course not…how else,”
-Better hope then that the first one you got wasn’t the strongest *smiles*.
I thought the response was ‘Then how do you know you’ll come out better?’
Last winter at the office (yeah, let’s call it ‘the office’ instead of ‘secure government data handling facility’) one (previously healthy) individual in my group came in sick with a cough. Another worker was worried about him being there. He said ‘don’t worry it’s not contagious.’ The worker immediately responded ‘Then how did you get it?’
Sciona charges her Lazor!
Maxima falcon pawnch!
The latter old meme won!
anyone else hearing the one punch man theme in the background? just me?
Considering how hard Max punched Sciona, there would be a big boom (although not a big bada-boom). While Max, Hiro, Achilles and Sydney would be immune; I pity poor Dabbler, who’s hearing is so good she can locate an invisible person in a room.
On the other of Yorp’s paws, she surely knows any ArcSWAT mission has an 85% chance of explosions, so maybe putting ear plugs in is the first part of her preparation.
:-D
Her ears do look like they have cotton wool in them.
I know someone that would play with it anyway.
Shoulda used blood oranges in the pic, rather than apples
Marcelene the Vampire Queen (Adventure Time) cosplay. Marcy eats the RED from the apples, not the apples. Orange wouldn’t sate her- only the color red.
Ka-me-ha-me…. oh wait…. Moth-er Fuck-ing PUNCH!!!!!
Shouldn’t Max’s jacket be charred and cracked? Seems the rest of clothes would be gone unless she gots teflon undies on now… since the Hiro hug of warm inappropriateness.
Dave mentioned this, in a reply on the first page. He knows it should show some wear and tear, which is (relatively) easy to do today. But then there is the chore of exactly replicating the damage in each subsequent page, until she gets changed.
Fortunately we do know that Maxima’s force field protects her clothing, so I just rationalise it as her having dumped more power into that outer force field, than on some other occasions.
I smell cop out…
Mmm, Dave works hard, so deserves a break from making his job harder still. We did, fairly recently, have Maxima with a severe wardrobe malfunction, therefore that would be getting a bit repetitive. So I think Dave is wise, all things considered.
Now if Sydney could get wardrobe battle damage, then I would be on my soap box, demanding realism!
*glares angrily at the Forb*
My penis would disagree with you.
Well you have balls, to make such a bold point.
Stupid orange ball. WHAT DO YOU DO ALREADY!?!
That’s why it’s a Fuck You Orb.
i have a feeling the person hit by Sciona’s energy blast on this page was Halo, with her shield up but still shielding her eyes/reflexively raising her arms to protect herself
DaveB has confirmed that it was both Maxima (initially) and Sydney (taking her place, in the panel you describe).
Third person you say? I am guessing the other two are Vehemence and whoever she fought overseas that she currently thinks is dead (and assumably was who she was talking about when she mentioned other supers in her power range).
Sounds likely.
I’m guessing the first is whoever she fought to a standstill during the Gulf War, who is ‘presumed’ dead but they arent sure on that (who was probably on that list of villains after the press conference). And the second has to be Vehemence.
I’m guessing she never used that punch on Dabbler though.
Naa, I think Tsapki called it right.
*points paw at previous comment*
Spot on about Dabbler though. She still has a head.
I literally said the same thing that Tsapki said. :)
Yup.
*wags tail cheekily*
Hehe Blinded by the Light.
Was she also revved up like a deuce – another runner in the night?
some of these superheroines make me wonder if they’re Silicone Sisters
I fantasize of the day someone pepper sprays me and instead of screaming I begin singing “She blinded me with science”.
“Consecutive Normal Punches.”
I point all the way back to page 1, panel 2 “Think again KopyKraut! You may have all of our powers but that doesn’t mean you know how to use them”. Just think its relevant here.
It sure is. Sydney has a distinct advantage, in that game. Her professional knowledge is stacking with her comic book lore, to make her an invincible rules lawyer!
“Pander casts Copyright Infringement! It’s super effective!”
As long as they don’t put up their +1 Holy Shield of Fair Use.
Ambivalence is a power I have that makes me immune.
Powerful copy protection on the latter link. Hitting the “you don’t have Facebook wall”, is a powerful way to ensure that I do not infringe their rights, by even viewing the material. Ever.
I made a trading card game called “Copyright Infringement the Trading Card Game”.
It’s a link to an Original Card, which is a combination of the “idea of a food tree” which was an item from a game on Facebook called Faunasphere, which you placed in your own dimension. Put a basic food item on it (a meat patty, an apple) that counted as both an item that could be eaten directly or used as an ingredient, and the food item ceased to exist but the tree would grow six.
The other item in my original card (originals are fusions) was a 1-up mushroom from Super Mario Bros.
I infringe on copyrights of over 75 different franchises intentionally. Every item that can’t exist in reality (or can exist but doesn’t work as the cartoon/game/etc shows) can be an item card. I pull monsters out of their own worlds and make those go hyper-meta too.
One thing I had a lot of fun with was considering the Brain Gremlin (Gremlins 2: The New Batch) a boss and giving him access to Bioshock Plasmids, Pokemon Evolution Stones, and Family Guy’s experimental gene drugs, so he could upgrade stock gremlins to new heights. Eevee’s descriptions say it has unstable DNA which is why it can become so many elements, and the Brain Gremlin was suggesting something of that regard as well. So can a gremlin evolve with a fire stone? Both franchises agree with each other on the answer being “yes”. But I’m ripping off SO MANY PEOPLE that no one can stop me. So instead I ask permission.
A game on Facebook called “The Last One” replied to my query and said that “Since your game is called Copyright Infringement, do you really need our permission? :D” So that’s a yes. SMBC also gave me permission (James Ashby asked Marty Wiener who gave me permission, and Jon Brence said as long as I made him into a monster card he’d say yes, so I tweeted him a card of himself as a sex-crazed psychopath on his birthday. He said he’d “use it in every card game from now on”. Lynne Reid Banks gave me permission and brought up some books she had written that never got published so she retained their rights instead of the publishing house, but I didn’t get a copy of those books from her.
Awesome stuff. Your line about “I infringe on copyrights of over 75 different franchises intentionally.” reminded me about one of the YouTubers my best mate follows. I remember his name distinctly it is “MrRantsAngrilyALot”. Uh, although that may be more of a nickname, that I use.
Anyhow one of his rants is about YouTube videos being taken down, due to copyright infringement. Even if it is just a short excerpt of music, or a clip, for example. Which he was incensed about, when it compromised genuine ‘fair use’.
And, because he is a prominent blogger, his get taken down pretty fast. Especially by the companies he slags off the most.
Then he stumbled across an interesting phenomenon. When he had multiple copyright infringements, on a single video, for various different companies, his video remained online. Which he came to realise was because there were multiple, conflicting, claims made that ‘I own the rights to the copyright material’. None of whom could make a claim that theirs took precedence over the others.
Which meant that the legal process was stalled, whilst that was resolved. Possibly indefinitely. I did not follow the issue beyond that.
Just mentioning it out of interest, as you are doing great getting permissions.
Although if your overall game is a parody of the copyright infringement situation, then all your use could be legally justified as parody. So that reply, which you took to be tongue-in-cheek, may have been alluding to that.
Plus I think you are on especially good grounds, as you are only parodying a single thing from each. Rather than copying a whole body of work.
On a tangentially related note to another comment, I did find one archive link to a YouTube video for Kung Fu Panda singing Bohemian Rhapsody – along with characters from over 100 other animated works. It had of course been removed for copyright violation – now I’m wondering how YouTube decides which claim takes precedence, or if they just figure that a broad-spectrum violation like that comes down by default.
Sometimes they get taken down without anyone actually claiming- as some original content creators have made videos about.
No, my intention with the game was it was a natural progression of me and a friend’s nerd-vs-nerd cell phone arguments while we worked security at night and had nothing to do.
“I collect the Dragonballs (Dragonball Z) and summon Shin Long to grant my wish that you die”
“Yeah well I’m hiding in the bushes and bean Shin Long in the face with a Master Ball (Pokemon) before you get to wish”
“Okay well then I use The Aurin (Neverending Story) to wish…”
“I steal it and put it in the Horadric Cube (Diablo 2) and combine the Aurin with the Monkey’s Paw (Monkey’s Paw short story) so all your wishes come true but you regret them.”
I realized at one point that it was also a roleplaying game, so it takes place in this world, with a puzzleboard (my invention). Universally cut puzzle pieces that replace Earth. Just think of how awesome it would be if your own city’s neighbors were Barter Town (Max Max Beyond Thunderdome), Viridian City (Pokemon), and Yu-Gi-Oh Academy (Yu-Gi-Oh), separated by a couple rivers (Cheese, from Kraft Macaroni & Cheese commercials. Slime, from Ghostbusters 2. Now also think if those rivers flowed into each other… cheese ghosts?)
Okay new comic is up today. I’ll head over there and drop my very excited conversation (with sadness but this is Dave’s place not mine. If you wanna hear more or have fun with me then Google my name and find me elsewhere.)
It’s kind of like doing a Kegel.
Shamelessly stolen from Dr. Universe
Discussions of the powers aside, I’d like to note that Maxima is clearly trying to take Sciona alive for questioning, NOT because of a “no-kill” rule. Sciona’s a lethally dangerous fugitive. Remember the bit about why they carry guns even though they have powers? Just like with an armed and actively hostile perp being confronted by ordinary police, Arc can and does have full justification to take Sciona down permanently, before she can hurt anyone else ever again.
…That being said, taking her alive is the better option, and I applaud Maxima for that. “Dead men tell no tales.” And Sciona definitely has so very MUCH to share with them…
Guessing her top level is ‘Ska-doosh’.
Ska-doosh, Ska-doosh, will you do the Fandango?
Thunderbolts and lightning,
very very frightening …
…and, now I want to see Po and the Furious Five doing a Bohemian Rhapsody montage.
Odd. I could not even find a single example of that?
*taps the internet, and gives it a bit of a shake*
I think this must be broken. There was not even a porn version of it!
Hang on, did the last person who borrowed the internet, properly demagnetise it?
Well until the Elders of the Internet fix it, the best I can offer you is The Frozen Bohemian Rhapsody.
This version is better than that Frozen du-du
Oh, and Po repeated ‘ska-doosh’ at the end of “Kung-Fu Panda 2“
Cool version. And a disturbingly sexy Boba Fett!
But you cannot beat the original!
That is brilliant – love all of their musical parodies, hadn’t seen that one though. Their rendition of Mnah Mnah is actually my favorite version. * dishes out an entire bag of Yorpie Snax *
I wonder if Muppet Max would ever do a celebrity appearance with them?
*head vanishes in bag*
*tail in the air waggling like mad*
*muffled munching sounds ensue*
You might think so, but you’d be wrong.
That is blocked from viewing, for anyone who values privacy.
Had no problem viewing that (nor the other one above), just have to tell it “Not Now” and that pop-up window goes away
And no, don’t have Book of Farts as they wouldn’t let me join years ago without a “Governmental form of identification”
Thanks. That was an … unforgettable … performance.
I just get turned off when I see that pop up, so don’t even read through it.
Interestingly I was a very early adopter of it (pre any such identification nonsense). in as much as reserving my preferred pseudonym. Then leaving it until they sorted out the privacy problems.
Still waiting. Let that account lapse yonks ago though. Saw the writing on the wall that they were not going to fix it.
Tried to join about 8 years ago (can’t remember the exact time frame, butt it was a long time ago), was only doing so to help sister with her games
Someone put a video on Facebook of them using a queaky toy rubber chicken to play the entirety of Bohemian Rhapsody.
When I saw this page I thought of the line, “I… am .. sick.. and.. tired.. of.. YOU”, and couldn’t remember where it came from. I thought and thought, where did that line come from? I came up with Bruce Willis in “Die Hard” saying, “I’m gonna kill ya (punch in the face), then I’m gonna cook ya (punch in the face), then I’m gonna eatcha. (punch in the face)” It took me about ten minutes to get it. It was William Shatner in that Star Trek movie, KICKING, not punching, that Klingon commander in the face. Anyways, that’s what I think Maxima is feeling right now on this page, “I’m sick and tired of you”.
On a side note, if it hasn’t been discussed before, why didn’t ARC bring the council in on this?
“I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard…”
Over fifty brands of punch??? Delicious!
With a range that is tempting for a serial killer.
Remember the Candy factory?
Sciona was collection blood from supers or magical beings.
Her power ups would be best use of that.
She’s obviously sorted the powers into prepacks that allow her to use minimal and speedy blood magics to power up for different situations.
If she got Sydney’s blood it could be amusing.
But if she got Pixel? (Pink Puma’s) Camo and shows that to try to hide.
(BUT NOTE- think she won’t be able to hide from Dabbler’s Porn Sense, because she just had awesome sex at least twice less than an hour ago or so. Eh? And if anyone has track residual sexual fluid spells it would be Dabbler. (Insert Halo Groooooosssss! Here)
If Halo spots powers that she can associate with the blood collection/drain site at candy factory, she will come up with a plan in short order.
Also where and what’s happening with the construct she sent out first time which fled, much reduced, for the distance and flaming forest?
Think a page as fight progresses that steps out and answers a few dangling questions would help here.
Also raise more questions and fan debate… (Which hanging chads need addressed other than the one I mentioned above?)
Maybe alternate panels of the fight with these questions…it’d be Soooo ADHD like, especially if it lets Halo inform reader of her questions and thought process while the fight goes on.
Also Rule of Funny…
Good stuff.
Indeed, good observations.
I’ve thought about starting a list of unfinished plot threads (like, almost every side character introduced so far), but I’m not sure what I’d actually do with that list… other than go “ding!” whenever one got crossed off the list.
Would there be any interest in a list like that, maybe as part of the wiki? Or in transcriptions of the comics for searching the archives?
Make up a bunch of bingo cards, number them, so each reader can pick which one they want to use. Then we can play Grrl Power Plot Thread Bingo!
We could even set aside a a pot of gold stars, for the winner.
Unrelated question, what is that type of fan, you know, the one with a light in the middle attached to the ceiling?
I was unaware that such fans existed. I would have to guess ‘Star Fan’?
*keeping my claws crossed that it earns you some points, in your ‘Make Yorp Say Bingo’*
Down 5, Right 4
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/grrl-power/images/1/1a/2014-05-29-GP00218.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20161112143814
Ahh, oscelot fan.
Viirin, are you thinking of these? I suppose you could stick one to the ceiling…
I got you to link it, but I didn’t get Yorp to say it. So close!
Believe that’s just a ceiling fan with a light
Also Rule of Funny that could happen… shown in next shower scene or before… Halo’s move gets her a Half tan…with her face having a white X from her arm’s shadows…even funnier if it went though her clothing on the front only…
This would be her proof that certain frequencies of light have to get through and are only mitigated so she can still sense what’s around her. If only inside the sphere of her shields.
Enough gets through she gets the UFO Tan on her front.
Possible? Hmmm. Mebbe, But Rule of Funny here… please? DaveB
He he.
*paw print of approval*
Yep Max is pissed, a punch like that was at full force, Sciona isn’t walking away from this fight.
Almost at full force. Sciona did not exit the mountain!
Not an exaggeration mind. Check out Dave’s blog above.
Oh very true.
Celine Dion and Deadpool.
“I never go below a 10.”
Is Celene trying to be Dabbler or Arianna?
I saw that yesterday. Was… I rode a “noble antlered cow” in praise.
Thank goodness I found this! I was dreading searching for it, in fear of getting ‘reverse cowgirl’*-like results!
* DISCLAIMER: If you do not recognise this term you are too young to google it. Either that or you should ask Mother Superior’s permission, before proceeding.
Yay! You got my reference!
Do you ever feel unwanted, Sister Mary?
Looks like Syd stepped in with her shield and blocked the Blinding-the-User-Blast so Max could switch to offense.
Frankly, right now, if I was Max, the only limitations I would be concerned with is if my attacks caused damage to the rest of the team. Killing Sciona dead as dinner would not be a concern for me after the shit she’s done – she hasn’t killed anyone because they are all capable of taking her shit, not because she hasn’t been trying to kill anyone. And technically, Syd died at Sciona’s hand, that she got better was because she was save scumming (I heartily endorse save scumming, btw).
“You tried to kill me! Or did kill me, but I reloaded… You suck! And so I will blow you up!”
If I was Sydney I would be considering the PPO, although Max has told her not to use it, so I’d probably ask for clearance first.
As said, Sciona’s main goal is to delay the team, but as also said, if she killed any of them, she would be happy about it.
We still don’t know what triggered the Safety Recall: many are speculating that it was Sydney’s death, butt it could just as well have been Sydney’s fear of needles
Bit off-topic but happy birthday, DaveB!
Oh, belated many happy returns.
And may the fourth have been with you.
Obviously, this has a bit of a reflection in the RPG scene introduction (which, I believe, has yet to happen in relation to this scene). Educational to watch, I’m sure.
Another point concerning Super Strength: if you were born with it, or gained it early enough, there will be less problem, because you will have spent your entire life developing control, and you will know (mostly instinctively) how to control it, just like you know how to adjust your grip on a plastic bottle when you are pouring out a drink so as not to drop or crush the bottle as the contents change
The problem usually occurs when you gain the SP at a later time, like with Ben Grimm, it doesn’t help in his case that his skin changed and not sure if it was ever mentioned if he retained the same level of sensitivity to touch or if his skin was literally like a rock with no feeling or a greatly reduced sense
Same thing with regards to the other Super Senses: if you are born with it or gain it shortly after, you are better able to adjust to it than if you gained them later, specially regarding Hearing, if you can suddenly hear a pin drop a mile away, a screaming baby next door is going to be very painful, Super Smell is going to leave you wanting to cut your nose off the first time a loaded cattle truck goes past
or if you gain the super strength while in a berserk state; yer angry already, anger is almost the antithesis of control; case in point the Incredible Hulk, if he tried to pour a wine bottle while Hulked up they would all break like trick bottles
Yeah, butt when you are angry, you don’t care about not smashing things, in fact, you want to smash things, specifically whatever (or whomever) got you angry in the first place
Depends on your self-control.
I’m pretty angry pretty often, and naturally violent, but I don’t have Brock Sampson’s bodyguard license, so I just… sit.
Nice analysis.
(Keep in mind that Maxima fought other supers in some overseas action. If you misjudge the toughness of an opponent on the superhero scale by even a little bit, stuff can get fatal real fast.)
I believe that’s why Superman started out so many fights getting knocked around in the DC Animated universe. He’d always start low and work his way up until he found a level that would deal with his opponent, so it would look like he was struggling, but the only thing he was actually struggling with was not splattering them. Because every super-powered freak has a difference toughness level on a huge scale so you can’t be sure what they’ll shrug off and what makes for a lethal oopsie.
Yups, that’s why he loved it when Dorkside showed up, and Soupcan got to spout his infamous speech about living in a world of cardboard
This page is brought to you by “Training Trumps Talent”, and “In An Emergency You Will Fall Back To Your Training”.
“Experiment in the Lab, Not on the Battlefield” is also a co-sponsor.
Although that final co-sponsor has a contract clause that Sydney cannot appear in any of their promotional material.