Grrl Power #634 – Have a nice trip, see you next fall
Sydney handles new situations with aplomb. That or she tries to smack someone with a chair. It’s a toss-up really.
Sydney’s shield is so good. Everyone, even Maxima went for a tumble, and there sits Sydney, composed and cracking wise.
Hmm. Not really sure what else to say about this page. Everything I’m coming up with feels spoilery. The fact that it’s one of those rarest of things, a three panel Grrl Power page, doesn’t help. Maybe if there were six panels of Sydney daydreaming about something there’d be more to discuss. She hasn’t done a cutaway sequence in a while. I guess I better get to it!
I know only a few of you have followed the series all the way through, but it’s like my favorite thing in the world now, so I’m going to keep mentioning it when a new one comes out, which is about once a month, because Michael-Scott Earle is the Fred Perry of novels. (He’s prolific, see?) Anyway, Star Justice book 11 is out now (and it has four long awaited weddings in it, squee!)
Here’s also a link to book 10, which one of the best books in an already great series. When it came out, Amazon screwed up and it wasn’t showing up in related searches, like people looking for other space opera novels or sci-fi action didn’t see it until like 4 weeks after it came out. It’s always the way with novels, each book in a series sells less than the previous one. The avid fans scoop everything up, but everyone else has a chance of dropping away from a series, or they just forget to check for new volumes after a while, and no one starts off a series on book seven. Check the reviews of every series on Amazon. Book 2 invariably has half as many reviews as book 1, but the star ratings go up a bit, because everyone who liked book 1 enough to stick around for the second one is probably going to be a fan of the author’s writing style and characters and everything else. But each book in a series always has fewer review that the one before it. It makes me wonder how Piers Anthony managed 41 Xanth novels. I’m sure the first one sold very well, but the 41st book had to sell about 5% of what the first one did.
So anyway, check that link if you didn’t catch it the first time around. Or just look at the “What I’m Reading” widget over on the sidebar for a link to all 11 books. Or just click here.
If space opera isn’t your thing, that same author’s Tamer: King of the Dinosaurs is really good too, IMO. I mean, obviously, it’s my opinion. I like the books. Maybe you will too.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
OH WOW
Hmm, glowing runes on a fancy tiled floor, meethinks this is Sciona’s base she was trying to escape to
Or maybe they are in the Magical Matrix?
the world between worlds? The come and go relm?
maybe the world between worlds. the come and go relm
They might have transported into a giant cavern. I am hearing an echo.
The Chronicles of Narnia had the world between worlds be a giant forest with puddles everywhere, and each puddle was a portal to another world.
Suikoden Tierkreis had it be some train station-like area where each archway led to another reality.
I wonder if this explosion is one of those realms.
oh god. tierkreis. I remember this game. it was fun but the voice acting was horrible! especially the MC Lol
Kind of reminds me of the Abyss from the Dragonlance SSI Games…
Yeah, I’m old.
Back when Dragonlance was actually good. Ah I loved the SSI games back on my Amiga. Couldn’t do one now, its all that crap 5th age or what ever it was and kill off Tanis in an almost throw away page *grumble grumble* (yeah I read all the books until they got crap).
I never got to play those much. But there was one I loved, which was probably in the dragonlance setting, as you rode around on dragons, fighting other dragons. I don’t remember much about it now, beyond that. Except one neat trick I discovered. The dragons flight was rather like a fighter planes, in that it was ultra responsive. Tap the control to the right a wee bit and you shot over.
All well and good for someone with uber reflexes and trying to pull off some fancy dog-fighting stunt. But a pain if having to keep balancing on a knife’s edge for hours on end, playing through the game. You would need to travel from one encounter area to another, but needed to stay alert because you could get ambushed at any time.
So I chose to set my ‘centre flight’ (or whatever the key option was called, which reset you to a straight flight, rather than tilted at an angle) to the caps lock button, then depressed it just the once to keep it turned on permanently (a trick which would not work with any other key).
That way you just pointed yourself at the destination you wanted, and it auto-corrected itself. I had originally only planned to do that as a sort of ‘auto-pilot’. But found it worked fine even for combat. Because in that situation the active use of the joystick, pretty much overrode the ‘centre flight’ option (you could sense a bit of correction, but mostly your turn was uninhibited).
It turned it from a frustrating and exhausting game to a real favourite, for quite a long time. Dragon riding cool.
URGENT TO ALL READERS
Please read my warning posted in the thread here BEFORE MAKING ANY COMMENTS.
I have sent a message to DaveB, but I know he is often asleep at update time. So it may be a while before this is dealt with. Please be patient with the inconvenience in posting in the meanwhile.
It would be helpful if someone could mention this on Dave’s twitter account please. In case he spots it there quicker.
My settings look fine, so I do not think this is a server issue. This might be an issue with your browser settings. Clear your GrrlPowerComic.com cookies and try again.
Hmm, I spoke too soon. Now when I click on Reply, the name and email are not already filled in. Thankfully, the history feature of my browser allows me to quickly pick from prior names and emails.
no problem for me. Everything normal.
Possibly it may be a WordPress update conflicting with Google Chrome (if others with the same problem are also using that browser)?
I am using Firefox, which if I recall, is using the same rendering engine as Chrome now.
Hmm, weird. I’m not seeing this behavior, but my login is a bit different I guess. I wonder if it was a WordPress update that’s doing this. Are a lot of people experiencing this ‘login details not being retained’ problem?
Yes, I’m having it too! Replied to your Facebook posting of this chapter about it.
I’m not seeing a problem either
My auto-fill details are working fine as normal, but then again, I use the Pale Moon browser which most people haven’t heard of.
Edit: I take that back, it didn’t work on this particular post; worked on my last one but not this one. Okay, confirmed it’s happening to me too.
Also noticing that sometimes comments are taking forever to post, and some aren’t (I -think- I’m noticing a pattern of if it’s auto-filling fields or not is indicating how long it will take to post…. much longer if not auto-filled specifically?)
Also using palemoon.
But are you
googlingpalemooning OK?GAH, my eyes! NSFW, a warning would have been nice. I suppose nudity doesn’t count for you as a different species, but still.
Heh. Nice, but not as fun. I did contemplate the warning, but considered folks would probably guess what a mooning link might include. I tried to pick as tasteful a one as I could though. Sorry if it was problematic.
It was the most SFW NSFW image have ever seen :D
Or maybe it was the most NSFW SFW image? o_O
My 1st comment worked like it’s supposed to, but when it reloaded it didn’t return to my comment. The 2nd comment, the fields were empty, but the reload worked fine.
Works as normal for me on Firefox.
I went to post that it works for me but then it didn’t submit properly and after I did my info disappeared.
It’s not working for me.
I’m getting it also. It started yesterday (at some point during Wed 23rd / Thurs 24th). Today (Friday 25th wee hours) I was presented with a new terms of service to agree to. Which still didn’t change the auto-fill back.
Lots of companies are undergoing work for GDPR compliance, I figured the new terms of service had something to do with that. Dunno about the auto-fill, but that could conceivably also be a part of GDPR compliance.
*nods*
I had been wondering pretty much the same thing myself. Even though GDPR is a Europe thing, any companies dealing with customers from it (therefore including all browsers) are having to make changes to accommodate that. I had only hesitated in suggesting it before, myself, because the relevant laws did not come into effect until today. But it makes sense that some companies would roll out changes a bit in advance.
Or it could simply be a side effect. It does require extensive upgrades to ensure data protection, so could have diverted resources from other regular updates going on at the same time. So those may be more buggy, as a result.
Ah, GDPR is actually a pretty good suspect – saving the form fill data (generally) relies on cookies, and the 3rd-party providers (WordPress etc) may have changed their process or simply dropped support for the time being.
If anyone is unfamilar with GDPR, it is responsible for stuff like this.
It was filled in for me
Umm, where did Les go? o_O
And achiles?
That is Les (Achi-Les)
Oh that makes sense.
At least we can count on him and Sydney to remain conscious in case anything happens (his invulnerability and sydneys infinite shield-air combo)
The last we saw of him was Maxima peeling him off the ceiling. Which may have involved some bits coming down on top of him, as the whole lot was clearly unstable. So he could have been delayed. He has taken no part in the action since, and was not someone next to the portal. Ergo he may still be on the other side.
Alternatively he just got flung out in the other direction to the others.
I don’t remember max getting him down. I assumed he was still stuck in the ceiling.
It was one of the small details Dave sneaks in sometimes. So I can understand you having missed it.
Check out the final panel here.
Yeah, there it looks like Max is just shattering the rock pillar that was keeping Achilles pinned to the ceiling. It also looks like Achilles isn’t stuck up there, but starting to fall. Max just has to free him, because she already knows that she doesn’t need to check if he’s okay.
“Eh, let him fall. He’s okay.”
“Eh, he just got knocked into the next county over. He’s okay.”
“Death ray? Not for him.”
“Bladestorm? Not even a whisper.”
:)
The answer to this question on any given page is I either ran out of room or time to add someone from a previous scene. :) In this case, it’s just these guys who were affected.
I can see Sciona, Hiro, Max (“Oof!”), Harem (“Ow!”), Dabbler (“Ug!”), so Sydney has a good team-combo — including Harem’s secure line of communications across the dimensional barrier. This quantum-link might even provide a “tether”, which could simplify finding their way back home. At-the-very-least, I’m hoping that we can avoid the “Lost In Space”-trope being used across dimensions, as it was in “Sliders”.
(…I’m not saying it’s a BAD trope, mind you, just that we’ve seen it already…)
PS:
Poor Daphne! It looks like the ground smacked her right in the “sweater-puppies”! At-least it was smooth terrain, & not rough, rocky gravel.
We don’t know how the Daphne’s work inter-dimensionally, that’s another thing they have never tested
Harem loses her Quantum Entanglement? Cause she is literally out of phase/dimension? Gets to Start a New Harem Branch? I also experienced the loss of name email settings on second post.
Oh, do you think she will have to be renamed Monogamous?
So Many Questions:
1)_If Harem’s unable to “Quantumly” connect with this copy of herself, how much emotional trauma is she experiencing right now?
2)_Will she be able to re-connect when this copy returns, or will she stay as a separate individual?
3)_If separate, what do we name her, & will this individual still be able to teleport?
4)_If separate-&-teleporting, will she be able to create copies?
1) Lots.
2) Story wise there might be a way (super powers can find a way). But in terms of physics, I don’t see how. If something is quantum linked then the two parts are identical, no matter how far they are separated. Plus if something happens to one, it also happens to the other.
So if something causes that link to break, and they are no longer the same, and changes occur to one, which do not occur to the other, then there should not be a way to put them back.
With one exception. And that is if one of the two parts is made exactly like the other one. In which case the copy that got changed would loose any changes made whilst they were separated. So, for Harem, that would mean one (or one set) of her would have no memory of any experiences that happened, whilst separated.
Essentially this is the mechanism which is used when they are put in storage. In that case it has no nasty side effects, as no time passes, so there are no memories to be lost. Re-synchronising with the rest of her mind just allows the stored body to catch up on missed events instantly.
But it would be socially inconvenient to loose experiences had with the rest of the team.
3) Daphne. Her teleportation is her base power. The duplicate bodies and their quantumly linked mind are a side effect of that power. Separating from her other bodies should have no affect on her ability to teleport.
Being in a different universe, with different laws, now that is another matter. Whatever it is that allows her to teleport normally may not work here.
4) It seems likely. Although I imagine she does not know what causes the limitation on the number of copies she can create (under normal circumstances). If it is simply that the mind can only cope with input from so many sources, before it shies away from allowing more, then she may simply subconsciously block herself from creating more duplicates than she can handle.
In which case, if she is back to just being the one mind, she would likely want to create extra copies as fast as possible, and would be back up to five in no time. Albeit that they would all be exact copies of this body, so would need customising in new ways, with whatever resources are available here. Or living looking like identical twins.
Alternatively, as it takes years in between being able to create each new duplicate, there may be some biological reason preventing her creating any more, until the usual time has elapsed. In which case they may have to be in this dimension for a couple of years before Harem could duplicate herself again.
The shield is just such a natural fit for a character such as sydney, allowing her to be unfazed by stuff happening around her while minimizing the danger she could be in considering that she is in combat with the rest of the team, like an field passive observer
Also considering how little combat training/experience she has, having an ultimate defence means she will survive situations she would otherwise have no business surviving.
Which was almost not the case when Sydney first encountered Sciona…
This is one of the limitations with Halo’s shield. When in a dangerous/deadly environment she cannot bring other people into it. The only way to do that would be to lower the shield (thereby harming/killing Sydney), before expanding it and raising it to enclose everyone.
Looks like that rip in reality does extend through the 4th wall.
Umm …. I think I have reconsidered about hopping through though. Just for now.
Is that why, in panel one, Sydney is looking like she’s thinking “Get away from me, get your own shield!”?
It’s cause Max and Dabbler are both hollering at her, she’s just recoiling slightly from surprise.
That’s literally the only problem with it (ok, the fresh air problem too, but that’s less of a problem now we know what the green orb does)
Most characters in a SH setting would have some sort of limit, but if it denies reality tearing, is there a limit to Syd’s shield?
Well if the biggest it can get is to enclose a press-conference, then not being able to shield the Earth is another limitation.
Maybe that is what Dabbler and Maxima were going to suggest? Using the shield as a stopper in the gap. A way to shield the planet from being sucked through into a hell dimension.
I had the impression it just happened much to fast for Sydney to react.
so sudden, and with no expected shake, that it still didnt register that its actuallly happening, and not a movie on tv? there is also the possibility that her balls might be doing something to her head. like whenever she uses them, she doesn’t fear whatever they relate to. her losing contact with the fly orb on the edge of a building was one example.
Do we know this for sure? It seemed to be suggested that Sydney could instantly expand the shield but I dont think it was ever confirmed. Hopefully this will be explained in later panels.
The point has not been explicitly made in canon, no. However we have seen the way the shield operated in the press conference.
If she could do this then Sydney would have been able to let Harem in to the shield, when Shadow Boxer was trying to kill her (Harem was blocked from teleporting in). Likewise when protecting other supers on the battlefield, or tending to wounded allies with Harem.
As Sydney has not tried to do this though, I could be in error. She may have made the same assumption as I have, and just not realised that the shield could operate in such a way. However, if so, it is a present limitation, until Halo discovers otherwise. So little different, in operation, to it not being unlocked as a skill, for example.
No, the reason Sydney didn’t let in Harem during the ShadowBoxer ‘incident’ had less to do with “she can’t” and more to do with “it was quicker, and easier, to deal with him herself”
Heck, she could have just dropped Mr Buble entirely, butt, she was told to put him up and keep him up, no matter what!
Yea, Sydney did handle it OK herself. It was just one instance which sprang to mind where an ally was trying to get in. Something Sydney would find desirable. But the shield was not recognising Harem as being something that was OK to pass through (like light or radio waves, but not deadly lasers).
I agree though that Halo was not prioritising getting help, so I don’t think she tried to let Harem in.
We have seen other people being attacked though, where that would have been a good option. Not in situations where they were winning, but times when allies were injured or at a clear disadvantage. As with the Shadow Boxer example, other solutions were found. But they do add up to a consistent pattern of behaviour, where Halo has not used the option under discussion:
• Dabbler at risk of getting her eye poked out by Heavenly Sword
• Jiggawatt being harmed by the sonic blast and needing help
• The were bunny finding herself outmatched
• Dabbler having her shield destroyed by the manikillers
If she could enlarge/contract the shield at will without dropping it, that would allow for some interesting fight tactics after some team practice. I presume that living things are either entirely in or out of the shield, Sydney could walk team members right into the face of an opponent, shrink the shield just long enough for them to attack (say, Max landing an MFP), and instantly bubble up again afterwards.
Interesting – if she could enlarge/contract the shield at will without dropping it, that would allow for some interesting fight tactics after some team practice. I presume that living things are either entirely in or out of the shield, Sydney could walk team members right into the face of an opponent, shrink the shield just long enough for them to attack (say, Max landing an MFP), and instantly bubble up again afterwards.
Posting issues caught me too – might be an issue with cookies…? Or more likely, the database backing the comments is load-balanced or just really slow on writes, and the comment list is loaded before the latest comment transaction has completed.
I’ve actually been seeing an issue with comments not loading immediately before, but this is the first time I’ve seen it actually post after the failure. I suspect the comments database has crossed a critical mass where it can no longer keep up the service level, might be time for Dave to scale up that server/service.
Quicker, and easier, and far more satisfying to deal with him herself.
It also served as a bit of a “News flash: I’m not helpless and useless” for her new team mates.
Yep, on all points.
I did find Sydney’s glee at her crushing blow to be disquieting. More so than the present scene.
Although I daresay, if we were somehow able to examine real life or death battles, we would see many disturbing expressions, even from those who are in a righteous position. Which Sydney was, being the victim of a murderous attack.
Satisfaction though, both in not dying (which Sydney did get perilously close to) and defeating your enemy, is justified in such circumstances.
Just look at goofy sports expressions, human expressions are quite odd when frozen in a moment of exertion. I imagine war face is angrier than game face, but still quite odd when frozen for inspection.
Yet… There may be an advanced setting that she can earn later.
Agreed.
I just hope this is clarified soon
This just brings up one of my big gripes with spheroid force fields: What happens to the bottom? If it stops at the ground, does it go between her feet and the ground? Then that means it would need to have some give to it, but that’s not the case, it is very solid. Does it extend under the ground? Then why doesn’t it tear up the ground as she moves? Does it phase through the ground? Then how does it know what to or not to let pass?
It drives me nuts when this isn’t addressed. I’ve seen cases where objects present in the field as it forms cast a “shadow” allowing passage underneath. I’ve seen fields that give nary a fuck and will tear up whatever ground they contain. But Sydney’s shield conforms to no logic whatsoever, and god dammit, that just will not do.
(Also, here’s hoping one of her upgrade nodes is a “let stuff I want through” button.)
Have never seen a forcefield that is movable while up before
Have never seen a forcefield that is movable once it is deployed (usually because the generator itself is stationary)
Have never seen a force field. Period.
You have never watched a science fiction movie or TV show in the last hundred years? o_O
Have you never watch the animated Fantastic Four series? The Invisible Girl manages to move about with her force filed up just fine. I don’t recall if she ever moved with it up in any of the movies, though.
PS: Yeah, posts aren’t appearing, but if you resubmit it’ll gripe about a duplicate post. If you refresh the original will show up, sometimes.
DaveB explained it in a comment reply recently here.
I snipped a bit in the middle, because I found it confused me, and was only an analogy (but check the link if you want the full quote).
Heh. Actually if you analyse how it behaves it does remain consistent with what Dave describes, with one exception. We see Shadow Boxer phasing through the floor, within the shield. Which, per the quote, should have a force field blocking it too.
For this to remain consistent with Dave’s explanation, I can see two options:
1) At the time the shield was forming a hemisphere, so only going down as far as the ground and then cutting off, but without forming a plane under her feet. Since then Sydney has realised the danger of this and ensured that there is a force field floor.
Dave does explain that the force field does respond to minor tweaks mentally. Obviously this is more than that, but I feel fairly comfortable visualising this as a mental change in ‘default settings’. Alternatively Sydney realised what one of the glyphs was and changed the setting manually.
Always enable floor, on flat surface = ON.
2) Shadow Boxer can phase through Sydney’s force field.
________________________________________________________________________________
As an aside, we have seen Sydney walking, with the force field up. This still works with the way Dave has described it. Providing you visualise the process like this, but with a flat bottom (so not quite so frantic). Hence providing an experience more like walking on a travelator.
Um… Yorp, Sydney did not have the shield up yet when Shadow Boxer snuck up behind her through the floor. Check out the link you posted. She put the shield up immediately AFTER he clocked her, which trapped him in there with her, and Harem on the outside. Panic reaction I guess.
Yup, that already got pointed out to me, by Guesticus, below.
Well, there’s also another time when Sydney didn’t have the shield as a floor under her feet, as we can see that her shoes are kicking up clouds of dirt from the pavement while getting dragged around by the Lighthook. Of course that might be the case before Sydney considered that she could make a floor surface as a little semi-conscious adjustment.
Yup. But equally we have seen that particulate matter can get enclosed within the shield, very noticeably when Halo demonstrated melting a tank, with the PPO. Given that she ended up with half the desert in it!
Plus, we should allow both artistic licence and comedic effect in the linked scene. The puff of dust is a convenient cartoon/anime convention to show the desired effect. Which was a comedic nonsense, in any event, as Sydney is not connected to the tentacle. If Sydney had been in a direct tug-of-war, with Vehemence, her arm would have been ripped off!
Story wise it was important though, to get the message across that the tentacle was all but useless against him.
So we can rationalise the dust as simply having been trapped in the shield, on that occasion. There had been plenty of dust, from the ceiling collapsing, due to nose-boop guy jumping in, shortly before Sydney raised her shield.
DaveB kindly explained this, in reply to a reader’s question recently.
I snipped off a bit in the middle, which I find confuses the explanation. It is only an analogy though, so is not necessary. But check out the link if you want the full quote.
Heh. Actually it does, when you check through how it behaves throughout the comic. With one exception. Where we see Shadow Boxer rising up from the floor, whilst within Halo’s shield. Clearly we would have expected him to be blocked by the shield, using the mechanics described.
I can see two options which would remain consistent with Dave’s explanation:
1) Shadow Boxer can phase through Halo’s shield.
2) That incident prompted Sydney to examine the glyphs on the Forb, and adjust the relevant default setting glyph to:
‘Floor enabled, when standing on a flat surface = ON”
_____________________________________________________________________________
For info this does work even when walking with the shield up. Provided you mentally visualise it as doing something like this. Just with a flat bottom, therefore not being so frantic.
Hence it can provide an experience more like walking on a travelator.
Thing is, did CrushedNuts rise up as Mr Buble was being deployed (and hadn’t covered the ground yet) or after the ‘floor’ was in place?
Ahh, well remembered/observed. I should have carefully examined the scene I linked. The shiny effect in the background is what I have identified as fooling me. I took that as being the shield, so did not look further. But it is just a shiny window.
Panels 1, 4 and 5: All seven orbs are still in the air, so Sydney cannot have the shield raised, as the relevant orb is not in hand.
Panel 2: Shadow Boxer rises out of ground.
Panel 6: Sydney grasps the Forb.
Panel 7-8: The shield is up.
So, as usual, Dave has kept super power continuity 100% accurate, from the outset. No rationalising required.
Whew!
I mean, uh, of course I got that right…
:-D
Regarding the numbers of reviews going down the further along the series is: generally, that will be because those looking at that book have already read the previous ones so the need for a review is not as great (and everyone likes to be the first to review a new product or series)
Yeah, that makes sense. I still think it’s a good gauge of general readership of any given series, assuming that maybe 1% of readers ever bother to give a review anyway.
Max and Dabs….Jinks!!!
One of the few times they agree on something.
“…..around the portal! Been nice knowing you!”. < Nah! They wouldn't have said that!
Yeah, I hope Dabbler and Maxima survive.
Sydney couldn’t save them, if they do die. What would she have had to have done? Drop the shield (standing right in the explosion, now instead of an invincible superhero, a tiny little girl with no powers of any defensive abilities (sure her suit but her head and hands are exposed) then in the same second just grab it again, but with a new size. However that proximity would also include at least part of the explosion, so that would have been pointless even if it worked.
At the very least we know Maxima survives seeing as we’re still technically in flashback mode from the first few pages of the comic.
Someone who looks like Maxima survives.
Flashbacks are nasty beasties, who either leach the tension out of a story, by giving spoilers, or are deceptive.
(I’ll copy each post in case stuff keeps failing so I don’t have to write everything over and over hoping a comment actually works)
I hope Dabbler and Maxima survive.
If they don’t, then there isn’t anything Sydney could have done. Increase shield size, yes. Drop shield to get someone else in it? No. That would change her from invincible superhero to petit girl with no defensive abilities besides her suit, and her head and hands are exposed. Plus, she’s standing IN the explosion, so she’d just die, probably. Plus with the proximity of the shield area being increased upon re-activation, at least some of the explosion would be included INSIDE the shield, so that would be pointless. Good thing the shield (I think) increases her blase.
I neither got the reference to Kansas nor what “derivative” means in this context. But I understood the mouse-over text. I feel so dumb. XD
Also I will never get used to the term “Pedometer”. To me it will always sound like something to measure Anime with.
Heh, yea. Or something parents would use when surveying if a neighbourhood was safe to move into.
“No dear, the app is telling me that there are three registered sex offenders within a five mile radius of this school”
The ‘not in Kansas’ line is referencing Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz. Just in case that aspect continued to elude you, when the penny dropped.
I got the Wizard of Oz reference; I don’t get the use of “derivative”. Is this another one of those things where Dave thinks it sounds like the right word, but it’s actually not? If she’s saying that it feels “imitative of” or “based on” something else (which is what the word means), then that certainly would make *sense*, but it would also be completely redundant. It’s a movie quote, so of course it’s “imitative of” or “based on” something else — that’s the point. That’s how memes work.
Derivative, as in unoriginal. TVTropes calls this “defying the trope”. She would make the comment, but because it’s so cliche and unoriginal, she chooses not to.
Derivative as in she is not the first to say it. The 80-year-old film and the 118-year-old book it is based on have been quoted quite extensively in that time frame.
Sure, but as I said, that doesn’t really make sense to comment on: “It’s a movie quote, so of course it’s ‘imitative of’ or ‘based on’ something else — that’s the point. That’s how memes work.”
All memes are inherently unoriginal, so it’s a bit fatuous to point out that it would be unoriginal to use one. And if she really felt a need to point it out, using “derivative” to mean “played out” obscures her intended meaning, because the fact that something is derivative doesn’t imply that it’s played out.
It is not played out. I have seen it referenced well even relatively recently. However just quoting the line is rather unoriginal. So Sydney was keeping it fresh by referencing it less directly.
Her timing was off mind, due to the surrounding situation. But, that aside, it was a valid way to play the gag.
Thanks @everyone for the explanations! I feel much smarter now! ^^
If she’s that concerned about being too derivative, maybe Sydney could’ve said “No cake for you” or something like that instead. :-)
I think you mean “Let them eat cake!” Which is itself a mistranslation of “Let them eat bread!” Which makes a lot more sense in context.
And completely falsely attributed to Mary Anne in the first place
As for the “No Cake For You!”, Sydney is a gaming nerd (geek? neek? gerd? whatever) so probably more familiar with this line than the “Let them eat cake!” one
No, I meant that she doesn’t get cake, because she didn’t get the Portal right. But the cake would’ve been a lie anyway.
I meant that she doesn’t get the cake, because she didn’t get the Portal right. But the cake would’ve been a lie anyways. :-)
Aw, c’mon people…I’ve come to expect more originality among such a bright group of people here. So much derivative-discussion really takes the cake!
;)
Hey, Alex was witty to say the cake is a lie, you can’t have your cake and eat it!
Especially if it is a virtual cake.
“The cake is a lie” is exactly what I mean when I said that the discussion “really takes the cake.” It shows both conditions that you can’t “have your cake or eat it” AND the the cake is a lie, because once something takes the cake, you can neither have it or eat it.
Well, in that case she’ll just have to bake her own cake. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?
I mean it’s a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake, but you gotta do the cooking by the book. ;-p
My biggest worry though, is whether the spoon I want to eat it with is real?
Sorry for double post, my browser refused to show my comments until now, so I thought that an error happened.
Don’t worry about it.
For information the easiest way (at the moment) to get a post to appear, is to go onto another page (be that comments or a previous comic) and return. Once you do that it appears.
Another way is to wait a while, then press F5 (or if that fails Ctrl F5), or whatever alternative keyboard shortcut your browser may use to force a refresh. Normally that would do the trick, but it works fast, so I find it usually refreshes before the site has completed posting the comment.
Hence me recommending the other way, until they have finished resolving the lag issue (assuming that they are indeed working on that).
Thanks, I shall try the navigation trick the next time the problem appears. I already tried reloading multiple times.
Max and Dabs….Jinks!!
One of the few times they agree on something.
“……the portal! It’s been nice knowing you!”
(Nah…They wouldn’t have said that!)
Given that whatever just happened released enough energy to take down Max, Dabbler and Achilles; I’m kinda worried that we may finally get to find out what happens when one of the Harems takes a fatal hit.
No, that’s Hiro flying above Sci, no sign of Les at all (unless that’s his butt next to Dabbles in the third panel)
No, that’s Max’s fine ass, check the color (shape, etc.) of the pants in the previous panel
Problem is, that is standard Archon-issue uniform, both Hiro and Harem are wearing the same style trousers and boots (and the previous panel had Harem between Dabbles and Maxi)
That is Harem doing the chest down butt up next to Dabbler in the second to last frame….
Or better yet, what happens to her quantum entangled mind when 20% of her grey matter is in another dimension?
It’s been established that the grey matter and its location or existence is unimportant to the Harem-mind. That’s why she can ‘unteleport’ a duplicate with zero impact on her ‘mind.’ Other than growing a bit more easily bored, since she is used to the input from 5 different bodies.
The closest Daphne has previously come to being in this situation, is when she puts her body(ies) into storage, and while in storage they basically cease to function: time and everything else for that body(s) stops, it’s like being put into stasis, will be interesting to see what happens, FOR SCIENCE! (and the giggles)
I know Sydney can have poor reaction times but I feel like she would have pushed the expand button instantly here to shield everyone
As per the thread above, I do not think this would have worked. All that would happen is that it would expand and push the others away (or stop expanding when it was blocked by them – we have even seen the shield conform to a blocking object rather than remain perfectly symmetrical).
Plus if it could do what you suggest, how would it do that? Open a hole, let them in and then close again?
That would also let in whatever nasty environment knocked out (or killed) everyone else.
We explicitly know that the shield does not make holes in itself for its other functions (nor allow its powers to phase through it). Dave has mentioned in comments that portals open on the outside of the shield. So the PPO fires from the far side of the force field, rather than originating at the orb and passing through the shield.
This was a problem for Sydney’s attempt to manifest the tentacle inside the shield, when she wanted to fight Vehemence. Halo only knows how to create the tentacle outside the shield and does not know a way to bring it in.
Which is very similar (albeit involving her tentacle rather than a person) to the current predicament.
Im just confused on how the shield works. If Sydney presses the ‘Expand shield button’ does it instantly expand, pushing things out of the way, or does it shield over things next to her? If it can include other people, does the shield have to lower before expanding? Im just curious about how it all works. All though, I do remember her shielding up once to push a Archon guard out of the way to get into a room, so im guessing it does push people out of the way instead shielding over them.
So far we have never seen any pushing. There was one scene where the force field hit a sign and knocked a bit off, but that was for comedic effect. The ‘rule of funny’ allows normal rules to be broken, for a laugh. Hence we should not take it that it can be used offensively (which is what any kind of pushing can do, be it slow or hard), unless we see something else to justify that.
As such the scene we need to examine is at the firing range, when the force field is lowered. Where we see it poofing away one row of triangular panels at a time. In a crisis the same process happens really fast. Now that DaveB has confirmed how the force field floor works (see details in a thread further down this page), I am totally satisfied that the process would work like this:
1. Sydney is standing with shield raised (and sized for just her) in a hemisphere, with a flat force field floor, and needs bring someone in.
2. Summons Forb to hand, and instructs force field to lower.
3. The triangular panels directly under Sydney’s feet vanish (and Sydney drops down slightly to stand on the ground). Each row of panels radiating out from that (horizontally, along the floor), disappears, one at a time.
4. When all the floor has vanished, and the edge of the dome is reached, then the vertical panels, which form that, also start to vanish, also one row at a time (as seen at the firing range). In an emergency happening so fast that you would need a high-speed camera to follow it.
5. This continues all the way to the top, until the final panels have gone and the force field is lowered (to most people’s perception this will have happened almost instantaneously).
This is the problematic stage, in this situation, as Sydney would fall unconscious/die from the purple stuff and/or lightning. However I shall proceed for the normal process, in a non-hazardous environment.
6. Sydney then adjusts the ‘Embiggener’ glyph. She is able to set the radius as she wishes, so will make sure it is big enough to enclose everyone she needs to include, yet still fit into whatever area is available (if indoors for example).
7. Halo then mentally commands the shield to raise. I believe it will probably be able to do this from either the top down or bottom up. But shall assume that it reverses the process it just did, in this instance. So a batch of triangular force field panels appear above Halo’s head (but much higher than before).
8. More rows of panels appear heading downwards, until the floor is reached (and a hemisphere has been formed). The total radius being the new one set by the embiggener.
9. The panels now expand inwards along the floor (roughly at right angles to the vertical wall above) but not leaving any gap. Staying above any dirt or gravel (for the most part – we have seen that if a lot of sand or dust is in the air it will be enclosed too).
10. When the first feet are encountered (someone other than Sydney’s, as she will be in the middle, so will be the last to be reached) the force field panels will appear underneath their feet, pushing them up slightly, and continue.
11. This continues until everyone is standing on a flat force field floor, including Sydney, in the middle. And the force field has been fully raised. Again near-instantaneously in an emergency.
Should Sydney grasp the fly ball, she will raise up into the middle and the force field reforms, from a hemisphere, with a flat bottom, into a perfect sphere.
If you look back to when Sydney picks up Harem, from outside the comic shop, you will see them at this stage. With no gravel or other bits from the pavement having been picked up, in the bottom of the force field. Nor with bits of Harem’s shoes sliced off. Thus providing support for the (slightly) speculative stages above (regarding how it gets under shoes).
The alternative being that it pushes itself underneath, but that does not follow the mechanics we saw at the firing range, hence I discounted that as less likely.
Minor picking of the nits here
If Sydney has Mr Buble out, then she can’t summon the Forb to her hand as it already is in her hand
It makes more sense that the ‘floor’ would be the first to form (and last to deform), not the other way around, in other words: Mr Buble forms up around Sydney, not down around her
Yup, you are right. Amend as follows:
As for the other part, I did indicate that the process could start from either below Sydney’s feet or above her head. And I agree that ‘floor up’ is the more logical way to raise the shield. However I chose to exactly replicate the process that we observed at the artillery range press demonstration.
In that instance, when it was lowered, it did so by going up, rather than down. Hence I had to opt for the direction I did, in order for it to remain consistent with the observed canon.
Noting though that there is no reason why it cannot start from the floor, regardless of whether it is being raised or lowered. It is just easier for folks to follow, if you reverse the process used when raising, to that used for lowering.
Sydney wasn’t fast enough there,now what???
They all die, and Sydney reveals she is the true Evil manipulating things for… weeks
It looks like harem is next to dabbler in the previous panel.
I think they were all stumbling, not knocked unconscious. Except for dabbler… That “whap” is ominous.
Ahem.
Re-cruit Scoville. That was an order. drop the shield and BUBBLE THEM NOW!
Awww, Sydney found a way to crank up her pokemon Go account to discover a pokemon right away. Then another on return. I suspect however the only pokemon you can get here are ‘missingno’, ‘?????’, ‘??????????’, ‘ァ a’, or ‘ゥ u’.
I approve of your comment, good sir and/or ma’am.
So whatever come across the portal, Sydney is the only one that can stop it. Yup, we’re doomed!
or THEY’re doomed, or somethings doomed… well there’s going to be doom involved.
Can Sydney expand and encompass something else inside of her shield without dropping it?
Not at this time. Maybe she’ll find a way to do that at soe future level-up.
Well just look at that last panel. Dave takes any excuse to draw a nice female butt doesn’t he. Why that is just shameless of him AND I LOVE HIM FOR IT.
Well, DaveB has already done extensive research on Boob Physics (& his skill shows up quite prominently), so it appears he’s already expanded out to Butt Physics as well…Callipygian Calligraphy, I think it’s called.
Oh noes, I wonder if they have slipped through to the most terrifying universe a super heroine could find herself in!
The Rob Liefeld hell dimension!
OK Sydney, see if you can do a mundane action, without taking a silly sexy pose. If you find your boobs expanding, and your top buttons popping off, you should not take this as a good sign!
Nah, she’s safe from that horrible fate. Sydney has feet after all….
That is a hysterical Observation regarding Leifeildian body symetry and design
Oh, so THAT is where Dabbler is from.
You got to admire a professional who put some extra time and effort in his craft like this.
Ooh! I know this one! They have been transported into a cinematic universe and are playing the roles of well know characters to fulfill a quest of some sort. Sydney will be be playing the role of Ball-bo and Sciona will be Leg-o-less.
Well, Sciona possesses the professional capacity to take that part…She’s still got a leg to stand on.
Provided that she can get through the audition, without killing the casting crew.
Going by her past performance, the safest way would, ironically, be to employ the casting couch!
(doesn’t read yet)
Who’s the pixie? That doesn’t look like Sciona.
Yes, that is Sci, note the missing lower-leg and damaged wing-tip
Stray thought time: Sidney has one or two spheres with still unknown functions, plus they’ve speculated that combined they can function as a “spaceship”. What if one of those undefined spheres is navigation? Might another be long-range (i.e. FTL) travel?
For so long, I’ve demanded and ignored anything other than the possibility of it being a Room Ball with functions to make it a Brig, Cargo, Med, Quarters, or other room type.
Your comment now makes me rethink my stance to the point you’re impossible to argue with. So, I hand it to you- that is what the ball does. How else do they get back?
So, the last orb is the Room of Requirement?
I copy/pasted this comment but it said duplicate comment even though the first didnt show up.
For so long, I’ve demanded and ignored anything other than the possibility of it being a Room Ball with functions to make it a Brig, Cargo, Med, Quarters, or other room type.
Your comment now makes me rethink my stance to the point you’re impossible to argue with. So, I hand it to you- that is what the ball does. How else do they get back?
For so long, I’ve demanded and ignored anything other than the possibility of it being a Room Ball with functions to make it a Brig, Cargo, Med, Quarters, or other room type.
Your comment now makes me rethink my stance to the point you’re impossible to argue with. So, I hand it to you- that is what the ball does. How else do they get back?
copy/paste third try’s the charm?
I’ve been hoping for something much like Dabbler’s Hammer Space. Dabbler uses it as a portal to her workshop, where she keeps most of her best equipment. If Sydney has a similar ability, she could set it up with whatever Equipment/supplies she wants & can access it at any time, depending on how big she could make the “entry portal.” For example, if she could make the entry big enough for people to enter, then she could set it up as an Emergency Medical area, or as cargo space, or Brig, or whatever…Indeed, if it’s a large enough space, she could set up partition-walls & have access to a number of “rooms” for multiple purposes. The limits would be restricted by how much “extra-dimensional space” is there & the size of the entry-portal to it.
Agreed. Plus it could have specialist rooms, such as navigation, hydroponics and med bay.
Folks often argue for a healing orb, but that would require Sydney being a retard. She has been injured a number of times, yet would have never thought to try out the remaining mystery orb. Plus we have seen that Dave does not want instant healing around, as the super doctor can only accelerate natural healing.
However having somewhere that injured team mates can be placed, for rest and recuperation (be it just a portable hole, or a fully equipped med centre) would be a great option.
I don’t get Sydney’s expression in the first panel. I know she’s gotten real comfortable with being pretty invincible in her bubble but it almost looks like she’s looking at Dabbler like “Whatchu sayin bitch?” when this is clearly some big bad stuff going down. She had a more concerned reaction to discovering all the C4 around the hideout.
What the hell? My gravitar is still Mr Happy but my name has been changed to Given that sh…? And yep as Yorp explained all my info has disappeared, hell I don’t even know if this is gonna post. I didn’t see my above comment (I’m replying to myself to make this easy to find) for several minutes. Something is wonky with the site alright.
Ok so the post worked and newly inputted name is correct, but going back a few pages I see that some of my older comments all have me labeled as “Given that sh”. Seriously, the hell is going on here?
So, the shield doesn’t protect against portalling, huh?
If that knocked down Maxima, wouldn’t it totally MURDER harem?
This was actually a thing I was just thinking, regarding Sydney making wisecracks — anything that can flatten Max has a really good chance of flat-out *killing* anybody else in the room outside of Achilles and Syd. Hiro is stupid tough, and I expect Xuriel is both naturally tougher than human and likely has a number of technological/arcane defenses up at all times, so hopefully they’d be fine. But Harem? Check for a pulse and confirm that nothing important has been burned off by magic lightning before making jokes.
Remember Max can be surprised – she stopped a bullet but got covered in vomit (just her shoe but still it got on her) so max wasn’t prepared for whatever moved her. Secondly they are probably not being affected by gravity or some other force that they are used to. Sudden vortex pull is not normal and will take a bit to figure out.
PS this is all just my imaginative way to allow Harem to live while at the same time knocking about Super Strong People
Two things to note about this. First as an indicator, Dave has Harem say ow, instead of screaming out a death rattle. Secondly, Maxima was not braced for whatever was about to happen, she’s leaning toward Sydney and is therefore off balance when things go blowey on them all. Unlike say the Hulk, Maxima doesn’t weight about 1000lbs. So there’s no reason to think that she couldn’t be toppled relatively easily as long as she’s caught off guard.
Agreed – just like Achilles, Max’s body obeys the physical law of equal and opposite reactions (until she decides otherwise). I think they all just got knocked over from the ground rippling, not squished.
Here’s to hoping that this shattering of the fabric of the universe leads somehow to Sydney getting new info on her spheres, because who knows where the unfinished portal leads to.
Is Sydney supposed to be making a “Screw you guys” face when they ask her to bubble them? I mean sure, they didn’t listen to her before, but she’s the one who zotted the portal golem so….
I dunno, doesn’t seem like good team play.
I asked the same question in my post a few up above this, glad Im not the only one who thought this was off putting.
So, here is the thing, the people out there are durable. The forces involved might insta kill Sydney
Just so.
I would not describe it as a ‘screw you guys’ face. That would be quite a hostile expression, of some sort. Whereas we see Sydney showing wide eyes (even by her anime standards), so traditionally a look of surprise. But then we also see the down-turned mouth. So very much disapproving of the suggestion/incomplete order.
Combined with the body language (leaning back) we can tell that Sydney thinks this is a really dumb idea. Exposing herself to the hostile environment is only likely to disable or kill Sydney. Which would render her incapable of restoring the shield. So everybody would be in trouble.
Whereas keeping her shield raised will allow Sydney to help with her tentacle or maybe figure out some other way to sort the problem.
This is a similar response to the one you must have if you ever find the oxygen masks popping down from the ceiling, on a plane. Even if you have a baby in your lap and children next to you, the first person you must put the mask on, and check that it is working is yourself.
Fail to do that and you may sort out the problem for one baby or child, then fall unconscious and the rest will die. Noble to sacrifice your life, to save one. Stupid to kill the rest.
Same with diving, as discussed on the page where she got tangled up underwater: save yourself first, then help others. You can’t help anyone if you’re dead.
It’s not the eyes that are giving the “find your own shield” impression, butt the set of her mouth, her callous reaction after everyone gets knocked down (butt can’t get back up again) doesn’t help her case
I think it’s the eyelash that’s giving that impression. It looks almost like it’s bent downward in an angry expression if you pay attention to that and not the eyebrow.
Sorry Yorp but it really doesnt come off like that. Especially if your assessment is correct. When folks as powerful as Max are reaching for Sydney and Dabbler is shouting for support you can bet they are concerned for the safety of themselves and others.
No matter what Dave’s intent might have been this comes off making Sydney look like a bitch.
A mother who puts her air mask on herself first, instead of her baby, also looks like a bitch. But it is necessary.
As for Sydney’s piece to the 4th wall, yea, it was not just the rest of the team who fell flat.
Sydney’s about to get banned from Pokemon Go.
It seems as though her Shield does not protect her from being teleported. Still she’s the only one that wasn’t laid out by Landing in the new location
Apparently, the shield is proof against an attempted teleport through it, but the shield itself can be teleported if portal is an “area effect,” such as this is. Sort of like making a Saving Throw to Dodge an attack might not work on an attack that targets the area instead of an individual. It’s sort of like how Spider-Man can dodge in between a hail of bullets, but unless he can dodge out of a whole area, a flamethrower will still get him.
Another way of looking at it is that there was no teleportation involved. The fabric of reality ripped open and that rip spread to encompass them. They have not gone anywhere. It is just that what is around them has changed.
They can still be ‘on the other side’ of a universal divide, but with the divide being the thing that did the moving, rather than them.
So, does the pedometer reference mean they’re at least still on Earth? Sydney doesn’t seem too freaked out at being in another dimension, and I doubt Archon is using interplanetary GPS… unless Dabbler has been sharing tech, and it stands for “Galactic Positioning System”.
One thing I find that Sydney is very much like me in, is turning to humour in a crisis. The more badly injured I am, or the more distressing a situation, the more likely I am to come up with some (possibly highly outrageous) quip.
When I took my beloved Jack Russel Terrier, for her last walk, she could barely take a few paces. But stopped to sniff some daffodils. To which I told her, “you better practice pushing those up”.
*wipes tears from eyes*
That is simultaneously heartbreaking and hilarious – always sad to lose a furry friend.
Humor has fantastic therapeutic value, even though we don’t really understand it; I remember reading years ago that it’s a way to respond to situations we don’t know how to deal with.
I think that the reason for laughter is, if we can’t find something to laugh about, then we’d spend too much time crying. It’s a method of putting a larger perspective on things.
That said Sydney is doubtless also excited about her first trip to another dimension. Plus is pretty used to her team-mates being able to survive seriously dangerous attacks. So her boundless enthusiasm may just be letting the former drown out any worries she has about the latter.
….. I think this means that Achilles is now in command.
Back on Earth, with the rest of the team gone (as confirmed by Dave), he sure is.
Question is what will he be able to do with Sciona there too? We already saw that she outclasses him. I think he better take advantage of her having lost a leg, and make whatever response he is going to do, before she regenerates it back.
Sciona is with the team we see here though. She’s getting spat out of the portal in panel 2 like everyone else (at least, I THINK that’s what’s happening in panel 2. It feels like he missed the “everyone getting sucked into the portal” step in the action sequence)
Yea, that will teach me to reply without looking back up at the comic. Don’t know why she did not register before. I probably just did not recognise her, as she was not trying to kill anyone.
Regarding Achilles…. Totally invulnerable…. A Human can poke their finger through a brick… If they don’t mind breaking their finger. The damage he could do if he really really wants to is staggering when you calculate that he can’t be harmed by alot of the stupid Martial arts move that come with the caveat of “And you are going to the hospital too”
Oh we know Max is going to get an ear full to Sydney about response time. Because who knew what magic portal lightning stuff would have done to them. I mean, the shield did jack squat about the teleportation. And I don’t think even Sydney with a years worth of training with her orbs could have pulled of a turn off, embiggen, and turn on in the span of seconds I assume this page took.
Then they meet their maker: DaveB.
Dabbler does a quick succubus scan of him and says “So, your personal fantasy involves a were-tiger on a space ship and a harem of buxom women.” (see author comment box above)
“..us”
That last word there was “us”, Sydney, and you just stood there. Tsk tsk
(Although now we know the durability of your bubble is greater than Maxima’s face. She might get jealous over that one.)
Now I want to hear Dabbler and Maxima singing harmony.
Maybe doing a round of ‘soft kitty’.
“Us”
The word she was going to say was “Us”, Sydney. Your lack of reading situational context has gotten everyone lightning-smacked. Tsk tsk.
That said, now we have a reference for which is stronger, Maxima’s face or Sydney’s shield.
Sydney could tell what the intent was. Just check how unhappy her mouth is though. The situation was already past the point where Sydney could help them. Had they requested this when Sciona as saying that there was a problem, then she could have complied. Now though there is some really nasty energy swirling out there, which looks really dangerous. And both Maxima and Dabbler confirming that it is so just reinforces the need for Sydney not to kill herself by lowering her shield, to let them in.
Because if she is dead then none of them will get the benefit of the shield being raised.
Good point… but it doesn’t seem like the thing Maxima would suggest in that scenario… though then again, she may be more shook than normal at the moment.
Huh, so posting didn’t fail… just is going really slow so I didn’t need to repost.
HEY! EVERYONE! IF WHAT YOU POST LOOKS LIKE IT DIDN’T POST, IT PROBABLY DID, SITE IS JUST ACTING REALLY SLOW RIGHT NOW!!!
Yea, in fact it is happening on every single post with me. Plus I see others have reported getting problems too (even if some folks have not been getting an issue).
I find that going back to the previous page, then forwards again, is the easiest and most reliable solution, to get the post to display.
F5 and CTRL F5 seem to refresh too fast for the server to catch up. So, despite my earlier advice, only use that if you posted your comment a while ago.
Yeah, just need a little patience before refreshing
Also Heat Wave, Sciona, and um sorry bad with names are on the page.
No, that’s Harem, not Heatwave, and the flying brick is Hiro
This is really awful timming for a joke though.
It makes Sydney look almost sociopathic, when she isnt more concerned with her teammates getting struck by lightning because she were to slow.
And it also does kinda ruin the tension of the entire team being stuck gods know where.
*nods*
I think Dave may have watched Deadpool 2 and felt the ‘speaking to the 4th wall’ urge channelled through him. Deadpool does get away with callous behaviour, but it does not sit so well with Sydney. Not with her teammates in such a serious situation.
It is obvious Sydney has not yet emergency response training.
Also doesn’t help that Maxima was specifically training her not to respond spastically and to take more time to think about her actions. In retrospect, Maxima’s probably partially to blame for this.
She’s doing the Spider-Man thing! That’s cool.
The “Spider-Man thing” being what Peter explained to his beloved wife (and screw you Joe Quesada) about how he deals with his fear. “I do the thing that people doing presentations do, where they imagine their audience naked.”
“…You imagine Doctor Octopus naked?”
“…Okay, bad example. But yeah, I focus on the ridiculousness of the situation. Like Venom’s infatuation with spleens, or Vulture being a miserable old man flapping around with feathered arms. I crack jokes, to keep me distracted on how scary it can be.”
Yea, I mentioned in a previous thread how I do that myself. Which is all well and good if you are the one in peril or pain. But if it is someone else, then it can seem off to a third party.
However, if that is your natural instinct, on how to cope with a bad situation, then your responses are likely to be the same. And the more extreme the situation, the greater the need to find an outlet.
But it does still leave the scene feeling conflicted, between the tension and the attempted humour. I found it drily interesting. as a result. Yet also a bit disappointed that there was not a greater focus on either the drama or the humour. Real tough to pull that off though, if keeping the overall situation much as it is.
I taught this to my little sister. Our mother was extremely abusive, and would yell at us for no reason, constantly.
So instead of letting my sister cry, I told her in secret that what I do, is imagine her as a very fat version of Donald Duck, sounding exactly the same, but wearing a clown costume. Just don’t smirk or laugh while she’s flipping out and you’ll be fine.
*nods*
Sad that such would ever be necessary. :-(
But an effective solution.
On a lighter note, also handy to make dull meetings less boring. ;-)
nope don’t like this one. Sydney looking at Maxima like “screw you bitch” then making an inane comment while the rest of the team is on the floor. what is she a damn psychopath? sorry, the attempt at humour fell flat and the tactical errors on the last 2 pages have created a dissonance that draws me out of the story and puts me into critic mode. Come on Dave, you can do better than this.
You can’t help anyone if you’re dead. If she lowers her shield to put them inside of it she’s probably going to get killed and won’t save anyone, whereas if she lives then she can do something afterwards to help.
And for a lot of people, making inane comments when something serious goes down is how they prevent themselves from flipping out, thus allowing them to do something productive instead of panicking.
All in all it did fall flat though.
Get it?
*wink wink, nudge nudge*
I mean seriously, if the thing that hit them was hard enough to make Maxima go “oof” then Dabbler and the Harem are both a fine mist of organic volatiles moving parallel to the blast front.
Only if Maxima’s force fields were proof against whatever the effect was. We have seen, as one example, that they did not offer protection against Vehemence’s aggro aura.
Plus Maxima is weak against lightning. It is her kryptonite!
That misinformation helps to protect Maxima, so is good to propagate.
Then what works oppositely? What’s her Maximite?
A cuteness aura.
So this makes me wonder if perhaps the Shield also includes a warp field of some sort. Clearly it’s immune to space-time distortions caused by portals such as this, and a stable warp field merged with the apparently impenetrable forcefield would make sense.
USS Halomobile (NCC-0201)