Grrl Power #695 – Ordnance, schmordnance
Merry Christmas Eve to those of you celebrating the holiday. Merry “you probably have at least part of the week off anyway” to those of you who don’t. And Merry double overtime to those of you in category 3.
I think the idea that the guy is sent to mine something insubstantial is funnier than it should be. How would one mine “warp”? I think the first draft had “gravity mines” but I thought some people might confuse that with explosive mines floating in space that are attracted to ships via gravity or something, so I changed it. Still, it makes me imagine the guy with a ball and chain swinging a pickaxe at… something, then loading a minecart up with hazy blobs of purple energy.
I had considered showing the fight, but I thought it would wind up being 10-12 pages of decent but not groundbreaking action. I mean I’m not exactly Yusuke Murata or Masahiko Nakahira over here. Yet.
Given the foregone conclusion, I figured it’d be okay to skip this time around. We’ll get to see Cora fight eventually.
Cora is very much a combat monster, much in the way Dabbler is, but unlike her, Cora is a focused DPS, whereas Dabbler is a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Cora has some tankiness, but she’s most comfortable as ranged damage. She’s the ranger, essentially. Minus the healing spells and communing with nature stuff.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like.
Something like Tetris except the pieces have to be picked up with a virtual claw and dropped into virtual buckets.
Not sure how the bits collected are processed and used.
Maybe The Fracture has to be kept in balance and they move bits from one side to the other.
In the PS4 game Gravity Rush 2, you can mine “gravity ore” from inside gravity distortions to power up your gravity powers. Gravity doesn’t work that way at all, but since when has that stopped a video game concept?
The great thing about science fiction and fantasy is being able to tweak the laws of physics for the setting. So long as it stays internally consistent you are fine.
True, where the author is creating a new setting, and can choose the universal laws which apply. Less so if basing it on the real world, or a close variant of it.
Of course it does help that a lot of the assumptions we make about the real world ARE flawed.* So it is perfectly reasonable to have faster than light ships, given that there is a lot more about the universe that we do not know than we do. And vastly more advanced races would be able to do things we are certain are impossible.
Much like a cave man shaman might have been certain that man cannot fly.
* Check out QI’s explanation about how the “facts” they present gradually get overturned with new knowledge, such that MANY of the “truths” they state in the early series are now known not to be such (even though, barring a few research blips, they were “factual” at the time of broadcast).
For example the varying number of moons that the Earth has. Fans of the series could quite happily confuse people by telling them that the Earth has many moons (the specific number changing as scientific opinion varied). Although sceptics might choose to stick with counting the one they can see.
Regardless though the things which we hold to be absolute truths can also be lost, as we learn more about the universe. Any of the universal laws (such as the speed of light in a vacuum) is only an absolute until we make an observation which provides a (provable) exception.
Gravity may or may not work that way (considering the concept of gravity itself is only a couple hundred years old), butt how do you know how gravity powers work? o_O
As Rhuen said: as long as the new rules and laws stay consistent within that setting, then that’s fine
Agreed.
In my own novel series (So, Reincarnation Didn’t Work Like I Thought), I have magic get developed only by means that Rube Goldberg would be proud of, but only if you do it yourself.
It can’t be taught. In fact, if you try to teach it, it more guarantees that the person trying to become a mage can never gain that kind of magic.
I know how that goes,
I have worked on complex laws of physics that work as the base line for the most advanced technology in my series, with seven different types of magic as the core of countless sub-sets of them, designed by the seven Architects of Magic.
Including as well a system of reincarnation, after life, politics involved as different worlds meet one another and colonize other planets and these come along with them.
and even have a few ecosystems tweaked here and there. My Deviant art account is flooded with my mental doodles *some no longer canon, most staying canon (if it gets in a story it has to stay canon…with minor possible retcons if specific details weren’t hammered out in older stories), regarding the physics, magics, tech, alien races, and what not.
I find that “this is what the viewpoint character for that scene believed and it was valid to their observations and education” is a good way to keep from having to ever retcon anything. The only thing you need to add in retrospect, if you decide to, is a translator’s footnote pointing out that the narrator’s/character’s belief was “probably in error”. This is extremely tenable if you also paint into the narration intentional biases and errors that affect the plot.
I have played around with, and intentionally subverted the trope where just because someone says something shouldn’t make it so. A character can spout exposition, or say how they think a thing work; but it feels weird for some characters to actually BE an expert in things that should be beyond or outside their experience *like so many sci-fi characters who instantly understand and can explain advanced alien technology despite being from a mundane Earth…and being right..like Daniel on Star Gate SG-1 should have been wrong at least a few times).
I have had in one room characters who due to different experiences with her believed Rhulan to be a dragon, demon, super advanced alien, trans-dimensional being *eldritch*, or just an overpowered sorceress with a massive ego.
Hey, this is an odd question that came to me out of nowhere, but: do the orbs only work for Sydney, or could she let someone else close a hand around one and access its powers on a temporary basis?
Seriously? You’re asking if Sydney would let someone else fondle her orbs? Doesn’t she already have enough trouble with Dabbler around?
It’s actually a question I’ve had as well, and as far as I can tell, it’s never been addressed. Just simply that hands, possibly ONLY Sydney’s are the only body part that can activate them.
They have addressed this previously. I believe it was when Sydney was describing her orbs’ powers to Maxima and Zephan (or Leon?), they tested that. (I’m too lazy to look up the reference page for you.) The only other person capable of manipulating the orbs is Vahria when she is touching Sydney.
That thing with Vahriah has never really been addressed in-world, and it has only been reader speculum that she can (based solely on Sydney’s balls moving in a wider circle to include Vahriah, which could simply have been a result of her holding Sydney’s hand and pulling her in close, kinda like when idiots do that stupid ‘bro-hug’)
we don’t have enough information to be sure as we haven’t been shown in-comic either way, BUT, i’ll bet that Vari’s power set causes her to be able to use the Orbs while she’s in contact with Halo, because of the way the Orbs expanded their orbit to include her in this comic
Agreed. We saw that Varia can piggy-back on Harem’s teleport power (with the note that Harem is not otherwise a powerful enough teleporter to carry a normal-sized adult human), which would be a similar effect, to being able to make use of the orbs’ powers.
Plus the build up on the linked page, and before, is enough that it is extremely unlikely to be co-incidence. So I am strongly in favour of this being foreshadowing.
Finally it is noteworthy that nobody else has tried to handle Sydney’s orbs yet. In my mind doubtless stemming from Sydney’s initial wariness of being ‘whisked away’ to be studied. We never did get to see the orders Maxima issued to Peggy, about her mission to escort Sydney to lunch. However I bet it included instructions not to handle the orbs (and to prevent others attempting such).
Likewise I expect the same having been advised to the other team mates. It is unlikely that nobody would have asked if it was possible for others to use them (albeit we know Sydney could not answer, as she kept them secret from everyone, even her family and friends). Likewise someone would have been curious as to whether they could use them (take Peggy, as a non-super having to fight super villains, as an example).
I bet it will remain ‘hands off’, until a countermanding order is issued by Maxima/General Faulk, or there is some emergency.
I was remembering that not teleporting people didn’t have anything to do with Harem’s weight limit but with her not being able to teleport anything living but herself.
I would expect Sydney being willing to experiment after she started to trust the gang.
Actually it is the other way around. The weight limit is established canon (Harem upper limit was to carry Peggy’s sniper rifle to the battle against Vehemence, and that required dismissing one of her bodies in order to improve her teleporting capacity).
Whilst Harem could slightly improve her carrying limit, by getting rid of all but one body, she absolutely hates doing so, because she feels impaired by not having the ability to sense and act in more than one location. And even then it would not be enough of an improvement to even pick up a small adult like Sydney or Krona. Whilst a 50 cal rifle is heavy it is still significantly less than the weight of a person.
The ‘not being able to teleport living matter’ was simply something that Dave mentioned he was contemplating. It has never actually made it into canon (and is not really necessary, due to the above reason). Although it would prohibit her teaming with someone who can shrink people, thus allowing them to transport the whole team (or maybe even an army, with a powerful shrinking effect!), so Dave may decide to enforce that.
Currently there are very very few individuals who Harem would be able to transport (excluding Varia, as already mentioned). The pixie we saw in the Twilight council chamber being the only ally I can think of. Whilst the controlling entity, which was inside/part of the golem that Anvil destroyed with her ‘death from above’ tactic, is the only (current) enemy who I can think of as being less than the weight limit.
Although Harem would be useful for evacuating an orphanage and bunny sanctuary!
I do agree that Sydney would most likely be fine with her new friends attempting to use the orbs. But still doubt that any will attempt it without Maxima’s permission (if my previous assumptions are correct).
And, in particular, Halo has been instructed that various of the orbs functions are classified. As such she should (if paying attention to the spirit of that order) refuse any request from individuals who do not have sufficient clearance to learn other functions which may be significant enough to require classification.
Which, sadly, would include Varia, as none of the other recruits have high-level clearance.
Well, they said, that those orbs are tethered to her, wich, i think not only means, that they follow her everywhere – more like she was the last person, who became registered as legitime user (sorry if i use the wrong word here for this, english isn’t my native language). After she die, they would search for a new user, but until that, they belongs to her – at least this is my theory.
I’m a little disappointed that they were sent to a warp mine. There’s only one kind of criminal who’s any good at working the warp mines and that is the kind that steals holes.
Well, there is another kind, the kind with a warped sense of justice or humor but they are only used as bait for the warps so it’s best not to talk about them too much.
Ooh, I like the idea that warp drives are actually powered by living warps, captured and linked to ships!
Oy! Thief! That warp is mine!
Err but you can keep the warp mine. I don’t want to be blown up across more than a light-year!
Most people can’t use Sydney’s orbs, but Varia can when she is holding onto Sydney.
The two of them have yet to figure that out story line wise, but it showed it here:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1751
This is what was referring to above (although mis-remembered the touching, butt got the balls’ reactions correct)
Vahriah got no indications of anything from touching Sydney, other than believing her powers don’t work with Sydney (like with Maxi’s screwy skin)
Good points.
Alternatively, given that the pattern appears to be humanoid shaped, then those two top splatter lines could have originated from head tentacles/antenna or some other blood-bearing appendages. If you look at the previous page they all had their heads covered, barring one who actually did have horns. So any of them could potentially have contributed towards the spattering.
One oddity is that a couple of bulges appear, on the blood pattern, in between panels 4 and 5. As there is a zoom in, we could just put it down to artistic licence, in providing more detail in the latter. If being picky though both should have been clearly visible at the previous resolution. The lower bulge (and certainly the extending smear developing below it) can be accounted for by blood still flowing down (/spreading out).
However that seems less credible for the upper bulge, as it is both offset and does not have as much blood above it to provide a pool.
One point worth noting is that human blood coagulates, upon death, so there should not be much dripping or running, if a human was involved. However, barring convergent evolution (which admittedly seems likely for survival) alien blood need not behave similarly to human blood. Although, given that both are red, they may use similar base components, increasing the odds of convergent properties.
Of course, with aliens, what appears to be blood may not be at all…
Cora may have frightened one of them so much that they jumped out of their skin!
how the hell is it no one commented on this yet? did you get inspiration on the officer from Undyne from Deltarune?
you know, looking at her makes me think she should be voiced by Didi Conn or Nana Visitor.
I may have missed this earlier in the thread, but I admire the lizard cop, giving Cora a ticket for littering. I read the ‘dashed’ word balloon as, “I’m watching you!”
Dashed balloons are usually (not always) for whispers
Took it to mean that littering on Fracture was a worse sentence than outright
murderkillingOkay that bloodstain on the wall behind the hazmat officer looks like its growing upwards as well as downward. Either Dave made a mistake or the blood is flowing up the wall… I wonder if that’s an effect of Cora’s heavy ordinance or the alien in question is trying to regenerate…
Depends on the constitution of the wall, and how the smear was caused (you slam a small package of tomato sauce {or ketchup} against a stucco wall and it makes a similar pattern)
It’s quite possible that that alien is attempting to regenerate, look at the blood trail leading to the sewer: there are two trails, and one is not going straight
I can think of a couple of places Cora might be visiting before returning to the ship. one might be a report to the xenoarchy about the world breakers, one might be get Syd licensed as a bounty hunter. less issues for Syd if she returns. could also be useful to grab one of those translator gadgets before they leave.
[PERVERT MODE]
I am picturing everyone ignoring Sydney because she isn’t displaying her nursing sacks… her nine nursing sacks. Three rows of three bulges each beneath her blouse, in front. We would notice, and there would be endless comments, had Dave shown us a closer-up.
Question: Would the orbs make larger bulges under her blouse than her natural endowments?
[/PERVERT MODE]
They’d be asymetrical, though – surely it would be smarter to pretend that they’re in a diamond pattern? One orb on top, then three-two-one below?
“Littering” omg that killed me X,D
Odd, the site allowed me to make one reply on page 2 of the comments (despite the bug that is preventing me from making replies on anything other than the most recent page, and we already have a page 3). Yet my next reply the bug came back.
Retrying several times, and even starting a new browser tab, does not work around the issue. So not spotting anything consistent enough, to be able to provide useful info, should WordPress et al investigate the bug.
So will have to reply to the following comment, here:
You are right. The galaxy is a vast place, so there would need to be something to provide a link. Which we have, in Dabbler. But also in my working assumption that Fracture is the major trading hub which serves the area Earth is in (and likely the Alari homeworld, for that matter).
It has already been established that Cora and Dabbler are friends. Which means that they are both in the same region of the galaxy, narrowing the odds down vastly. Assuming that they like to keep in touch, they would probably meet up in some location mutually convenient to get to. As Fracture is a major trading hub, it will provide both regular scheduled transport for this region, plus will be able to service and refuel any owned or operated vessels (such as Cora’s ship).
Unless they are really common a Dyson sphere will have a massive area of influence (each one providing living space equal to a staggeringly large number of normal habitable planets), So if you are trying to find someone in the region, and there is nothing drawing them to a particular solar system, then Fracture is a very good place to start.
And the more people you are trying to reconnect with, the more likely you are to find a reasonable proportion of them here. So if, say, you want to organise an orgy, this would be the place to go.
Hence you can see why Succubi, and those with similar tastes, would have an affinity with somewhere with the mindbogglingly vast populations in such a location. And a desire to keep it safe.
Finally, if it is the most useful stop-off point serving Earth, Dabbler would likely have travelled through it, to get there. So may well have hung with her old friend on the way. And, likewise, when looking for someone to go rescue Sydney, where do you go to find one of the best mercenaries (or whatever) in this part of the spiral arm?
I’d like to know just how far Syd jumped with that gate.
BTW re: browser. if you click the Reply with a ‘left click -primary’ you tend to reply to persons comments, but it takes time to show up. If you do a ‘right click’ you respond to the entire list (at the bottom – firefox – newest version.) _sometimes_ the replies to comments show up right away, sometimes it may take a refresh for them to show. if the replay switches to another tab/page it will not connect the reply right. not sure if that may help?
I use google chrome, so the right click just brings up a menu of options (none of which is relevant for replying). The left click SHOULD work (it always used to), however what it does do (after the usual delay) is take me to the end of the comments (on the next page) and create a new comment, rather than a reply to the comment where I clicked on the ‘reply’ field.
In this case your comment is on the most recent page, so it lets me reply to it in the normal way. After another page of comments is added though, then I expect to get the bug on the older page.
Any advice/information is always gratefully received. If I get too fed up with the bug I may install firefox.
Hmm, bit of a traumatic fight scene/aftermath for Sydney? She turned several shades of green when someone got, cough, ‘disarmed’. And this fight had sentients blown apart (or at least strongly inferred to have been, with sledgehammer like subtlety)
And Sydney has been notably silent on this page. Something I do not consider to be a co-incidence in relationship to your comment.
Possibly we will get her reaction on the next page, although the circumstances may preclude that. For instance she will be keeping a low profile, not wishing to draw the attention of Fracture’s law enforcement to herself, as an illegal alien. Likewise being openly critical, of someone who is rescuing her from an extreme predicament, may be something Sydney is wise enough to avoid. For now.
However whether Halo’s stomach, or fragile emotions, will obey rigid logic is another matter …
it’s entirely possible she’s hardened up a lot since then. remember she was doused in blood Sciona’d left at one point after that and it didn’t gross her out so much as annoy her. add to that she dismembered a giant squid-thing less than a few hours ago.
True. Regarding the latter though don’t forget that the lack of immediacy distances people from trauma. Pilots in WWII probably killed hundreds of people in their bombing raids, but they suffered proportionately less PTSD (as we now know it) than their land-based counterparts who had to see either the foes they were killing directly or otherwise see the aftermath first-hand. As Sydney is currently experiencing.
Contrast that with the various motherships Halo destroyed, on or around the Alari homeworld. Each of those might have had a crew of thousands! Yet Sydney could set that aside, by just viewing them as computer-game like targets.
Perhaps, once she has had the leisure to reflect on the actuality, or if she sees news reports or intelligence briefings, which advise her of the actual fatality rates, then it may impact her more. For the moment though I think she is just focused on dealing with the immediate issues. Having been in a serious survival situation, that is appropriate. And she is not out of the woods yet either, given that a wrong step now could start an interstellar war.
So these episodes are hardening Sydney, by necessity. But whether she will escape the emotional consequences, we shall have to wait and see. Sydney uses her tomboy attitudes and humour, as a defence. Much like many of the talented comedians we have seen (take Robin Williams as a good example for international audiences), she uses that to cover for her fragile emotional interior.
We saw that fracture, at the poolside (over a sexual matter, rather than from past trauma) so she does have her weak points, and has been going through a heck of a lot of late, pushing her emotionally from many different angles. Not least being having died! Which this scene could be bringing home that she could have remained in that state, had it not been for Krona’s checkpoint.
Just a quick point: She didn’t destroy any motherships. She destroyed fighter ships that may or may not have been drones, and a few big aliens that may or may not have been bio-robot things.
Personally, I think Sydney merely shielded herself and let Cora handle smacking the ruffians, because even Sydney knows that Cora will know more about the legalities of what one can get away with when attacking muggers in this place. I think we’ll see Cora and Sydney heading toward the ship, Sydney’s uniform bulging with orbs hidden before the cops arrived, and then Coral will offer a “Thank you for staying out of that fight, Sydney,” as soon as they board her vessel.
Yea, I watched the link in the comment I was replying to. But not knowing what the original comment, or the reply to it, were referencing, at the time of formulating my own reply I was just riffing with what was written.
For info the pun I was alluding to was converting the colloquialism “are you taking the pee” into the homonym “pea”, so that I could run with the con game gag. I don’t believe (just from watching the clip) that it was being referenced in the film (but am happy to be corrected by anyone who may know any ‘behind the scenes’ info).
Rather I think it alluded to some kind of bidet system, but one purposely (from a writing point of view) complex enough (due to having three controls) and not self explanatory, that it would likely require a demonstration or instruction. Something potentially humiliating, for an adult, especially a tough guy cop. Hence the glee that his rivals were enjoying.
Sly’s solution to the problem was brilliant, and one I am sure Sydney would endorse heavily. ;-)
Darn it! The site had been letting me reply normally for a bit. So I did not notice when this one got bumped to the end. This was in response to a comment on the previous page:
“Where is Sydney” may hav been answeered.
The other question, referring to the last page, is “what happened to the fellow, right of panel, lurking in the alley? What did he see, and to whom did he sell the information?”
He wasn’t ‘lurking’, he was part of the mugs who tried to mug Sydney and Cora (if he’s lucky, he’s the one going to the warp mines)
Is this police lady Undyne’s cousin?
Also I’d imagine a warp mine would be a place where time doesn’t precede linearly.
Is it just me, or does the cop look like an alien version of Seras Victoria?
Has no one else realized that the guy in hazmat is the the guy from the viscera clean up game.
I guess that kinda depends on just how many fellow readers felt the urge to buy and play a game with that title? Then feel the urge to confess that online. ;-)
Interesting the different takes folks have on it. Mine is no more valid, but the way I read it took the cues from the changes in the officer’s voice levels. When she is telling Cora off she is speaking loudly (in bold). Hence I took that as being the public dressing down, for any bystanders out of sight, fellow officers and the inevitable curtain-twitchers.
Whilst her final comment is whispered.
Combined I take it that she wanted to be seen to be tough on such over-the-top behaviour. Whilst, in actuality, only giving a token ticket. The bystanders will get the impression that the matter has been taken seriously, hopefully heading off any complaints before they are raised. Unaware that the ticket was only for littering.
Unless, of course, littering carries a really heavy penalty. ;-) Who knows with alien cultures?
On ‘Tripping the Rift’, one planet had littering get the summary execution penalty.
So the villain sent the protagonist a pack of gum, knowing he would spit it out.
I like your first take. As for littering, Sydney could whip out the molestorb and gather everything into a tidy pile, then make it disappear with the PPO.
The article you linked does go to reasonable lengths to show balance. Although I am pleased to see that it awards “3 pinochios” to the politician’s claim about concealed carry reducing crime.
What is interesting though is that the thread was about a non-violent con, for which a non-violent way of turning the tables on the con-person had been proposed. It does say something interesting about the US national obsession that such should be escalated to responding with the threat of lethal force. Citizens of countries without a gun obsession would tend to respond by, say, calling the police and making a complaint. Or just accepting that they had been fools and moving on.
Providing the call is made discreetly, and the complainant is not otherwise known to the con artist, the risk to life and limb is nil. There is no need to draw a gun and threaten someone with it. Your life is not in danger. You are not being mugged. You agreed to play a game. If you are cunning enough you may be able to win it, despite it being rigged. If not, why should you start risking peoples’ lives over the matter?
Let the cops and lawyers handle it, if they can catch the fellow. It is not worth dying over. It is not worth killing someone who is only attempting a mild con.
This is nothing to do with concealed carry, other than to point out the need to keep responses proportional. Even someone who has exercised a legal right to carry a concealed weapon, on their person, should not be reaching for it in these circumstances!
What the heck is this for a primitive society?
They have warp travel, but still sends people off to mine warp?
Thats kinda the stuff we stopped doing decades ago because it does not work.
As also seen by how thier prior conviction number.
And dont get me started on Cora? Talk about disproportional response.
So far all the morons tried to do were to take your stuff. And since they clearly were utterly harmless i see this little differently from cold blooded murder.
The bit about the warp mine is supposed to be comedic. As for disproportionate retribution, the ruffians tried to rob/murder cora and sydney, it just turned out that cora and sydney were much bigger fish.
Remember, they were harmless TO CORA AND SYDNEY. They are still on the level of mugging and assaulting random bystanders.
The process probably went: attempt to mug, cora and syd laugh, they pull guns and are about to fire, cora pulls bigger guns and fire.
I heavily doubt that cora fired before any of the others attempted to kill cora first
I stand corrected, cora totally shot first.
The thing being, if they’d LET Cora carry her ‘Heavy Ordnance’, there would probably have been much less mess for them to clean up afterwards.
That’s one of the arguments in favor of open carry v/s concealed carry. Whatever Cora was armed with, the thugs knew nothing about it before they approached her. Had Cora been openly carrying, the thugs would likely have given Sydney and Cora a pass. Bad guys looking for sheep will stay clear of an obvious wolf.
That’s one way to look at it, another way is, if they saw Cora carrying Big Heat, they may feel they must be carrying something valuable, either on them if not the strange looking boy with the weird floating orbs, and arm themselves with bigger weapons themselves
Eitehr extreme is a possibility – criminals being as varied as any other group of sapient and semi-sapient beings.
However, the ones that go for randomly mugging apparently unarmed people in dark alleys are not, by ANY stretch of the imagination, what anyone would reasonably categorize as “Professional Criminal’.. Probably the nicest label for such people would be ‘Lazy Oppurtunist’. If faced with superior firepower, odds are that their first reaction will NOT be to suddenly hunt around for weaoon upgrades. Rather, they are more likely to fade away and look for an easier target.
Man that cop is pretty :o also
lol
Charges for littering. because there are pieces of corpse laying around.
Is it just me, or does that police alien look a bit like an alien version of Seras Victoria before her turning? (Hellsing Ultimate Anime)
Honestly, Corra does pretty well communicating with nature. I’m pretty sure she communicated some of those beings limbs all over the environment.
That was rather more bloodily violent than I expected. I guess Sydney is a fan of not only killing the Joker, but killing all his mooks and random muggers as well.
I kinda expected her to just pop up her shield and use her lighthook to effortlessly capture all of them and then get stuck holing a bundle of criminals and not knowing what to do with them.
Smearing their bodily fluids over the alley does handle that issue, but wow. Alien spaceship-things is one thing, aliens are apparently fine as well. Can we expect her to fly over crime-heavy areas, blasting criminals from the heavens?
Pretty sure most of that carnage was Cora. AKA: Dabbler’s friend.
Don’t forget Dabbler’s big hang up was most her gear was for lethal take downs so adjusting for Archon’s non-lethal approach was difficult for her.
Agreed. And Dabbler’s only incentive for that was because she was working with cops and they insisted on the non-lethal options. Without that imperative, leaving enemies alive, to take revenge, is not a good survival tactic. Once they gave Cora the legal excuse to respond with lethal force, she clearly pulls no punches.
Yep, with all the legal talk in these comments, I keep thinking back to, but keeping a lid on as (laws need not always apply) the approach one of my main characters Rhulan has generally had to these situations. heck a recent flash back story (fleshing out between major events stuff) had her liquefy *boiling blood + hydro explosion finger beam* and then damn the soul of a guy who ambushed her with a sword. He was a zero threat, but there was no reason to leave him alive, after all as you said, chances are they may come back again…go after a hostage, ect…or ya’know a screw the reasoning, you dared attack me, prepare to die.
Killing them usually merely leads to “My name is Enigo Montoya. You killed my father, Prepare to die.” Revenge doesn’t stop for death. Plus, you know, morals and all that. She could have merely crippled them instead.
Anyone else hear the voice of Shelby Rabara for the officer handing Cora the ticket?
Cora + Sidney probably the most terrifying team up ever. One is super powered ADHD with excellent planning and strategy capabilities … the other is a walking WMD.
Sydney is not soley a product of her ADHD. She is a well-rounded character with many aspects to her personality. Including having tom-boy characteristics, well developed nerd knowledge, intensive gamer skills, is strongly in touch with her inner child and has other traits which contribute to her whacky behaviour.
However throw in aggravating factors then she, like anyone else, will have her judgement deteriorate. Prolonged hours without sleep, exposure to shocking situations, injury or other traumatic events can all worsen any calls made. As can over-reliance on information gained from games, social media, films and bad TV programs.
Then at the end of the list, if you add in ADHD, it can aggravate some of the above even more. Notably sleep deprivation is far worsened for those with ADHD, making it far harder to control. Throw in medication running out, on top of that, and Halo has had some fair justification for her flawed behaviour., under those circumstances.
Given that she has often been pushed beyond her limits it does help to explain why she can have wacky behaviour fairly regularly.
Her basic morality is sound though. Although I would have been more comfortable if she chose to kill ships full of people with self-defence as her primary motive, rather than focusing on the experience she could gain! But it is reasonable to put that down to being a coping mechanism, to distance herself mentally and emotionally, from the harsh necessities of the situation.
OK, we’re on page 3. Has anyone made the suggestion that those are “Warp mines”? Mines that exist within the Warp? Danger from demons and the Ruinous Powers?
Back on Page One, I suggested that warp mining is like woof (or weft, if you prefer) mining, except rotated 90 degrees…(oh, the tangled puns I weave!)
The saddest part is, John Spartan was closer to being a valid interpretation of Judge Dredd than Sly’s actual turn in the role. And Karl Urban was FAR superior as Ol’ Stonyface.
Warp Mines…. Bwahaha!
That’s probably some running gag from an old and corny entertainment that became a meme.
Getting caught up on your awesome comic and this panel caused me to burn the inside of my nose with hot cocoa lol
I love the cop on this page, she looks like Undyne’s sister. xD
English is the linguafranca-par-excellence