Grrl Power #752 – Mitten Rx
Dr. Frost has you in her chair, Sydney. She’s not going to prescribe you some drugs and kick you out of the door. There’s a paper begging to be written and published in American Psychological Association Journal.
There are a lot of expressions that don’t quite hold water with a little examination, but “Time heals all wounds” has got to be the worst. “Time sometimes heals select cosmetic wounds.” would be a much more apt expression.
Well, THaW is maybe tied with “That which does not kill you makes you stronger.” That’s almost never true either. Well, unless you’re a Saiyan. Then that expression is perfect for you. Unless that expression means like, literally anything, not just injurious attack. Like, a good night’s sleep makes you stronger. A healthy lunch with some multigrain bread and an orange makes you stronger. But then, what about eating a detergent packet or snorting powdered graphite? Those things don’t make you stronger. It’s just a dumb expression.
Ignore Dr. Frost’s expression in the last panel, or at least scale it back like 20% in your minds. She came out looking a bit wicked witch and she’s just supposed to be smiling wryly. I just missed the mark there a bit.
Edit: Whoops, forgot to schedule this one. I just hit “Publish.” Oh well, enjoy your super early comic!
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Now that Sydney is back from her ‘Space Odyssey’ I was kind of hoping that someone with a sense of humor gives her room at headquarters a certain makeover.
https://airandspace.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/hero_special_lg/public/images/editoral-stories/thumbnails/NASM2018-00447.jpg?itok=QZjaNNLW×tamp=1527865843
that would be an epic prank.
Why naked ladies? Oh wait dabbler is on base… of course its naked ladies. Im surprised its so tasteful
It’s the bed Dave died of old age on in 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is never explained in the movie, but in context I’ve always thought that it was the illusion (or the reality, they could pretty much do anything) the aliens provided him as a way of giving comfortable surroundings to their pet human throughout his lifetime.
I believe the expression “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger” comes from Nietzsche, and if I recall correctly, specifically _Beyond Good and Evil_. Again, if I’m remembering correctly, in context it means something like “Suffering and self-cruelty allow you to go beyond the conditioning of pleasure and pain”. It’s not, “If you’re feeling pain, you’re getting strong”, or even the absurd “Trauma makes you strong”. I suspect Walter Kaufmann was right in his observation that Nietzsche enjoyed coining sayings too much, which has made his words vulnerable to being taken out of context, and to being distorted by misinterpretation.
Personally I think it was a typo in transcription, “That that doesn’t kill you makes you stranger“. He must have been a blast at parties.
Well now you’re just quoting the Joker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5o-w0F7kfQ
It’s from _Thus Spoke Zarathustra,_ the point of which was to prove the falsity of the statement.
Who is Zara Thustra though, and what did she speak thusly of? o_O
The original person was the founder of the Zoroastrianism religion. However Nietzsche wrote of a reimagined version of Zarathustra, with alternate morals of Nietzsche’s design. As the works covered four books, there was a lot of speaking. But you can find the synopsis in Wikipedia.
I’m a fan of the musical version.
(the theme to 2001 is called “Also Sprach Zarathustra” or “Thus spake Zarathustra”.)
Knew had heard that somewhere
Also Sprach Zarathustra, on and on and on again :P
That opening music is giving me an irresistible urge!
An urge to miss-link? o_O
I bought the Soundtrack Album, as soon as it was in the stores.
2001: A Space Odyssey was the first DVD I purchased at the same time as my first DVD player. I still have, and use, both.
As far as misquoting Nietzsche is concerned, it really doesn’t help that after his death the publishing rights went to his sister. Her ‘official’ editions in many cases obscured, or even opposed, Friedrich’s own writings in favour of her own views.
Unfortunately he’s but one of many who trusted the wrong person with the ownership and publishing rights of their material after their death, resulting in the material being drastically altered or even destroyed by the inheritor because they actually hated the person or at least their works.
I originally read that as being prescribed two Kittens. That would have been awesome, at least for the few days before she tried to feed them something super spicy and they got taken away from her.
You never know,the kittens might LIKE super Spidey food!n I had a cat that would steal my peppered beef jerky in addition to my Tex/Mex food!
Sydney needs a bird. Birds can’t taste spice.
Poor feathered dinosaurs. Highly evolved brains (except for the ones which atrophied, like chickens) yet a stunted sense of taste*!
* No transient receptor potential vanilloid subfamily, member receptor.
I can’t remember where I read the article but I do remember reading that early therapy can actually make ptsd worse in some cases- forcing people to relive a recent experience locks it into the mind moire strongly.
Depends on the KIND of therapy.
Behavioral mechanism therapy (teaching how to cope) is better than “purge the experience by revisiting it” which is simply burning in the flashbacks.
There is a cart, and there is a horse.
Much of the time one isn’t driven to submit to undergoing therapy until flashbacks are on continuous replay.
Sounds plausible. However if therapists are aware of that research* I imagine that they will avoid approaches which require reliving the experience. I am sure there are plenty of ways to give support to individuals who have been through trauma, which does not require them to confront the experience, until they are truly ready for it.
Having a therapist on paw to make that judgement though is useful, rather than leaving it until it is perhaps too late. Even if all they do each session is have a light exploratory chat, ending with ‘it is too early to do anything deeper yet’. But they will be well positioned to spot when the right time has come. And I am sure there are things they can do even before then, to make sure the patient is well supported in a way that will minimise the chances of deterioration.
* And if it turns out to be well supported. We must never put too much weight on the results of a single study, especially if it has a small sample or otherwise is not well received by critical review.
Yes, forcing someone to relive a recent experience is potentially bad (depends on the individual), doing nothing is just as potentially bad
In some cases, early therapy can actually help, again, depends on the individual seeking the help (and on the individual providing the help)
: Seconded! :
“Mittens are my kryptonite.”
“… and nighmare cure.”
Part of what has turned Sydney’s bad dream into a recurring nightmare is the fact that she is afraid of wreaking havoc in her sleep. Something that she can never successfully run away from, given that she is eternally tethered to them (as graphically depicted in panel 3). The simple act of putting the mittens on (and securing them with duct tape) will ease Sydney’s mind and allow her a better chance at getting restful sleep.
It will make her pretty vulnerable to a night time raid mind. So she better make sure she has a quick-release tab she can pull to rip the duct tape/mittens off.
Don’t need to be secured via duck tape, they are simply there to make Sydney pause in her wild flailing around: they may still reach her hands, but she won’t be able to do anything to set them off
The duct tape is there to stop the mittens falling off in Sydney’s sleep, or even her reflexively removing them, if they make her feel too hot. A precaution is only effective if it is where it is meant to be at the time it is needed. Mittens on Sydney’s bed will not prevent Archon HQ from being sliced in half!
Which makes me wonder why she doesn’t just incarcerate them in Tubey for the night-times.
She could put them in tubey, but remember, they do respond to her thoughts &thrashing around in sleep panic mode from nightmares could have her open them up to use. Add to the fact that in an emergency it doesn’t take alot of time to remove mittens, where as a tube holding them could take long enough to be a problem
It’s only been four days for Sydney.
And she didn’t have nightmares when she slept before defecating th Grakz, which was sort of its own waking nightmare.
Not enough time for anything to legitimately be proclaimed recurring.
I hope you meant defeating them… The other thing is a little disgusting. And the nightmares would probably be even worse…
Grakz is the spicy street-food found on the Fracture, which is apparently much hotter coming out than going in albeit with a few compensations. I don’t think we’ve seen an official name-ID for the Scourge of Alar; kaiju is a category description at best.
She already knows my weakness, she must be destroyed!
What’s Sydney worried about? It’s not like there’s precedent for this happening in a webcomic…
Oh wait there is http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090306#.XSec6uhKiwg
+1 for your good person.
Dammit! You just sent me on an hour-long archive trawl of Girl Genius.
Oh well. At least I got to see Zeetha’s leather underwear again. And the Revenge of the Weasel Queen…
I know that feeling well!!
Or this
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-122-if-only-all-behavioral-therapy-was-this-easy/
Or this.
https://youtu.be/TZa4Dh_Ay9A
That which does not kill you, if slightly above what you think you can do at any given moment, usually will make you stronger.
There. I fixed the expression :).
*tries to grab hold of the dangling rope, with teeth, before falling down a deep chasm*
NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo!
Then there is the Marine take on that. “That which does not kill you…should run.”
ROFL.
For the record… Sayans don’t heal from ALL wounds. Goku’s dad, Bardok, has a funky facial scar. Plus… tails; apparently they don’t always grow back.
Just because you have a wicked scar doesn’t mean your wound hasn’t healed
I mean…a scar is technically proof that the (physical) wound did indeed heal.
Yup, and a scab is a wound that hasn’t healed fully
Or you know, PUT THE ORBS IN THE TUBE when you go to bed.
My thoughts exactly, although I went there via the “would ordinary gloves work”-phase. Let’s see if Sydney is just that absent-minded to not use the tube.
They would. Mittens just sounds funnier. And are probably more comfortable in bed, so the doctor is making a good call.
Gloves arent as comfy as mittens. :)
Depends on the gloves
Good idea. Do note though that the orbs can still be mentally commanded, even whilst in the tube (until they too fall asleep). Even in Sydney’s imagined scene in panel 3 you can see them straining to get to her.
Whilst Tubey is both great (at concealing the orbs) and indestructible (surviving the destruction of the Steak House unscathed), he is just a poster tube. So the end is nothing more than a plastic cap popped into a cardboard tube. Given that the orbs can punch hard enough to take out Math, they could easily pop the lid off, if given a mental command to do that. Which Sydney knows and may subconsciously order if terrified, in a nightmare.
Heck, they were hitting hard enough to break Sciona’s bones when she was mostly troll.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-500-bravery-in-the-faces-of-danger/
Frankly, if Sydney had just kept the assault up, she might have taken Sciona out just by bashing her with the orbs. Or at least gotten enough distance to activate her shield.
True. But if Halo became a serious threat, one swipe by Sciona would have killed her.
Or a stab with a giant needle, in a sensitive enough spot.
I suspect that after basic training Archon will probably have Math work with her on that option. Its potentially difficult to defend against while at the same time less lethal than a lot of Sydney’s other abilities.
Plus, the orbs only seem to glow when she is holding them. That would mean that using them this way gives her a combat ability which doesn’t light her up in the dark, although the range would be only so long as her tether. From the bank heist scene I think that tether isn’t any further than twenty five feet.
The most important aspect about using the orbs as punching objects is that is the one power she can use without holding an orb in her hand. So even when Sydney has mittens on, she can still punch with her orbs. If she gets really skilled at that she will have the attack capability of several martial artists.
A martial artist could use either hand and a leg to attack (ignoring elbows, knees, other sub parts, head, etc, for simplicity). But would typically only be using one of them to attack with at any given instant (other than, say, using both arms to grapple). Especially if just looking at punch type attacks.
Whereas Halo could get all seven of her orbs to converge on a single target, each with full force and precision. We have even seen her do a double strike, like this, on Shadow Boxer. And she may even find she is able to attack seven different targets at once. I doubt she could do that with her own cognition. Even with her ADHD, she would have difficulty in focusing on seven people at once (unlike Harem who can easily deal with five, using her different bodies).
However the orbs are clearly rather autonomous, and able to do pretty complex things easily (forming into the shape of atoms swirling round in a precise orbit, for example). So if Sydney mentally commands them ‘each attack one of those enemies’, that would probably be sufficient. And with Math helping her to optimise the process, so that she does it efficiently and timely and in a way that ensures the blows are devastatingly effective, then she could become a top tier martial artist herself. Just using her orbs instead of her limbs.
If anyone ever makes a MUGEN of Grrl Power, I wanna see some crazy Orb-fu.
Sci-fright only had an injection of troll blood
That would be so god damn warm.
Fine for winter. Thin cotton mittens, for summer. With a drawstring to keep them from sliding off.
Losing your one true love is a lot like an amputation.
*nods*
Peggy should’ve said “Damn straight!!”
Why? Peggy isn’t straight though, she’s bi
The full context of the quote is, “In time of war, what does not kills you, makes you stronger” which can be taken as wrong and correct. Depends on the person and their experiences. Dr. Nietzsche’s was working ambulance at the front line during the Franco-Prussian war (1870-1871). He was no soldier nor wanted to be one.
“In time of war, what does not kill you makes you stronger?” Written by someone who was working ambulance? Considering the amount of amputations in war (esp in the 1800s), this is still a gross exaggeration.
There are aspects of conflict which make people stronger and tougher and more resilient, definitely. There are aspects of war that make people rise to the challenge and overcome and become more than they were, definitely.
Blanket statements about surviving making you stronger are ludicrous, though. There’s a lot of mentally and/or physically shattered people living on the streets because they are shattered by what they survived.
I’ve always absolutely despised that saying. It’s not that it can’t make you stronger, but seriously, there has to be SOME saying out there that is more accurate than this nonsense.
… more CONSISTANTLY accurate anyway.
Is it me or in Panel 4 did Sidney go Full Muppet?
sorry, panel 3. yup. definately muppet.
Nope, think a certain demented cartoon dog
I resemble that remark!
You are not demented, though… right? o_O
Also, wrong nationality :D
Heh, panel 3 is funny, what with Halo’s expression and Tubey straining to get to her. But I am glad that mittens are a cure as well as kryptonite. So much better than the straightjacket and chains!
Although, I’m guessing from Sydney’s preferences, that she would like to try the chains sometime.
Nope, typical Anime.
Typical anime, like that, can be funny too. If well rendered and timed.
I guess Sydney should not go first in her “timeshare the boyfriend” plan. Unless she can convince him it’s her fetish.
On second thought there must be someone out there already with a mitten fetish. But i’m not going to google it.
Oddly it turns out to be quite tame*, with this being the most extreme example on the first page. Although this one may be of interest to supervillains wanting to securely contain Sydney.
* Your results may vary, due to Google personalisation. I ban Google from doing that (as best as it allows), in my options.
The polished ones in the second link could be weaponized. Just saying.
There’s an anime featuring a girl who fights with mittens as her primary weapon. Ookami-san and her seven companions.
She has adorable little kitty cat mittens that go “meow!” Every time she punches someone. It’s a good anime.
Thank you, just found it on YouTube (had to sign in to view it, yay for fake accounts :D)
“That which does not kill you makes you stronger.”*
*but it make you hurt like hell!
Peggy, would you confirm that you would like the RT20 rifle, in case your mere 50 cal is not hitting a super hard enough?
This rifle is at the margin between being classified as a cannon. Guns of 20mm or above can correctly be called a cannon. Although, if they fire bullets, 20mm firearms can still be called rifles too (guns designed to fire shells are cannons, regardless of caliber).
Usually single shot or small magazine fed rifles of that caliber are called antitank rifles.
Large numbers were fielded against armored vehicles in the first world war, and the Finnish used them as sniper rifles (with cute little skis on the bipod) in the second world war.
Yorp, the Ručni Top in the name (RT-20) means “Handheld Cannon,” so it kind of is a rifle that’s classified as a cannon. Or, I guess, a cannon that other countries refer to as a rifle.
I would also support her using a Vidhwansak, if only for the reason that Peggy could at some point shoot a near-invulnerable bad guy in the gonads to distract him, with the nonomatopoeia sound of the impact being “VID-Hwan!”
I chose not to recommend the Vidhwansak, nor the South African anti-material rifle of the same caliber, because they both require a two man crew. Despite having other advantages, such as having a magazine, we have seen that Peggy can operate efficiently against even super targets, on her own.
Whilst it would not hurt to have a spotter, or someone to watch her back, it would detract from her image, in the comic, of being a woman able to stand her own against supers, without powers of her own nor mystical martial arts nor spells nor nth generation technology.
Pistols use to be referred to as ‘hand-cannons’, specifically those of the flint-lock era (or earlier, the older you get, the more timelines tend to merge and it becomes difficult to separate events)
The sixteen-inch main battery of the New Jersey were rifles.
I believe the same could be said about the ^18^inch ones on the Yamato and Musashi of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Has it been confirmed “mittens” or “oven mitts” will work on the orbs? I can’t remember. Also like to point out a better reason not to give her meds. She is always in reach of a laser cannon and meds tend to make you wonky and do things that you would normally think are bad ideas with or without odd interactions. Just look at methaqualone.
She actually told everyone this at her initial debriefing.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-98-triple-facepalm-and-sidebutt/
In my experience that which doesn’t kill me dies under mysterious circumstances while I’m miles away. That’s if it doesn’t expire in the attempt to kill me. That’s why I’m 2-0-1 in death matches against pickup trucks.
Dr Frost is CLEARLY no bulls**t. And it NOT going to drug you into oblivion. She’s all about, “you gon’ DEAL wit’ yo stuff, monkey-girl.”
The reason time heals all wounds is that eventually you will die, and your pain and suffering will die with you. same thing goes for Peggy really, once you’re dead and gone, you’re not really missing a leg anymore~
^You^ may not be missing that leg after you’ve been dead, but your ^corpse^ will be!
I just finished playing Persona 5, and now I cannot hear any voice other than Futaba’s in my head when reading Halo’s dialogue.
The analogy I would use (and have used) is that of a broken bone. If you had a broken bone, but didn’t try to properly treat it, and just tried to hide the pain under some medication, what is going to happen?
Eventually the bone is going to heal wrong, and “permanently” become fixed in a wrong position, leaving the bone thus unable to properly bear weight and even keeping muscles from moving in certain ways.
But rather, if the bone is properly set in place, and then braced while it heals, the bone can eventually become perfectly normal again.
The mind is like that. If you suffer something that breaks you in a deep emotional or psychological level, left untreated the mind will heal over itself in the wrong manner, and a person is left with a broken mind that can’t function normally. They will build associations with benign triggers, they will build mental patterns that warp their thoughts around sensitive matters, and they will become subject to pain from the smallest provocations.
Feel free to use that analogy is you wish.
Man, Dr. Frost is kinda creeping me out in that last panel. I think part of it’s the ‘talking head’ thing she’s got going on in these small square panels, part the sanpaku eyes, and part uncanny valley…
I noticed this especially in the last few pages, but your art has gotten somewhat more realistic than it was when you started. (Reflections on Sydney’s glasses, finer shading, stuff like that). On the one hand, props for upping your game; on the other hand, I like stylized art, and this is maybe just at the wrong balance between stylized and realistic for me in places, and it’s weirding me out a bit.
The only ‘talking head’ is Sydney in panel eight
That is funny… Yeah, Sydney has a point about “Perhaps we need to think of some way to prevent me from grabbing my Laser Cannon Orb and doing something in my sleep that I will regret highly!”
I love the Rat Fink homage in panel 3 there. xD
does anyone remember its been three days? no one goes to the shrink three days after because it isnt a thing. you are still processing the experience for the first time.
a couple weeks yes; but she has only slept what? two nights, and one of those wasn’t spent sleeping. yes shrinks want to get to you sooner than later and thats mostly because they are some of the most mentally messed up people on the planet; fresh blood always excites them. (sorry i dont like shrinks because i went to school with to many of them and no one goes into the field to help others, always to help themselves).
Sydney has only been home for one day
Butt yes, you are correct: this is far too early for Sydney (or anyone) to be treated for PTSD, or any other mental trauma
Sydney is just trying to get out of doing PT
Was that a Ren & Stimpy reference? lol
Okay, last panel was funny and clever. She hasn’t won me over as a counsellor yet, but I do like her as a character.
“[Dr. Frost] came out looking a bit wicked witch and she’s just supposed to be smiling wryly.” – DaveB
Really? She has that sort of look, she’s actually recommending Sydney’s kryptonite… Does she have similar ‘contingencies’ in mind for all of Archon’s assets?
Overall I’m not really sure how realistic this is? In my experience, if you mention an issue to a psychiatrist that can be treated with psychiatry, they are happy to prescribe something. This was my most recent experience with going to a psychiatrist about PTSD nightmares:
me: Hi so every time I sleep I only have nightm—
psych: Okay I’ll prescribe prazosin. It helps with PTSD nightmares.
me: Isn’t that a heart med?
psych: Yes? It is also used for nightmares.
me: It’s just that I have a heart condition.
psych: You’ll be okay.
(later, I take it and get extreme fatigue from it)