Grrl Power #816 – Horrifying demon monsters are only skin deep
Poor Olivia. All that quality drinking, down the drain. That adrenaline shot sobered her right up. Now she has to start over.
Varia’s gestalt power is usually not a problem for those around her. But occasionally… she does emit a horrific smell, set nearby vinyl on fire, spontaneously drained or overloaded all nearby batteries, stuff like that. Luckily she’s never liquified everyone’s skin in a 50′ radius or blasted out a few megasieverts of gamma radiation.
Yet.
There have been concerns that one of Varia’s eight billion potential gestalts will be to create a black hole or a portal to somewhere nasty, and a horrible buggaboo leaps through and starts wet willying people’s souls or something. If this was an X-Men style title, there would probably be people wanting to jail or kill her to prevent a possible darkest timeline.
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I’m going to take it, Scarlet lies about her age, since she said two hundred here and was said to be 100 before.
Of course she does.
Even if she’s dead she’s still female.
I’d assume it goes the other direction with Vampires though. Everybody wants to be the all-powerful antediluvian sireling of Caine himself, nobody wants to be a 30 year old parasitic poser no one cares about.
I’d think the amount of boasting of ones age would diminish dramatically when in the presence of ones sire, as I believe she was when she was introduced. It’s also probably one of those topics that doesn’t come up that often when she’s in vampire company or completely incognito. But here she’s chilling with some non-vampires who know what she is… and, of course, one person who totally doesn’t and she almost forgot about that.
I’m kind of guessing that among themselves subterfuge and hidden assets have afar greater priority than boasting.
You just described Crimson, she’s only been a vampire for around 30 years
40 years, as she told Sydney.
Which is around 30 :P
Knew it was relatively recent :)
undead
190 years isn’t two centuries, so she could be close to 200 years old and still being called “a century old” would not be totally untrue. If she was 20 when turned and is now 190, that would mean 170 years as a vamp, so “a century old vampire”, but was turned “nearly 200 years ago”
Also, remember that becoming a vampire usually, in most worlds I’ve read about, instantly restores you to a youthful form. She might have been 90 when she was turned.
I doubt Olivia knows about The Veil, aliens, vampires, weres, etc. Everyone knows about supers, and she’s a friend of Sydney, but they really shouldn’t be talking about other stuff. Hence, “There was a … joint operation” and the period last minute save. It’s not vanity, it’s “Oh crap – Olivia doesn’t know about vampires.”
Come to think of it, Varia is a recruit, and Sydney was only in on The Veil because her TrueSight pierced it, anyway. So, no one at that table knows about vampires, etc. I’m waiting for someone to ask, “Joint operation? Who was Arcswat working with? Who do you work with? How did you and Sydney meet?”
After… relations, without protection she would be in contact with multiple similar DNA from sperm. Surface area might be comparable to normal slight contact like above. For a good period of time afterwards her life could be interesting, especially if there are multiple changes fitting a theme due to the multiple similar DNAs.
Hmm, I would be surprised if she could use ‘samples’ for transformations, or she would be carrying bandoliers of blood and/or semen samples around with her. It would functionally make her an intensely versatile shapeshifter, instead of the less consistent version she has now.
Sydney asked her about exactly that, and the reply was that she’d never thought about it. I suppose she would have looked for a way to try it relatively soon after that, so the fact that we haven’t heard about her having the option by now probably means it doesn’t work.
So what would happen if she received a blood transfusion?
Or had a child, mothers have a few of their children fetal cells floating about in their blood stream for years.
RadioLab covered that phenomenon in a podcast call Fetal Consequences.
That phenomenon has actually been known to effectively cure women of some genetic diseases. Sort of a natural stem cell transplant.
I think this was discussed before. Can’t remember if in the comments of the comic its self though or not and not just down in the reader comments.
I recall the idea being she can’t, like its one part DNA one part living aura (life force).
I think the only problem with that line of thought is that while sperm has random DNA, its all based on the males DNA (not counting minor, or I guess in this universe…major…mutations), and only half of a full DNA strand…the DNA would have to reach an egg for a full DNA to be made. It does beg several questions though…like, if she has a baby will she be transformed until birth…and during all breast feeding if she does that, which would be quite the horror show depending on the transformation…does she suppress the ability during sex or do people willingly fuck her in a demonic, elemental, incorporeal, or otherwise form…what happens if she is impregnated while transformed into another ‘being’–would it be human or that other being, assuming that other species was even capable of breeding with humans. Really her ability spectrum opens up so many interesting and, looking back, awkward questions.
My guess is it’s a pretty academic question to her at this point. Before it matters, she needs to find a viable mate, which in her case means not someone she can get along with and depend on and likes as a person, but also someone who doesn’t transform her into something that can’t get pregnant. Like, say, probably this.
I really appreciate when you put the names and brief bios to the top left.
Also want to say, you are AWESOME! Just in general.
Yeah, that’s endlessly useful with a cast this large and diverse!
Thanks! I wish every webcomic and TV show had something like that. I’m pretty bad with faces and remembering character names.
One author actually banned me partially for using nicknames for characters that were rarely used (other reason was apparently because of not liking some of his precious characters, and not having a real email account)
Whereas here you save that nicknaming stuff for the hero of the webcomic.
I of course mean Deus. :)
Not just him, and not just here
I love this one XD
Poor Olivia……. may wanna double those shots, this is going to be tough to forget.
She’s not trying to forget, she’s attempting to calm down, by getting hammered
Who said she was going to share?
They still haven’t addressed the most important question. Who gets the eggroll?
(I’m pretty sure the answer is NOT “I’ll arm wrestle you for it.”)
One,two, three,four
I declare a thumb war!
Sydney eats it while they’re distracted and she’s waiting for her drinks.
Sydney is outside (you mean Olive?)
I was under the impression Varia’s power was voluntary. If it works under the same rules as Rogue from X-Men’s power why the hell is she ALLOWED to walk around gloveless!? DABBLER would be less of a problem in public than her.
There is the built in safety feature, so unless she gets a really weird one, no one will be harmed.
Her safety feature only protects HER and who she’s gestalting with, it doesn’t do anything to protect anyone else around her (good thing she’s not gone radioactive or anti-matter yet).
Apparently the “voluntary” part is a bit sloppy when she’s had alcohol. :P
The modern hook up conundrum….
So becoming a vampire altered her enough to actually affect the gestalt power?
Now I want to see her touch one of the weres.
It is not so much affecting the gestalt power, rather it appears that touching a non-human makes the gestalt behave differently than touching a human. In this case Varia took on attributes very much associated with vampires. So it seems likely that the same may follow whenever she touches other non-humans. Say, gaining the ability to breathe water if forming a gestalt with a mermaid, and likely a fishy tail.
But we do only have this one example to go by, and it is a comedy scene (which is allowed to break normal rules). So double the reason to wait and see to confirm that. So, yea, you are right, it would be good to see if Varia gets a fluffy tail, twitchy nose and rabbits feet if touching a were bunny.
If that does consistently happen then it is quite advantageous for Varia, because it means she will team well with any VI she may be assigned to go on a mission with. Hopefully she would be able to fly with Scarlett, by turning into a bat, when she does (although how they would remain in physical contact would be … interesting), or swim with a mermaid, or survive in a chlorine atmosphere with an alien native to such a world.
Although it would limit her to just 7 billion or so unique super powers, if she only gains such from humans. All that said though Varia did not become an exact duplicate of Scarlett’s visage (although it may well be what Scarlett will look like when she is an ancient vampire). So it is possible that, even if she is limited to taking on racial attributes, there may be a lot of variability in how they manifest.
I see two possibilities:
1. The gestalt always copies aspects of whatever species is being used – it’s just that when she copies a human, she takes on human traits, so you don’t notice the difference. I assume that the species must cross a certain level of sapience (maybe only beings with magical potential can be copied?), otherwise she’d probably have had some rough experiences last time she tried to pet a dog, or heck, any time a mosquito lands on her…
2. The gestalt only works with humans, but vampirism (and probably other kinds of “modified human” type magical creatures) works by messing with whatever magical field Varia uses, so she winds up getting traits associated with the transformative magic, possibly even magnified (so touching a vampire makes her go full bat-demon).
Not just a non-human Yorp. Apparently even being linked to the orbs changes the gestalt power, unless you think Varia’s power when touching Sydney would be the ability to also use the orbs even if Sydney had not been linked to them :)
Now I wonder what her powers would have been if sydney was NOT linked to the orbs.
Actually, we’ve already seen that touching Jazza (Jabberwokky) turned her into a furry of some sort, so a full were might result in something even more… transformative?
We don’t know that becoming a vampire affected the gestalt. Varia may well have gained the same beastly transformation from a pre-vampire Scarlett.
I’m sure arc light could hook Xo up with some silk gloves would prevent skin contact but not cost her that much tactile sensation
Super silk gloves, as they would be made by Iron Cloth, who could imbue them with strength greater than even silk. Which is a pretty tough fabric to start with (it is what they made parachutes out of, after all, in WWII). Or make them thinner than normal, whilst keeping the strength and durability about the same.
Iron Cloth has a cool power, given that it allows fabrication options well beyond the normal limits of a fabric.
I’ve been wondering. If Varia gestalts with someone who makes her extremely power, like surpassing Maxima in power level. Would ARC try to recruit them into a program to have them on hand or perhaps just keep tabs on them in case they need that kind of power?
I’d say it’s a distinct possibility that with 6 billion probably gestalt combinations (assuming there is no overlap) that that’s possible.
now I wonder what Varia’s gestalt is with Maxima
She can’t gestalt with Maxima because “she’s got screwy skin”
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-324-she-should-put-all-those-answers-on-a-shirt/
In normal conditions, true. If Max was injured it might be possible. A concern might be that Max’s powers aren’t inborn, but like Sydney’s orbs are from some unknown alien tech being somehow keyed to her. So if Varia could get that key by touching Max she might start goldifying, but then turn into kool-aid when the connection breaks. Or she might just cough up geode water and be fine.
I believe Dave has said that Max has her own superpowers, in addition to the ones she got from the geode, which is why she’s so much more powerful than most other supers.
Ah yes, like Sydney.
Sydney’s power of Super ADHD is clearly boosting her orby ones.
So who gets the eggroll?
Olivia deserves it after that. She’s gonna need it after downing those 6 shots anyway.
Varia, Doing the Batusi.
So Scarlett’s a member of the red court? I thought they were all wiped out by that wizard guy.
I understood that reference.
I’d rather not link to a universe that changes dabbler, decollette and tamatha into White Court, that would be far too serious for little Tam
It was only the one house, the newly-formed Chicago branch, if you will. And they started it.
(Reading the series for the first time, and really liking it.)
Oh it gets so much better…
Funny thing about veils they are thin, usually easily to rip, and near impossible to fix once they are.
Not if made by Archon’s super tailor, Iron Cloth.
So where Sydney’s kryptonite is mittens hers would be a latex suit. Kinky fanart Go!
Dabbler’s got one she can borrow…
I am thinking it would more likely be a spandex or neoprene suit (only an IronCloth analog) for that Superhero look. Tight enough to show her abs.
Wait, is Varia not a recruit? Does she have know-how on the Veil? Cause if not, she just got a whole load of information leak off her own, in addition to Olivia.
Yeah, I kind of forgot that she technically shouldn’t know about the Council Races, but her question “Do you feel like that all the time” sort of implies that she realizes that Scarlet is at least a special case of some sort.
Varia could well have been read in on the Veil if one of her gestalts could give her the ability to see through its effects. There’s no need for her to have actually met the person who gives her that power yet, only that the Powers that Be think it’s a possibility worth hedging against. It’s a similar precaution to having Sydney read in because of her Truesight: better to have her prepared for what she might see, so that she doesn’t lose her calm unduly when she comes across it unprepared.
Not so, as all she did was transform when touching someone. Which she always does (barring a couple of odd exceptions). As the forms she gains are all radically different, this one is not even outside of the normal range of results.
Although if the emotions/cravings were new, then, yup, she has gotten a strong hint that there is something different about Scarlett. A feeling of immense rage and a craving for Olivia’s blood may well give her clues that her physical changes were not coincidental.
Olivia meanwhile certainly did not get any information which was not already public knowledge. Every member of Arc-SWAT has had a fact sheet about them published (with a few powers / limitations / capabilities redacted). As such Olivia would probably already know that Varia could physically transform whenever she touches someone (it seems very unlikely that Archon would try to conceal a power that is so visibly apparent whenever she uses it).
Not to forget, that Vahriah already transformed (several times) while dancing earlier
While it would be startling, certainly, the monster gestalt is pretty cool, actually. Though, yes, I would invest in gloves.
A slinky evening gown, matching shoes, jeweled necklace with matching bracelets, shoulder length gloves.
Invest in Tango and Latin Dance lessons.
You say that as if Maxima hasn’t arrested and interrogated allies for thought crimes which are far less of an objective possibility than Varia running into a gestalt that accidentally harms or kills someone. Or a great many someones.
Has she? You phrased that in a really confusing way so I’m not sure if I can speak to your intent but let’s start with the bit you emphasized. If you’re power passively turns everyone that’s ever looked at you into a steaming pile of ash, does it matter if you’re an ally or an enemy? Also while there’s the potential for Varia to gain a dangerous power it’s already a risk that exists in much larger, albeit slower and less localized way with new people gaining, activating or being born with powers. The sensible thing to do would be to have Krona set a checkpoint on Varia as a fail-safe against her gaining the power to make the nearest star go nova. Actually that power would probably kill everyone anyway? The universe is full of dangerous shit. Survive it by not being there.
Or there could be maximum limits on how much energy Varia’s powers can consume, and trying to go beyond that would be the equivalent of trying to draw too much electric current from an outlet: a fuse or circuit breaker blows.
Thought crimes? Your objections were silly before, now they’ve become completely detached from the events that occurred in the comic.
Feel free to prove me wrong by citing from canon. I feel safe from any effort you actually make in that direction rather than just flinging “you silly” at me.
Maxima indeed arrested Krona for no crime at all, just the suspicion that some day she might in the future commit a crime. That is the very definition of a thought crime. As I metaphored previously (yes, I’m using it as a verb, sue me) this would be like an FBI agent arresting a state cop, with whom they were participating in a joint exercise, after discovering that the cop was carrying a firearm, on the “rationale” that the cop might one day use that firearm in the commission of a crime.
Max did not arrest her, though I will give you that she said “don’t make me cuff you”. Her concern was that Krona might “shatter reality, accidentally or otherwise.”, and that is a threat that bears investigating. Would you call quarantining someone who might potentially have a deadly, infectious disease an arrest? If you suspect someone is carrying an explosive that might go off, even without them intending to detonate it, what’s the appropriate response? Is an arrest unwarranted?
Krona demonstrated that she doesn’t not fully understand or control her powers, and that they are potentially powerful and destructive. There has to be some appropriate response to that. The whole universe shouldn’t have to risk destruction just to avoid inconveniencing someone.
Not to forget, that Kronachrome herself realised she had no idea what she was playing with
And, again, the ‘don’t make me cuff you’ was after she ‘suggested’ tampering with the borrowed top Maxi was wearing, after Maxi told her to lay off messing with reality until someone sat down with her and helped figure out her shit (personally still going with the ‘clip around the ears’ meaning of ‘cuff’)
And it’s not about ‘arresting a cop for carrying a firearm on the offchance they might use it in the future’, it’s about someone with the ability to fuck with the very essence of reality and them not knowing the fuck they are doing
Your comparison was fucked then, and it’s still fucked now
Maxima most certainly did arrest her. She took Krona into custody. Paraphrasing: “You will be coming with me.” And “Don’t make me cuff you.” This is an arrest. Look up words if you don’t understand them, it makes discussions easier.
That was her concern, yes. Just as the “concern” that an officer might commit a crime using their firearm can be called a “concern.” It was purely a thought crime. Krona make no threats, gave no reasonable doubt that she was unstable or irrational, and was in fact working with Archon to investigate an actual threat.
The bottom line is that calling something a “concern” doesn’t allow an officer of the law to ignore all Constitutional freedoms or invent reasons why their actions are justified. People are dangerous, common sense and the evening news confirms this every day. But regardless of this fact you can’t go around arresting people without cause. And thought crimes are not cause. The possession of a firearm is not cause to consider a person a deadly threat, only their actions may invoke that consideration.
Scale is irrelevant, because pointing at a big gun and claiming that you were made afraid because of the size is a personal fear which has nothing to do with evidence. Maxima herself is a threat to the world, as she could easily destroy all life on the planet if she, as Sydney has expressed “concern” about in the past, decides to or is manipulated into becoming ‘Dark Maxima.’ Many other supers and others can destroy the world, and yet we don’t see Maxima flipping out and arresting them without cause, do we? No, in fact Maxima has said that being a super isn’t a crime. And yet we have the treatment of Krona which utterly contradicts that claim. Krona was arrested and treated as a threat while in fact having done nothing wrong. Her arrest was purely based on Maxima’s decision to be afraid, a decision made without any tangible justification. The logic chain was quite clear: You have a big gun. I’m afraid of your big gun. You are under arrest.
This discussion resurfaced only because the author decided it was a good idea to claim that:
while conveniently forgetting that Maxima has already done just that.
yes but your comparison is still inaccurate because 1: a cop is trained in the use of a gun. 2: a gun is a single point threat weapon unlike a bomb or chrona’s power. so a better comparison would be an FBI agent arresting a cop for having a home made bomb that is unstable. which funnily enough is exactly what would happen.
Training is irrelevant. Scale is irrelevant. Krona did not act in an unstable way, and no one but Krona has any experience with her power set, so your analogy does not hold water.
There was no reason to fear her use of her power, she had harmed no one or nothing and in fact had saved Sydney’s life. And fear is no excuse for violating a person’s rights.
I have read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, not to mention many dictionaries; You are half right I can get confused, however I always look up a word to which I am not familiar.
And yet, Kronachrome is neither locked up nor dead, she is, in fact, free to continue what she was doing before
You insist on being an idiot, don’t you? Illegally arresting someone and then setting them free later does not erase the fact of the illegal arrest. A five year old can follow that logic, why can’t you?
what what what?
when Maxima have turned into Minority Report? And when she arrested allies?
Apparently after the Wars Warehouse Wumble, some Wombles believe she over stepped her authority by arresting and forcing Kronachrome to return to ArchonHQ and have her abilities ‘looked at’
i feels the need of double facepalm
Many of us get that feeling when Oberon posts
I’m pretty sure I don’t get that feeling most of the time Oberon posts. But all of Oberon’s posts that I can actually remember… I don’t actually have enough hands, so I had to make do with a double facepalm.
True, some of their posts are acceptable
Feel free to prove me wrong by citing from canon.
You’ll have to forgive me if your excessive face-palming without a shred of actual canon to support it doesn’t dismay me in the slightest…
She was never arrested.
Yes, we know that, try telling that to Oberon and co
You might want to look up the definition of words you don’t understand before trying to use them in a sentence.
When a law enforcement official (cop, FBI, military, local grocer, whatever) tells you that you will be accompanying them to their HQ, lays hands on you, and threatens to cuff you, this is an arrest. There is no need to ever cite the words “you are under arrest” for it to have happened. And Maxima did all of this to Krona, despite Krona being a The Council ally who was working with Archon, despite Krona having saved Sydney’s life, and despite Krona having committed no crime.
And despite Kronachrome not knowing what she is doing while messing with reality… oh wait
You also forgot the part where Kronachrome acknowledged she didn’t know what she was doing, or what her tempering could do
And as usual, none of what you have decided to contribute has any actual applicability to the discussion.
The comic is based in the United States. Where you can own, and publicly carry in many places, a firearm with out having undergone any training in the use of this weapon.
Maxima has reassured Sydney that being a super is not illegal, and that no “whisking away” of supers by governmental agencies will occur.
And yet Krona was arrested and whisked away by agents of the government, for the thought crime of carrying a big gun. Something which is not only Krona’s right to do as a private citizen, but was actually being done in a joint operation with Archon…
Again, Kronachrome agreed that what she was doing was dangerous, what part of that are you still refusing to acknowledge?
You know who else was ‘whisked away by agents of the government, for the thought crime of carrying a big gun.’? SYDNEY!!!
No, Krona never said or agreed that at all. You have invented this because you have nothing of fact to support your idiot case.
Just as bombs, guns, and nerve gas are all weapons, but certainly not treated identically by the law, neither would it be reasonable to treat all super powers as being the same. They had reason to suspect that Krona had a ticking time bomb, and not just a big gun, so they took reasonable steps to make that determination.
No, they did not. What they had were purely invented fears based on absolutely zero evidence and a complete lack of any knowledge of the subject matter.
Ah, the hypocrisy.
It’s reaching critical mass.
No, that’s just Oberon
Thank you!
Finally someone is willing to not just roll with an idiot knee-jerk reaction and see things as they should be, through the lens of logic and reason.
But, you didn’t actually post in favor of logic and reason, did you? No, I suspect that you are firmly in the knee-jerk reaction crowd, allowing your “feels” to cloud your already vague grasp on reason.
Pot, kettle.
Says the guy hiding behind an ever-changing username.
If you think you have a point to make, make it. Argue it on the merits, using canon facts. Or you can be a coward who has nothing of value to say other than unsupported statements.
You’re being condescending, which is not a good look.
That’s what Oberon does
I was sitting on The Thinking Throne, remembering Dave said that Sydney’s powers are based on the Mutants and Masterminds roleplay system.
I think each of the orbs is its own character with their own power sets.
The last orb is the “glue” character.
Sydney’s powers just relate to interacting with the others.
Like, I don’t think you can make Sydney using that system, but you can definitely make her if you are actually making a full party.
Sydney could also be made using the Champions rules set. As could Maxima and probably most/all of the supers and other extraordinary beings we’ve seen.
So she bought extra points with the AHDH?
Psychological Limitation: must try every spicy food.
All of her powers have the “Doesn’t work through gloves or mittens” limitation.
She has “Distinctive looks: “fly away bangs”
Exactly!
Although I’m not sure that her love of spicy foods qualifies for bonus build points. To be a ‘disadvantage’ there must be an actual disadvantage, and Sydney is seen to have gotten actual advantage out of her love of spice, such as when muggers thought she had maced them due to her breath.
This is kind of a fringe case, where she isn’t being disadvantaged much at all and also may see some advantage, so as the GM I’d just call it a wash, build points wise, and allow her to have a small amount of each in very specific situations. If the character wanted her spice breath to inconvenience bad guys often then it really needs to be bought as a power.
Did you forget the plasma shits after she ate the Grakz?
One could argue that her taste for spice has led to her losing the friendship of a well-known and influential potential ally. Although personally I would say that it’s a case of ends and means: the love of spice gave her the ability to prank Neil Tyson with some surprise grakz, but it was her own decision to actually do it.
Will Olivia stay like that for the rest of the evening?
Depends on how many shots it takes for her to settle
It would be funny if this was just Olivia’s character design now. Like all the time
He he.
She might want a Spaghetti Western.
1:1 sarsaparilla and Root 100.
They say tea is good fortreting shock. About a liter of Long Island Iced Tea in this case.
One to one mix of Sarsaparilla with 100 roots of what kind? Beet?
Totally enjoyed Olivia’s ‘white fright’ reaction. Can’t keep from snarky smirking at this whole situation.
Uhh…
Why did the gestalt tear her clothes now when turning into fire, rock, and water didn’t do anything.
maybe the difference in the metaphysical properties between the source of Supers powers vs the source for Supernaturals powers; results in a difference in what is altered/protected. Which if Supers are a higher class of modification than vampires. In most series where both exist that is usually how it is. Vampires are either the result of some virus, demonic infection, or even the sloppy pass down of one super who had the power to enthrall others and turn them into a reduced version of themselves, but those thralls could only create clone infections or even more reduced versions of themselves so further removed from the initial super source.
Marvel has retconned this a few times so not sure if vampires are currently demonic or the descendants of people turned by some ancient mutant or deviant.
our eater into a glass, water will take the shape, of it’s container.
Maybe because those other forms didn’t cause her to grow spikes? o_O
All her other changes didn’t add anything
Typically super powers also grant you a side effect of being immune to your own power effects. This is why Heatwave does not burn herself into a crisp whenever she uses her powers.* Hence the majority of her previous transformations will have avoided burning her clothes or otherwise harming them directly from a gained super power.
The fact that there are exceptions to that amongst supers though probably means that Varia will have experienced a few where her wardrobe did suffer. As such this would be unusual but not outside of her normal range of results.
Typically though weres can damage their clothing when transforming. If you read the author’s blogs when Sydney encountered such in the Council, you will find a discussion about how they have tailor in their community who specialise in outfits which stretch or otherwise do not tear when changing form.
Ergo we can infer that the free pass supers get on immunity to their own powers does not follow automatically for supernatural races. A were duck-billed platypus may well be able to poison themselves if they stab themselves with their own heel spike.
* Apparently there are exceptions in this world, but such unfortunate individuals have not found their way into Arc-SWAT. And natural selection may have had something to do with that.
Occurs to me, although Varia is a recruit, and the recruits aren’t told the top secret intel like the existence of supernatural beings; Varia might be in the same boat as Sydney and got a pass on that. Sydney’s power allows her to see through the veil; so needs to be told about it to show the importance of silence. Varia is even more so relevant as seen here; she so much as brushes skin up against a supernatural and she becomes their power defined. So yeah, Varia likely found out possibly even before joining that non-humans existed.
Would be funny though, doubt how it happened, but first thing to come to mind; some vamp or other monster mesmerizes her, goes to feed, grabs her arm, and she transforms into Plus Monster on them.
then suddenly broken out of Mesmering due to turning into what mesmerd her and cue meme “you wot mate?!” XD
Possibly. Although they could have achieved the same result by saying ‘do not go forming gestalts with random people, we will give you a list of people to do your testing with, from within Archon’. And we know that the latter has been happening, as it was mentioned in the comic. As such she could be fairly safely kept on the ‘does not need to know’ list.
Even now the supernatural cover has not been blown, as Varia transforms (in one way or another) whenever she touches anybody. Although this was a freaky one she has had fiery bodies and other extreme changes often before.
Have we even seen that Varia’s power will reveal the supernatural as blatantly as that?
It’s my impression we’ve seen her transformation from exactly one supernatural contact – the one on this page. One is not a sufficient sample size to draw reasonable conclusions from, apart from “this thing can happen.” (Although it’s important to at least draw that conclusion. Seeing something happening and declaring that it was impossible is only done by those who lack the patience and reason to properly observe their surroundings.)
I do feel like there’s been more than enough evidence that her power should only be explored in a more controlled environment with fewer innocent bystanders. However, I also know the US well enough to realize that Archon trying to require Varia to limit herself like that would have been a total non-starter. A much better plan would be to let her mingle with a few… exceptional people who seem more likely than average to give her a sufficiently shocking transformation that she realizes it for herself. Which is exactly what happened here.
So the real WTF is the US and it’s freedom at all costs culture. Don’t get me wrong – I like having freedom, but I also recognize there are times when it’s reasonable to have that freedom curtailed. (Just to be clear, I’m not making specific statements about any particular governmental request for temporary or “temporary” reductions in freedoms. The US government of late has made a number of questionable demands for such over the years, and I’m not trying to say it hasn’t. This is not about any specific freedom curtailment and more about the automatic American reflex to any suggested curtailment of their freedom, without even taking the time to consider the situation.)
That post has to be filled with more unwanted assumptions and false assertions than I have seen in a long, long time.
No, we haven’t in the past. And we still haven’t.
Why are you suggesting that Varia simply demonstrating one more gestalt than the several she has already demonstrated in this venue suddenly “reveal[s] the supernatural”? All it “reveals” is that Varia is a superhero, which was not a secret.
Some Ed was referring to Scarlett
None of Vahriah’s previous gestaltions have had her transform like this, the closest would be when Jabs turned her into a furry
And as per your usual, nothing you’ve said is at all relevant to the situation.
No civilians here are aware of The Veil, or the existence of vampires, and so Varia’s gestalt with Scarlett is in no way revealing of these things.
You and Some Ed are presenting the case for this particular gestalt form as being somehow revealing of the existence of the supernatural, without providing a single scrap of evidence as to why a demonic-looking form is somehow revelatory of this while a fire form or a water form or a ?robotic form? isn’t also revealing of the exact same thing you appear to be thinking that a demon form is revealing of. Elementals are a part of the supernatural in every mythology, after all.
It’s just another different form for the publicly known super, right? RIGHT? Put up or (please, all yea non-existent gods) shut up.
All her other forms have retained her shape and form
If you hate this comic so much, why don’t you just fuck off
Provide canon evidence that that is not the case
This is at least a reasonable argument. But then you have to wonder exactly how “this form has shoulder spikes and is ugly” somehow means to a casual observer “wow, this means that vampires are real!” (or exactly whatever Some Ed meant when he claimed that this form blatantly “reveal[ed] the supernatural”).
There just doesn’t seem to be a logical chain there…
Buttheadicus (and here I must once again give full credit to Rich Morris for coining this appropriate nickname as well as for applying to you the rich roasting that you provoked after dealing with your lack-wit utterances for a few years), I know that you are fairly dimwitted and therefore require a lot of repetition before you can manage to grasp a concept, so I’ll repeat myself for you again:
As I’ve said in the past I don’t hate this comic. If I did I wouldn’t be reading it twice per week.
I do dislike you, because you seem to have no real value and you combine this with an insistence on proving this as often as you possibly can. Your annoying affectations of avoiding the use of pronouns and deliberately misspelling the simple word “but” compound your lack of value. But (one ‘t’, Buttheadicus!) a dislike for you is a different thing entirely from a dislike for the comic. Most people would understand this intuitively: They are not the same as a thing that they like. But you manage, over and over, to fail to manage this separation.
If you don’t hate this comic, why do you do nothing except attack every facet of the comic, from the art to writing to DaveB Himself?
Geez, it’s been days, & I’m still laughing my ass off every time I see Olivia in this page…this is hilarious, I love it!
Scarlett/Varia form a peculiar gestalt. Film at 11. In other news, the streetlight at 12th and vine needs repairs….
C’mon, this is a non-event. Even better, it’s a funny non-event. I don’t see any evidence here that this gestalt is related to Scarlett’s metabolically-challenged condition, and none beyond Varia’s reaction that it was even an unusual experience for her.
I’m loving Olivia’s little journey here: It’s all perfectly logical, and expressed just as well as if written down.
“AAAAGGGHHH!!! …
Wait, that’s still her….
oh right, that’s her power…
…. awkward …. It’d be rude to run out on her or freak out at her ….
if I’m going to hang out with these guys I’ve gotta be ready for that kind of thing, right?
I’m far too sober for that to make sense….
Bartender!”
Well said.
200 hours is just 8 days, so no, that’s not a common amount.
I beg to differ. Monthly, at least, any woman who hasn’t reached menopause can truthfully make the claim “I haven’t had my period in nearly 200 hours”.
Lilith, was the vampire Caines wife.
vampire, Caines Wife
Close, Lilith was Adam’s first wife, she refused to be subservient to him, so God made Eve out of his rib
In the midrash at least. Her first recorded mention is in the Talmud (commentary and annotations on the Tanakh), rather than in Genesis itself.
Why would you want to carry around blood and semen when very plainly skin is all that is required. He would just need to get some peeled skin or maybe hair from her donors.to trigger reactions with.
Stupid question (my favorite kind).
If Varia got pregnant, would she keep whatever power she got from her child for the full term of her pregnancy? OR would the (I forget the medical term) ‘barrier’ that prevents amniotic fluid from entering the mothers bloodstream prevent that?
These questions SCIENCE must answer. FOR SCIENCE!!
A, because the uterus only stops less than the skin, so if she can be effected by skin contact that ‘barrier’ isn’t going to do anything.
I can think of two things that could keep the baby from affecting her is if babies don’t qualify as person for her power set, which would be a fun political experiment, since any result would kickstart a heathend abortion discussion or if her outer layers specifically have to touch something to activate her power, but the latter is inconsistent with how the power has been described, just not how it has been shown to work.
Conclusion, probably not, but to find out DaveB has to give her an open wound, have somebody touch her on that wound and enter the heathend abortion discussion.