Grrl Power #836 – Playing the game
Yabbos is a good word. I don’t think I’ve heard or read it anywhere in at least a decade though.
While Dabbler would like to get Max laid, she understands that it’s not always about flashing the most skin. Succubi sometimes can’t always get what they want straight away, so they all know how to play The Game. Honestly, it isn’t Dabbler’s specialty, but she did go to Succubus Finishing School. She did the coursework. Every succubus in school is given a target to seduce. Each semester they got increasingly difficult targets, starting from some introvert nerd at the boy’s school across town who never leaves his room, (the first semester is a gimme grade) then on to more challenging prey like priestesses of the Goddess of Chastity, then some virtuous hero who is actually a genuinely good guy (the seduction part is easy – but they’re not allowed to fall in love with him), up to really challenging stuff like asexual golems, and even guys like Hiro the Dense. That’s the advanced class though.
Unsurprisingly, it’s usually not that difficult for a succubus academy to set up in a new city. Sure, some try to put on a front of wholesomeness an purity, but there are plenty of other cities that actually compete to host a succubus campus.
I recently discovered. Harley Quinn. Not… in general. Specifically the currently running cartoon. The plot of the first season has Harley breaking up with the Joker and trying to establish herself as a villain in her own right. The thing I like about it is it’s quite funny. Harley hangs out with Poison Ivy, not as part of her crew, they just hang out and talk girl stuff most of the time. Alan Tudyk voices the Joker, but more importantly, Clayface, who yes, while he can shapeshift, can’t resist the urge to be an ac-TOOOOOR! Ron Funches plays King Shark, who if you’ve never heard of him before, is basically a giant anthropomorphic shark. King Shark is. Not Ron Funches. But instead of being a big brute, he’s a web developer and hacker. Okay, he does bite at least one head off, but mostly it’s computer stuff. Christopher Meloni, from the amazing “Happy!” on Netflix, plays an incredibly stressed out Commissioner Gordon.
It’s surprisingly violent, full of swearing, and funny. Not quite Archer funny, but it’s up there. It’s totally my jam. Oh, and Kite Man? Yes, he is as dumb as he sounds, and he is a real DC character. They didn’t make him up for this show. Honestly the show kind of reminds me of when John Byrne got his hands on She Hulk, and started bringing back a bunch of Marvel’s stupid Golden Age characters for Shulkie to have to deal with.
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As far as i am concerned Krona and Syd are by far the most attractive females in this comic, so maybe her body just followed a different beauty standard…
Well, if she were a super that is but as far as i remember she belongs to the semper vigilanti and is more of a mystical beeing than a super…
Hard agree brother, though Max is pretty bangin in panel 4 :)
Those poor buttons!
I agree 100%, K&S are way more my type, not a fan of what looks like bolt-ons even if they are natural. I don’t think K has the “super gene”, so she just has a normal non-super body.
Eh, Krona’s cute but Sydney is a bit too Yu-Gi-Oh for my taste. Peggy and Gwen are right in the sweet spot imo.
She’s a hybrid.
She’s a super, because reality hacking and laser claws.
She’s a mystical being because were jaguar.
Pixel is the were-jaguar with laser claws, not Krona.
The only place I’ve heard of Christopher Meloni from is Law & Order:SVU. Never heard of “Happy!” at all, let alone Chris Meloni being on it.
You aught to look it up, it’s truly a treat.
Netflix
Yes, she’s part of the semper vigilanti.
She also looks too young to me. I understand (and have worked with at least 8) women who’ve got the “pixie” look, but the only one I was ever attracted to was for her personality.
But… it was not a 3000$ bottle of scotch… it was the suit he spilled it on
The bottle just happened to cost the same amount. ;-)
My assumption is she did not care enough to remember the difference
Also assuming that there’s only been that one such incident…
Cleavage and underboob at the same time? That’s a pincer attack, Something had to give.
Clever girl…
I’m having a hard time imagining the colonel being the sort to use words like “yabbos”.
Oh dear, is this a sign of Xuriel’s influence?
She served in the Middle East.
She should be able to articulate vulgarities, scatological references, and descriptive conjugal impossibilities with military aplomb.
Oh, her skillset is not in question. Just think of her as more of a “keep it clinical” types, as a matter of professional presentation (I mean, not for Anvil’s sake, but for Dabbler’s).
For Maxima speaking in a descriptive sense, I’d agree with you. But in the specific context here, the slang does fit with the semi-informal figure of speech ‘hanging out’. A deliberately unusual slang rather than anything more commonly encountered in more salacious contexts, of course, because it is still Maxima talking.
Is “yabbos” on the “make Max say” BINGO list?
if it isn’t, i’d be rather disappointed.
The question then is does it count when she makes herself say it?
I am extremely happy to have found out about the adventures of Hiro the Dense, and even happier that the guy that made it also did a sequel – https://youtu.be/f-7AlOJ71kI
Revealing any amount is too much for something like SmugD
Okay but what is the “mess dress”? Is that a thing we’ve seen?
“Mess dress” is a special uniform version for formal occasions – when the invitation specifies “black tie” – mess dress is to the normal dress uniform as a dinner jacket or tuxedo is to a three-piece suit.
Google it, or maybe look it up on Wikipedia; remember that Max is an Air Force officer, i believe, so look for the USAF version.
A former Air Force officer. Her current posting would supersede her previous role. Someone on a temporary posting would keep their normal rank and affiliation unchanged, even whilst performing duties for another service. Subsequently reverting to their former status, when their assignment was over. But all Arc SWAT personnel have permanently been reassigned to Archon.
Politics wise a strategic decision was made to conglomerate all supers, from most other services (excluding the Secret service, for example), into one organisation. As there simply were not enough to have them spread out over all the services, and the police and still do all the tasks envisaged for Archon.
Because of the huge history of inter-service rivalry, and the clear desire that each service would want to retain control over their own supers and/or influence them to return to full time duty with them, there is no way that Archon would have kept that door open.
What they have done though is to allow Archon personnel to wear their former service uniforms interchangeably with their new Archon outfits. This serves several useful functions. It will have helped initial recruitment, as service personnel have a strong bond with their service and units. So still being able to show a connection with their former units will be good for Archon personnel’s morale. Especially when they get to meet up with old colleagues.
Secondly it is an olive branch to the aggrieved services. They will be pissed at losing irreplaceable phenomenally powerful assets. But at least the world gets to see which supers were recognised and trained by (for example) the Air Force. And that gets a tangible benefit in ongoing budget negotiations. Key politicians will (perhaps subconsciously or more likely on prompting) notice that the Air Force contributed the equivalent of several squadrons of aircraft by transferring Maxima or even Super Hiro. Which will hopefully translate into tangible budget compensation.
Plus it will make it easier for Archon personnel to retain (and make) good connections with the senior services. Air Force personnel will consider Maxima to be ‘one of us’, even though she is no longer in their chain of command. There are bound to be times when Archon has to operate closely with one (or more) of the other services. If wearing their old uniforms helps this, it more than compensates for the (various) problems which arise from not having a rigidly standardised uniform policy.
But the latter is of greater benefit for regular units. Whereas special forces (including Arc SWAT) are not reliant on such.
it’s her dress uniform, like she was wearing with the president meeting and I think the press conference (can’t remember, been a while)
Theory time! Reading back through past comics gave me this idea! My theory is that Maxima’s and Sydney’s artifacts are actually a linked pair from the same alien who crash teleported into Earth’s mantle by accident. Alien eventually died without making their way out of mantle, and their artifacts got separated by convection circulation of rock in the mantle. This explains why the orbs were at the bottom of the sea (they had been released by an underwater volcano and the surrounding basalt eroded) and the goldskin was in a geode.
Interesting theory.
Running with it …
Maxima and Sydney do have a mother and daughter thing going.
Their power levels are comparable (Maxima started a lot higher, due to her experience, but Halo has been closing fast).
They have a deep influence over one another. For instance Maxima having to try very hard to resist Sydney’s puppy dog eyes. Or Maxima (even when being influenced to rage by Vehemence) feeling that she could trust Halo’s judgement on how to counter their foe.
Or a sister act. I’d swear it varies depending on whether or not Max feels like she can relax in a given situation.
Almost definitely. Supers are pretty much an “Earth-only” thing given from Cora’s and her crews’ reaction to them, while Earth alone has several hundred (likely in the thousands range). If other planets have this ratio – even lower – then supers and their capability should be well-known galaxy-wide.
So yeah, it is very likely that some Nth level being either died or had a funny moment and left some toys / seeded Earth with super-making magic powder.
I’m surprised they can’t make Max a dress that can change shape a little. Be surprising at first, then cover a bit more, still being elegant. Maybe that superhero tailor with the ninjas could help? Or Dappler with a hard light dress, but Max probably saw the thunder cloud hack a while back, so I am rooting for a dress from the tailor.
Kite man was always originally meant to be sad and a little sympathetic. His real name is Charlie Brown. In at least one version (DC Rebirth) he went crazy and became kite man due to his son dying. “Kite man, He’ll yeah!” His catchphrase, is what his son said when he first flew a kite. The death and tragedy was later revealed to be a ploy by riddler to make the joker laugh. You’re meant to see him and imagine a kite crashing in a tree.
Not just any tree: a kite eating tree
Yeah, Kite Man was from The War of Jokes and Riddles.
Kite Man is also notable as being one of the only things Tom King ever did remotely right when he was writing Batman. Because for the most part, Tom King sucks. Kite Man is the exception to that, because Kite Man is awesome. :)
the whole “how do I maintain power through the entirety of this interaction through clothes” thing that girls go through every day.
Not just girls
Mostly girls. :)
I know too many guys that do not care about clothing power dynamics at all :)
The power dynamic thing with clothes gets even weirder for transgirls, because passing vs not passing plays into the power dynamic a lot, and a lot of time asserting strength is at odds with what’s required for passing.
Fascinating insight, thanks.
Of course it’s ‘mostly’ girls, doesn’t mean it’s only girls
That’s like saying “Mostly guys join the armed forces”
I think the difference is that the “power dynamic” thing probably hits women across a broader array of situations than it does men. Where it really hits men is in formal dress and high-end business dress. There are a more situations, I think, where a guy is just “wearing stuff” and a woman has to “present”.
Of course, on the flip side, there are situations where men are far more restricted in what’s socially acceptable to wear. That summer wedding with 95/95 weather… many of the women will be wearing light breezy dresses and skirts and such, the men will mainly be wearing layers and ties and tight colors in dark colors and freaking dying.
That’s why you show up in Aloha wear and tell everyone it’s “Hawaiian formal.”
Which is…sort of true. It was supposed to replace the business suit.
Federal Public Service in Darwin is allowed short-sleeve shirts and short pants for routine work.
All Dabbles said in panel one was: wear something nice, not slutty, not sexy, just… nice
I think I see what’s going on in the last panel. Dabs is trying the whole ‘reverse psychology’ thing on Max. If she supports the Mess Dress idea, Max will start to consider other options immediately, right? That’s kinda been their dynamic.
Possibly. But do consider that Dabbler’s main aim is to get Maxima to loosen up, and getting laid is THE way to do that (from Dabbler’s point of view). Pushing Maxima out of her comfort zone though will ruin any chance of that happening on this
datebusiness meeting. Then consider that uniforms are sexy (for most folks and certainly for Deus, given his history of trying to date Maxima and actually dating Harem).So Maxima can both feel comfortable, in control yet simultaneously have a stronger effect on Deus than a more conventionally sexy outfit may have.
Especially as he would be forced to ‘play it straight’ as a strictly business meeting, given their dynamic which requires that. Which will make it extremely sexually frustrating for him. Thus being a ‘real power play’, in putting Maxima in the driving seat sexually. Whether or not she decides to take Deus for a spin.
More like non-exclusive chilling on the Harem count
Still say that Daphne is ‘on assignment’ with SmugD
The only ‘spin’ Maxi will take SmugD on, will involve 10 G’s… with a sudden stop
Now thats a good face on max at panel 6
They’re all pretty good faces.
I was sure you were referring to the one in panel 4, until I counted them out. Comparing the two mind I still stick with preferring Max’s expression in panel 4. But taste is highly subjective, so we should expect differences.
Max in Mess Dress… upon which, Dabby has cast a glamour, such that strategic (or tactical!) parts go, not transparent, but translucent at periodic intervals. They hint at yabbos or abs or possibly garment covering same. Possibly even skirt or trousers.
Cast the glamour properly, and the translucent intervals always correspond to when Deus is starting to look away, never when he is staring. Let his strain his peripheral vision.
Heh.
Of course, the glamour would not apply to Vale or Lorlara, but would block any recording device. Imagine Deus having to explain why he couldn’t look directly at Max to two minions who got eyes full of Maxiflesh all evening.
I sense a bit of reverse psychology in play.
Hopefully when we get to the dinner “not date” with Deus,Maxima will be wearing something not too indecent or anything Dabbler has selected…!
She could opt to not wear anything at all. It works for me.
*scratches behind ear, with rear paw*
Not what I was expecting,but here’s a bacon flavored Yorpie snack.
Wooo hooo!
*gobble gobble*
Tried to find his name, but the guy in charge of the antagonist country that Maxima is gonna meet for dinner
I am the only one that finds this guy repulsive? And I’m not seeing the slighting “get a room already kind of vibe, he just has a very slimy repulsive personality. Hard to believe her friends what to hook them up
Deus is a divisive figure. Some in the community love him, whilst others hate him.
When figuring out motives in this comic though it is very important to consider that the characters involved do not have the same insight that we do. We get to see Deus assassinating people, conducting nefarious schemes such as looting magical WMD and treating women like collectable tokens in his sexual conquest games. They do not.
To the majority of the world he is a successful billionaire, who has raised an impoverished third world country to being a great success story and host to the first aliens contacted by humanity. Not to mention being the sole supplier of high technology gadgets to Archon.
The latter being something that lends him an air of respectability. After all he will have passed considerable security testing to have been awarded such a critically important contract.
Finally throw in the fact that he is very generous, a snappy dresser, and has enough proven charisma (or money/ power) to have seduced bookfulls of exotic women and it becomes more reasonable that they may be taken in too.
The Twilight Council has being from many worlds and dimensions.
With a dazzling variety of powers and senses (albeit that they can’t match the power level of supers on an individual basis other than the occasional flyer like Vale)
Had Deus come to their attention, I am rather certain that they would have connected him to the vault heist. Certainly they won’t be fooled about his character.
So Archon’s relationship with the Twilight Council will eventually be Deus’s undoing.
One can just hope
Unless he becomes Sciona’s bedroom thrall on some other world before that, which would be a pretty Grrlverse ending for him. Plus it would leave opportunity “what’s happening to Deus now” pictures now and then.
Not likely. Sciona is incredibly powerful, but Deus is in another ball park. Sciona’s power is squandered ineffectively, whereas Deus (even without apparent powers himself) gets stronger and stronger through shrewd political, economic and black ops operations.
Unless the rule of funny comes into effect (which your comment certainly does tickle the appropriate bone), Deus would never put himself into a position where Sciona could capture him. He always has more cards up his sleeves than she would realise. Not to mention more sleeves than Dabbler has.
Not if his stacked deck gets removed, namely, Valeur
Vale is a strong card, sure. Maybe even a trump card in certain circumstances (meaning no reference to current politics). But from what we’ve seen of Deus, the rest of the deck are more than capable of handling themselves.
Of course there’s always the third act villain breakdown.
The more powerful and unflappable the villain of the story, the more cathartic and plain fun it is in the third act when he (or more rarely, sadly, she) finds himself in a situation where his power, planning and flap does not do him any good and he’s simply being outclassed by the protagonists of the story.
In what way would anyone be fooled about Deus’ character? He doesn’t make any attempt to hide it — in fact, he plays it up on TV interviews.
Several countries have voted far worse people into positions of power.
Absolutely it is hidden.
His philanthropy comes with a price, it’s more of a retainer for favors that WILL BE COLLECTED LATER.
That is who and what he is.
He’s not elected, he seized power behind the throne through assassination.
Which adds to his charm and charisma. He does not have the two-faced behaviour that other tycoons and politicians have. We all know that they cannot get into positions of power without being ruthless and underhanded. So he is open that he deploys such tactics.
Which makes people admire his honesty and, paradoxically, makes them trust him more.
What they do not realise is that he is far worse than his openness hints at.
But, finally, do not forget that he does, despite being a villain, have many redeeming features. His populace love him because he has made their standard of living far higher than it used to be and way above that of neighbouring countries. He does honour deals, even with despicable individuals. When he behaves his worst it is directed towards people who, karmically speaking, deserve it.
Not to mention that his generosity does give him a Robin Hood vibe. Even Halo is carrying a rebreather he developed for her, at a breakneck pace. And we have seen a deadly mercenary being quite happy to switch to his side (something professionals do not do lightly), because of his good reputation.
Which mercenary ‘switched’ to his side?
And Sydney only used the rebreather once, same with Deco’s headband
One of Sciona’s minon’s, once she abandoned them.
So far. And how much a gift is used does not have bearing on the generosity of the giver. Especially as nobody knew that her undiscovered powers would limit the need for such an item.
But such lovely yabbos they are.
Mess dress would indeed be a total power move. Formal uniforms are sexy af without necessarily being revealing, and convey authority and power. It’s the best of both worlds.
I don’t really notice the gradual improvements in Dave’s art skills until I click a link to some previous page and see how far he’s come. Anyone else think the same thing?
The memiest thing is having someone spritz a spiced wine or something. Toss it out the nose and THEN feeling burn