Grrl Power #902 – No accounting for lack of taste
I apologize for the multiple puns in the stinger. Except I don’t, because I laughed out loud when I thought of it.
I try not to write Sydney as a stereotypical “A-Cup Angst” type. Sure, she has a lot of big boobs in her face nowadays, (truly a dire problem to have) but I think she deals with it okay. This scene, however, does seem to show her being more upset with Concretia complaining about lack of jiggle than she is about being trapped in the chair. I guess being mildly offended by humblebragging about their endowments is how she deals with stress. That and humor.
I almost worked a joke in about unconscious body security being an important consideration for all women of a certain age whether or not they’re capable of poltergeist projection, or whatever Concretia is doing here, but… the implications felt a little dark.
Evidently I should keep pimping the incentives, because people who swing by the comic on days other than the first post of the month don’t always catch them, and it would be irresponsible of me not to point out that there is a modest collection of nude pinups over at Patreon.
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I do believe it’s time to update the Description for Concretia in the “Who’s who” Sidebar.
It looks good to me. When she was observed in the steak house fight, the speculation was that she was either made out of stone or coated in it. Which turned out to be correct. Quite a wide variety of stone, but stone nonetheless. Clearly at the moment she is made out of stone, rather than coated in it. But once she gets her body back,* we are likely to see her coating her body in stone, as an armour, when such is required.
Now, if you want more than that, Dave could add “Uses geokinesis” or a phrase to describe that. But he does not typically update the Who’s Who for just a reveal of an extra power. What would be of more noteworthiness would be her allegiance. But that hangs in the balance.
I have every confidence now that Sydney is on the case.
*wags tail loyally*
I do think she always has to leavd her body behind to usd her powers.
Otherwise she wouldn’t be in this predicament to start with
Mmm, possibly. But not necessarily. We saw Hench Wench using what looked to be Concretia’s power, and she did not have to leave her body to do that. I think rather that it is a matter of what Concretia wants to do with her power. She certainly could make concrete into an armour that she could wear. Probably very heavy and not very effective, so making it more cost effective to use regular body armour. Albeit that with super strength she can probably super-size her concrete armour.
However if she wanted to spend time concentrating on animating it, Concretia could surround herself in a very chunky space marine style of armour, which would not require her to move it using muscle power alone, meaning she could make it as big as she wanted (subject to any upper limit she may have on how much material she can animate.
Possibly she could even go up to a godzilla size, and just leave a small pilot capsule for her body somewhere inside.
However there is an upper limit on how much protection that any of these options offer, given that it is just various types of stone. And regular explosives (or high explosive/armour penetrating shells) could destroy all but the biggest. And bunker busters could take those out. Along with killing her body.
So if Concretia is going up against top-tier foes it would make sense to instead create a body for her to possess. And it is this which then leaves her body inert.
I don’t know any woman that WANTS their boobs to bounce. Painful and annoying. Especially not the DD or larger crowd.
Although admittedly, a B cup friend of mine didn’t seem all that sympathetic about how difficult it was to open a specific board game (Gloomhaven), because the damn box lid was so tall it got blocked by my DDs.
Close friend’s sister, immensely proud of them. Big as yours, on an athletic body. She used to practice making ’em bounce just a little so she could disable male brains. We’d been friends since childhood, I knew most of her secrets. We used to laugh about it. She also complained about how they made her shoulders hurt but half the time that was just a way to remind everyone how big they were.
I suspect its a context thing. if the bouncy boobs can get her the attention she wants then yes bounce. other times, like when they disappear into her armpits, its less enjoyable.
disappearing into armpits is also a factor of support – either the natural support that lessens with age, or the artificial, underwire type – unless you’re talking about artificial boobs to begin with, which you also have to factor the choices of the patient and skill of the surgeon.
They’re out there. Evidence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOMQzNXb0zo
Visual evidence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpTPBpztaag
I mean, she’s got the money for implants, if she’s that concerned about it.
Meh. Now that is a sign of a sick society! If someone shows moderate signs of insecurity and the response is that she should have herself cut open, with all the risks of surgical complications, scarring and potentially even death. Just to make her more like the body image that a proportion of society considers desirable.
Why not consider helping her to overcome her insecurity and feel comfortable in her own body instead? There are plenty of people who find her (and other women with more modest breast sizes) to be perfectly proportioned and attractive.
Go A team!
Stumbled across a fun little ditty about Itty Bitty Titties :D
So “just change how you feel”? It’s her body, she gets to do with it as she likes. Recommending therapy seems worse than recommending surgery, though I guess there’s often fewer complications.
*headpats*
Yorpie….you are a Good Boy.
wags tail contentedly
Another sign of a sick society is when a person decides they want to get plastic surgery and a bunch of assholes tell her that she lacks confidence in herself instead of being supportive of her decisions.
‘Telling her’ would indeed be wrong. As would being blindly supportive, without knowing her actual motivations. If someone is intending to expose themselves to risks of maiming, death and other complications such as long term pain, it is actually moral to ask them to explore their motivations and be sure that they are doing it for justifiable reasons.
Should it turn out that they are indeed only doing it due to the jibes of others, or to give themselves self-confidence, then other options are far better. If though they have reflected upon it, and considered that the dissatisfaction that they currently feel may not actually be solved by surgery, in the long term, yet still want to go ahead, then of course we should support her decisions.
Importantly we should not consider surgery lightly, just because it has the word ‘cosmetic’ prefixed to it. Nor should the impressionable be indoctrinated that this is the norm and is expected.
There’s a fine line, sure…but I’ve found that a sufficiency of communication is usually enough to keep one on the right side of it.
In my own case (because yes, this applies) I am caught between both societal expectations & my own need to not feel ill when I look in the mirror.
Dysphoria is a hell of a drug. (Ba Dum Tss)
Aside from getting my boobs fixed up, I need to have my face done, not simply as a matter of aesthetics, but as practical safety. Looking insufficiently like what our society considers feminine can result in not just ridicule, but in literal assault, and even my own murder. Especially in my career field, driving trucks. I hate giving oxygen to stereotypes, but most truckers don’t view me as fully human, and do see me as a fair target for harassment, and violence.
And don’t get me started on my hip to waist ratio, or the relationship between bust line & bum.
The point is, I have people genuinely worried about my health & safety on both sides of the argument, and I love, respect & appreciate all of them, because they’ve taken the time to understand & communicate with me. And they all understand & respect both sides because, again, we’re open & sincere.
Would it be wonderful if we lived in a society where everyone was completely unconcerned with appearances? Sure. Would it be great if we could stop screwing around with capitalist motivations and just make all aesthetic technology available to everyone, so they could be comfortable in their own skin? Absolutely. Would it be nice if we could achieve the singularity and liberate ourselves from the tyranny of mortal flesh and exist in transhuman shapeshifting Android bodies ?
…what? Just me? Okay…
Look, my point is, it’s complicated. Blindly going along with a bad decision, particularly one with so many potentially horrific & permanent negative outcomes, isn’t being “respectful,” or even just a good friend, or ally. Respectful, sincere communication has to come first, not to deter someone, but to make sure they really do have their eyes open, and they can be certain (as much as anyone can be) that they really are making this decision for themselves.
Psst Bharda – just want to let you know I apologized to you on a previous page. Pretty sure you probably havent read it, but just wanted to let you know that I had not been trying to be condescending – I was being quippy and apparently it came out massively wrong. Figured I’d let you know here so you know.
Thank you for sharing. You have it really tough, and have my sympathies that you are exposed to such prejudice and danger. Clearly you have thought through your options and have solid grounds for surgical intervention, if that is the route you choose.
As you mention dysphoria though, I would suggest that you rely on the advice of people you trust to help you balance the degree of changes you opt for. You are obviously smart, so this advice is probably not needed. However, when people’s health is at stake, I feel that speaking out is more important. A small chance of saying something that turns out to be useful, and reduces the risk, more than offsets the larger chance that it is not needed.
Be sure to listen to the advice of people whose judgement you trust. However do take care not to be unduly influenced by others who suffer similar problems. Whilst mutual help groups can be useful for sharing emotions, dysphoria sufferers risk reinforcing unbalanced perceptions. Supportive family members, medical professionals (without a bias from a financial incentive) and friends you know (who make good life decisions) are all people to consider getting advice from. And weigh it heavily, to offset your dysphoria.
I have had to have surgical intervention for an issue which was both life-threatening and heavily impacting on social reactions and interactions. So you have my every sympathy and good wishes for resolving yours well. Whilst I have suffered some long-term side effects, I have not regretted taking a surgical option myself. Medical predictions were that I would have been long-dead had I not. And my quality of life increased exponentially, so I hope you have great success too.
You’re less “speaking out,” than “speaking up,” and in any case, you’re doing a heckin respectful.
Don’t fret too much, I have no intention of either turning into Mrs. Potato head, or Boobzilla!
Also, I revise me previous assessment of you, Yorpie. You’re not just a Good Boy, you are The Goodest Boy.
Aww thanks. And I hope you get your dream looks.
the problem isn’t finding someone who finds you attractive, it’s finding that person to also be attractive. In some cases this is a matter of emotional compatibility and physical lust, but sometimes it’s as simple as ‘rich guys who are shallow and easily manipulated’ being the targeted demographic, and with that set of definitions, bigger boobs equals higher chance of securing that targeted demographic. (and before everyone gets all up in arms, this sort of behaviour is documented in thousands of miles of divorce court proceedings. it DOES happen.
Which raises another point: not everyone (or thing) that is beautiful is considered attractive to others
Will admit to some actresses and actors to be handsome and beautiful, but do not find them attractive in the least (largely because their personality is something personally find repellent)
Was perma-banned from a forum for not finding an actress or two attractive, even though repeatedly stated felt they are talented and beautiful
Cora probably has access to some tech that is way more advanced then earth implants
On that note is Syndey was to gain an extra robot arm could they use the orbs?
Sydney already tried getting cybernetic enhancements from Dabbler, and got turned down. Cora and Dabbler seem to be closely aligned, like-minded souls. So I imagine Halo would get the same response to the request you stated.
As to whether it would work, if she did get it, I doubt it. Primarily because the author chose to make the character more interesting by limiting the number of powers that she can use at once. So any work around to increase that would need to be of a limited nature, to avoid the character from becoming boring due to being overwhelmingly powerful all the time.
In this comic we can see that Dave does have situations where he wants to limit Sydney’s power. But if she could permanently use four of the orbs at once, due to having an extra pair of arms, that would be a permanent change. Meaning that he would have to keep putting mittens on Halo, any time he needs her to not be able to wipe out an entire army or fleet of enemies.
Which, like Super Man’s kryptonite, would get very boring. And varying it by chopping off her extra arms periodically would not be the kind of tone the author is aiming for.
Far simpler to have exactly the same result for putting orbs into prosthetic hands as Sydney got when she tried to use the orbs by holding them in her feet. It did not work.
What about cloned limbs/hands?
And how long will Sydney be sidelined while she learnt how to use her new limbs effectively? Or at all?
It took Yorpie his whole life to learn how to walk on four legs >.>
My reply would be unchanged.
Over the years there have been numerous suggestions as to how the two-orb limit could be exceeded. All of which ignore the fact that the author created that limit on purpose.
In a romance story, the aim is to find love. In a war story the aim is to win, or at least survive. In this comic the aim is not to change the nature of Sydney’s power, it is to explore the interesting things that happen around super heroes.
We already had a montage scene showing Halo attempting to do the former (holding orbs in her feet and butt-crack), as a way of showing ‘this does not work’.
Unfortunately, she was unable to try using cleavage to hold a third orb. :)
Although seriously, probably the only way we’ll be seeing more than 2 orbs being used is when it’s found that Varia can use one or two orbs in conjunction with Halo while holding onto her.
I suspect the bottleneck lies not in how many manipulating limbs Sydney physically has, but in how many her brain and nervous system are equipped to handle.
Earth vertebrates have, for hundreds of millions of years and probably a similar number of generations, been building bodies with four limbs and brains to pilot that many. Even if we assume that the ‘control coding’ for the arms can be copied across for a new pair without significant modification, we would still need to add extra brain capacity on which to run that extra copy of the code, plus the nerve routings to get controls to and feedback from the new arms. Compressing the code and/or stealing capacity from elsewhere do not sound like preferable solutions, given how long evolution has had to find the most efficient version that still works well enough.
Obviously, we do have Dabbler on hand as an example of a creature* with six limbs of which four are arms. It may be possible to use her as a blueprint, but that only avoids the design part of the issue.
*I’d hesitate to say ‘species’ in her case, given her radically mixed heritage.
That is what Varia is for.
The interesting question is that if they earn 1 or more powerups while gestalted, who gets to spend them?
Not to mention the fact that you’re suggesting adding silicone implants to a golem body made of stone.
I mean, nevermind the flexibility issues, it’s a temporary body! Why waste thousands of dollars on a body you’re just going to throw away in a few hours??
Umm, believe they meant Sydney, Queen of Salt
Simple solution. Give phone to Sydney.
Sydney dials. “Hello, Leon? can you run a quick search for me? We are looking for a super, last name Hammer, first name James, or possibly Jack … ah, you got one? Goes directly by the name Jack Hammer? We are in business, Concretia…”
Simple solution, but I’m rather at a loss as to what problem it is a solution for. Because there is little that a jackhammer (super version or otherwise) can do that Concretia herself cannot already do better. If she is unable to reclaim her body it is more likely to be because she does not know where it is, or it is being kept somewhere that brute force and geokinesis cannot get it out. Or by someone or something too frightening to oppose.
Or if it is just to get Sydney free, Concretia can do that with a wave of her hand.
Sounds like a problem along the lines of “I was on a job for a super named Jack Hammer when my body went missing, I think one of his associates stole it, and I don’t know where they took it”. If Jack Hammer’s usual whereabouts can be traced, that may give at least a lead of where to start looking.
Of course, Mr. Hammer may simply decide to play the 1990 defense.
Feels like a missed opportunity for the pun not to simply be Ka-leavage
Problem is, most of this crowd would be wondering what ‘Leavage’ was (and talking a different person asking the same question every second or third post, because they are too ‘busy’ or too ‘important’ to bother checking if anyone else already asked the question)
Sorry but…. who the heck even is this?
the “Concreta” character tag only shows these pages, and the commentary hasn’t linked to a first appearance, but people act like we’ve seen this character before.
If it was at the Restaurant…. there were a LOT of characters there
The couple pages have linked to several pages showing her: firstly getting her concrete arse handed to her by Math (who only took his hands out of his pockets to Kamehameha her out of the building), then when she formed a new body and got Peggy’d in the head with a .50 cal, then again when she got claymore’d when she tried to take out Peggy
If you use the Tags link at the bottom (and not the Characters link at the top, it will show 8 of her appearances’ (you will have to dig around to find her final appearance during the Rumble)
Thank you, I’ve just spent the past…. uhh…. shoik, the timestamps are in a different timezone… well how ever long its been>
Also, I am pretty sure she is in the final panel of https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-204-i-guess-everyone-parked-in-the-back/
Kinda looks like her left of Hex (in the gap in the building), but the hair doesn’t match
A lot of folks have discussed the potential barriers that could be used to prevent Concretia from using her ability to rescue her body. On rereading the comic it sounds like someone has erected a barrier to prevent her return to her body. It is not so much that someone is going to harm her body, they just wont let her back in. A lot of points that people have posed about the needs of her biological body are still relevant but if all you have to do is block her return to her body then all of the elaborate means of blocking her ability to access the body in her lithic form become less significant. Concretia can get to her body but it doesn’t matter if the barrier is psychic or otherwise non-material.
I’m still trying to figure out why so many people are assuming Concretia even knows where her body is in the first place, as if she can just snap back into it at any time. This isnt actually astral projection with some sort of tether between astral form and body. I think they just stole her body and she has no idea where it is so she can’t get back in it in the first place, since she can’t FIND it to get back into it.
probably because 99% of the time when there is an astral projection, spirit body, or similar storyline there is also a tether in that story connecting the spirit to the body so they can be drawn right back to their physical form. Stories where they aren’t connected to their physical body are usually because they are an actual ghost and dead *with outliers such as Ghost dad confusing the two*.
but as a power (or spell) this type of intentional separation of consciousness from physical body usually comes with that connection. It is far rarer to be without it.
Sydney flips concretia and gets her orbs back. together they take down the perps, Dabble does the magic Sex juju on the captured felons to make them give up the location of the absconded anatomy. Maxima and the gang go do the electric boogaloo on the bad guys get the body back and we have a new member to the team.
Sounds viable. I suspect with a few unpredictable variables mind. And other options are available.
As they say in Shadowrun:
Never forget where you put your shoes!
As for how to secure her body:
A bunch of explosives with motion detector can easily make it impossible for her to approach her body or leave.
And if she needs to be fed, 4 mooks each with a handheld detonator each can take over for the motion detectors.
Ruthless and if the villains went down that route then Concretia probably does not have a body anymore. Simply because motion detectors will occasionally go off. Depending on the sensitivity it might go off due to some leaves blowing in a window, or a rat or cat getting in, or simple carelessness of one of the feeders getting too close before deactivating it. Or a feeder tripping and dropping or otherwise setting off the handheld detonator. The longer it goes on the more likely it is that a fatal kaboom happens. So this is not a viable long term solution.
And Concretia is smart enough that she is unlikely to endure slavery without periodic proof that her body is still being kept safely. So the fact that she still believes that her body is being held hostage means it is unlikely that particular scenario happened.
“But but, of course the sensitivity will be set up to avoid such false alarms. And the hand held devices will have some kind of safety feature.”
Well villain groups are not known for their health and safety precautions, so I doubt it.
And even if they did, then that alone will leave enough wiggle room for Concretia to have freed her body unaided. Ghosts don’t set off motion detectors, so she could safely scout out the area. Just peeking through a wall, in a corner of a room, where human guards would be unlikely to spot her face poking through would be enough to allow her to use her geokinesis.
She could (as one example) very slowly move the ground underneath the explosives, so that they travel away from her body or get swallowed up underground. She could even replace them with fake stone explosives, so that casual observation would not even notice anything amiss. Then she could go in heavy handed and wipe out human guards and make her escape. Or ninja it, if she prefers. Concretia has top level super powers and should not be underestimated.
I’m curious who ‘They’ are and why ‘they’ think they can get those orbs. But still having your unconscious body unguarded is asking for trouble, I personally would of at least have my body asleep in a protective room that is hidden an such.
two possibilities
this goes back to the Vehemence fight and his aura was making people not think clearly and had gathered up a bunch of random supers who all met up in one spot. She left her body at the meeting place and traveled with the group via astral form to the diner. Some of the others who also got let go while not having a criminal record, only didn’t have one due to never being caught and were members of a crime syndicate. They took her body after the brawl and are forcing her to work for them.
second, although related to the first is they found out who she is, and watched her till she was at home but was using her power. Broke in, abducted her body; and have been forcing her since that point.
Now I’m wondering why both Sydney and Concretia have forehead cowlicks and a pony tale in back. Think maybe Concretia is a Halo fangirl?
Cree has looked like that since the beginninging
No dear, we didn’t “think you were just a ghost normally” (I think by definition that means you’re dead anyway).
What we’d assumed –with no contradictory evidence to cause us to think otherwise before now, I should note– was that your body became intangible or out of phase with solid matter during your transitions, or to put it another way, that your body came along with you when you use your powers, not that you were separated from it and left it behind.
I was pretty sure that Halo would appeal to Concretia about the possibility of getting her body back.