Grrl Power #944 – Something about interrupting a Colonel
FYI: People had been correctly pointing out that the “hyperdrive” branch of the skill tree needed an orb in the first spot, so I’ve added that now. Not retroactively yet, but at any rate, the OCD amongst you can unclench slightly. Also, the center ring wasn’t notated correctly. The “pizza slices” in the absolute middle light up as points are spent in the surrounding ring, and I had forgotten that when she bought the points there when she was on the Alari homeworld. So panel 1 is a fully accurate shot of the skilltree at this point in the comic. Until Sydney spends her new point, anyway.
Maxima is ridiculously (unrealistically) easy going most of the time when it comes to saluting and… I don’t know what it’s called. Military… affectations? All the snapping to attention, needing to ask permission to speak candidly, all that stuff. I’m sure there’s a term for it. She’s so lax that I’m sure some people forget Archon is actually military most of the time, and I have to imagine some readers who were in the military just politely nod and think “Military. Sure.” But I think we can all accept that Sydney, and actually a lot of the team simply wouldn’t thrive in a proper military environment.
I’ve actually considered a scenario where Sydney gets seconded to a proper military unit, like some naval unit needs her for some deep-sea reconnaissance or something. I just don’t think I know enough about military life to make that remotely satisfying to read, and also I don’t think it’d be very funny, because Sydney would probably get in trouble almost immediately and be in tears by the end of the third page.
Presumably, Sydney is actually learning all that saluting, standing at attention, and marching up and down the square. Just, off camera. I’m not sure that stuff would make for the most entertaining pages.
ANYWAY. Every once in a while, Maxima feels the need to remind everyone she is their boss and not to interrupt her the moment she enters a room then burst into laughter.
Twenty laps for Sydney is not the same punishment as twenty laps for Dabbler. Even if Dabbler wasn’t topped with tantric energy, she’s a fit adventurer who has been in her share of running gun battles and “must reach the dark tower before the demon god awakens” situations, etc. Honestly, even 40 laps would barely tax her. Max would need to consider something absurdly boring to actually punish Dabbler.
(Dabbler has summoned a little magical fan to blow cool air on her in that last panel, in case you were wondering what that blue thing was.)
The new vote incentive is up! Some of you got sort of invested in Lapha and Garamm, so her she is testing out her new duds. I don’t know if or when they’ll show up in the comic again, (probably more a question of ‘when’) but we’ll have to see if she got any other options besides the tail. Personally I’d go for retractable, venomous fangs, but presumably if you get those, you also have to get a special upgraded pancreas or liver or something, in case you accidentally bite the inside of your own cheek with your fang.
As usual, there are a few variants over at Patreon, and as is becoming more common, a little follow-on comic.
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I would think it would be called Military Protocol. I think I’ve heard of Military Protocol officers that presumably specialize in the rules and regulations of interactions of military personnel.
Currently it seems like of her current choices she should unlock the connecting links between orbs (since that logically should unlock joint features) or fill in that spot in the center since she said she felt like she had a better instinctive understanding of the orbs in general so filling it in could not only improve her understanding and awareness of the orbs but perhaps help her better understand where she should add future points once it’s completely filled in.
“Military Courtesy” is a more general term. “Military Bearing” where it has to do with individual deportment, posture and deportment, especially as it affects projection of confidence, competence and command.
In order (as possible) from least to most specific: Courtesy, customs, etiquette, protocol, discipline.
HMMM the connection between the PPO and field orb might be why the field allows the beam from the PPO to pass through so you might have a point it …in which case, i’d pick the lighthook/feild or Lighthook/PPO links
Isn’t the connection between flight and the PPO active?
Did Sydney used them both together, anytime in the past?
I don’t think so. She explicitly prioritizes keeping her shield up over maintaining manoeuvrability while shooting.
Yes – during the demonstration, when she got sand “in places”
It’s worth noting that she’d used the PPO before that moment (apparently causing a small bush fire) but using it in the demonstration with the flight orb shook her and made her note later that it was like touching the sun.
It’s possible she just noticed or thought about it for the first time during that incident, but I’ve often wondered if the connection somehow adds excess power of one to the other and thats why she felt that much power at hand in that one instance.
The connection is between PPO and Flight. There seems no clue as to what it does.
The Force Field does not block the other orbs effects by default. The PPO’s ‘barrel’ appears outside the shield wall, the comm ball’s orb can wander outside the shield, and the lighthook operates there (Sydney hadn’t figured out how to make it appear inside, though).
iirc, she has an aperture control on the ppo that opens the shield. You’d think that would require the dot between ppo and shield.
I’d say the double-lined lone orb spot on the unknown orb would be the most informational. It’d tell what double-lines mean, might reveal the purpose of the the unknown orb,
I am both a writer and an ex-submariner. If you would like to know how a lot of things are done beneath the waves I would love to provide a professional level once over on any concept you would like to develop.
BTW love the comic I am a huge fan.
I think DaveB has forgotten the panic buy point that activated the Rapid fire.
The dots round PPO look the same as back in #181
Yep, thats the one PIP still missing IMHO. It’s probably along the wheel at a guess. at least, I tend to regard that one as the indication of different shot types.
i’d say Sydney should teach Dabbler D&D but she’d just end up playing a bard
Hey, don’t pigeonhole dabbler. I could totally see her playing artificer.
More like orificer, am I right, uh uh?
(Sorry, couldn’t resist)
Nope.
She’d deliberately play against type, both stretch her acting and to show everyone just how far the line goes.
Pathfinder supplemented by BoED & Oriental Adventures – Rokugan Setting (apologies for ethnically shitty title, that’s just what it’s called)
Paladin (Knight Hospitaler & Warrior of Light archetypes) -> Anointed Knight (natural weapons[unarmed])
PLUS
Sorcerer (Celestial Bloodline) -> Exalted Arcanist
PLUS
Courtier -> Apostle of Peace
Build will include unarmed combat feats with Nonlethal focus, skill focuses in charisma-based skills for negotiating, and lean heavily into social play (Courtier includes hefty Bonuses for CHA, WIS, and INT skills), and while all of that might suit Decolette better, this build still gives Dabbles plenty of other options, too.
Mostly I think she’d enjoy the stretch, and the constant surprised looks.
Bardbarian or Shadowmancer. I could even see her playing a lawful stupid paladin. Good for the Good God! There’s mileage there.
What happened to the D&Dish sketch where they’re buying adventuring gear from the Centaur?
Coloring?
Followup?
It seems to me that this is not merely a question of not saluting; it’s pointing, interrupting and laughing at the boss while the skill tree is open – creating a situation requiring serious business – and just after the pool incident full of lax adherence to procedure that lead to at one potentially serious security problem.
Max’s been building up steam, Sydney was just unwise enough to poke the Happy Fun Ball at the wrong time. This has been a valuable learning experience.
In all honesty Ive always thought that Maxima was a crap soldier who only had her rank due to being sentient artillery and even then she was only just tolerated because unlike artillery if ordered kill an enemy force shed probably say no.In short if Maximilla had never gained powers shed have either been drummed out of the military long ago or never made the grade in the first place.
She’s specifically stated that she has killed enemy forces.
“Are there superhumans in Afghanistan?”
“Heh. Not as many as there used to be.”
That just means she neutralised them.Its also expressly stated that she insisted on ONLY taking out supers where in reality an American Empire could be made in like 5 years if Maxima was a good little soldier and did what the military wanted(Note what the military wants is not always a good thing).
Wouldn’t pan out that way. She has super speed but she cannot be in two places at once and if the USA sic’d what is essentially an anthromorphic superweapon on other superpowers then she would have to be in more than one place at once.
Same for if the USA ended up fighting hundreds of insurgencies in hundreds of conquered territories on top of aliens, other supers and gods know what else. The amount of headaches would be staggering.
Here they have her as a very strong deterrant against anyone that might want to fuck with America, its allies or even the world as a whole. Without the additional headache of trying to administer the entire world that would presumably be rebelling against being taken by force.
IRL we have a civilian controlled military and an all-volunteer force.
So far, the civilians have not ordered Archon to take over the world, and why would they? It’s a messy place and most of the goals of most civilians could be achieved by something far less drastic (e.g. why try to rule x-ilvania when you can invest in it?)
In my observation … our generals may urge the civilian leadership to do unwise things and may occasionally stray from the intent of the orders, but for the most part when ordered to do something dumb or not to do something smart, they give a loud sigh (sometimes very loud) and carry on. There’s always another election.
>because unlike artillery if ordered kill an enemy force shed probably say no
What makes you say that?
Max doesn’t have a no-kill rule. As the Vehemence fight proves.
Hell, the author confirmed years ago that Max killed (or at least tolerated the killing of) child soldiers.
Two things, one on the comic and one on the commentary.
First, if Sidney is managing to get to 20 laps and still be vertical she is doing good as that adds up to 5 miles on a standard track and from prior installments, Archon is using a standard athletic track. Go, Sidney!!!
Secondly, as a veteran, I can attest that once you get out of training the spit and polish are saved for ceremonies and inspections. If you have a CO going somewhere that has a number of people gathered you could expect to be called to attention but then only if they are in uniform.
It was probably 20 laps in the room.Sydneys not been training long enough to stop having the physique of a poolnoodle.I dont think Maxima ever expects the level of discipline of people coming to attention but shes had a long couple of days of people taking the piss out of her,Ignoring what few rules Archon has and commiting murder a stones throw away from her among other things so she wasnt in the mood to be insulted this blatantly today even by her lil golden child.
Point of order: Max can throw a stone to pretty much any point on the planet.
Second point of order: Max has a very short throwing distance if inside Sydney’s Bubble.
Procedural Objection: Cannot base a standard condition upon a contingent probability.
Third point of order: Sydney knows that internal ricochets within the Bubble are an issue. Would she take the chance that it hits Maxima first, or would she drop the shield to let the stone out?
There’s a difference between not being held to strict military courtesy and directly mocking an officer to her face. Max was actually very lenient here: Article 89, which is what Sydney’s infraction would fall under, could have earned Sydney a court-martial, a bad-conduct discharge, and up to a year of confinement. Max wanted to get the point across that there are limits to how far the casual atmostphere should go, and she did it in a relatively gentle, but still effective, manner.
Sure–if you want to go back to a draft military.
I’m pretty certain that within a week, someone, somewhere in the US military will be in a joking mood & fail to rein it in the instant that brass shows up.
Certainly, this was a blatant violation of article 89. But it was not deliberate. There is a huge difference. And in a unit where the officer in question (CO or not) was a working peer of the enlisted involved?
This feels about right.
I’ll second the comments on the military. Maxima really strikes me as having the attitude of a Chief Warrant Officer rather than a Major, but I think people also forget that Maxima has to keep an all-volunteer team with an -excessive- amount of free will (IE:Maxima, Harem) wanting to stick around, and has probably been told a few times to do whatever it takes to keep them from getting fed up and striking off for a solo act.
‘Unclench and only unleash the paddling when absolutely needed’ was probably the first issue on the table after ‘And that’s how many zeroes on the check?’
She’s a LtCol (I know, surprises me too but then… Jack O’Neill (two Ls) was a Colonel). I personally think she reminds me of a Captain although often doing Sergeant Major/CWO roles.
I mean, to be fair orgasms are literally the best thing on the planet :D
Challenge.
Putting on warm socks right out of the dryer.
Taking off a bra at the end of the day.
A crying baby starting to giggle & coo when you, specifically, pick them up.
The first time you make the bullet go where you want it to, intentionally and reliably.
The collective, satisfied groan of pleasure when everyone at the table eats your cooking and now wants nothing else.
Mixing the perfect Bloody Caesar.
Drinking it.
Waking up stressed thinking you are late for work and then remembering that it’s your day off.
*bites lip, grinning, rolls eyes*
….nnnnnnnnnnn..
Counter challenge/point.
Warm socks? Nnnot really.
Bras? No experience. But, after a long day in the field, taking your boots and sock off and wiggling the toes.
Babies, oh yes.
Bullet-target. Mmmm, satisfaction but orgasm class? No.
Food appreciation, no. Again a warm sense of satisfaction.
Bloody Mary. No. Scotch for me but still no big O.
Here’s one for you. Watching the kids/grandkids opening up presents on Christmas or birthdays.
One of the high points for me was always taking a helmet off after wearing it for hours. it was almost like your hair was sighing in relief and your brain screaming “I’m free !!!”
Or taking the heavy rubber overshoes off, your feet felt so light you’d swear your knees were going to smack you in the chin those first few steps.
Sure those can all be satisfying, but nothing beats the insane full body pleasure of your 10th orgasm in an hour, or your 200th in a day :D
The little bit I’ve heard about women with PGAD indicates that it’s actually pretty awful.
At a minimum, I’d never, ever drive again. To dangerous. And trying to use public transport would be a constant exercise in humiliation.
Which means your mobility is constrained by the willingness of someone else to ferry your around. That sets some pretty hard boundaries on your world, essentially not being permitted to leave the home, unescorted.
I think she needs to unlock the bridge slot between the shield and flyball. Im guessing the aperature function of the PPO is because of that bridge with the shield ball, im wondering what interaction would happen with the flyball.
Either that or focus on filling in the center wheel to find out what happens when that thing in the middle is full.
I think the PPO’s beam is simply set by default to appear outside the force field. Same as the lighthook. She went to use it on Vehemence and was surprised it appeared outside her shield.
Laughing out loud directly in front of your military superior while pointing at their face?
That’s a paddling.
Bad choice for a punishment against Dabbler
Especially if it’s Maxima doing the paddling.
Why do you think Dabbles does it? She keeps hoping, keeps getting let down :P
The best Dabbler punishment is isolation, I would give her a “personal lab/back up science and magical research help desk”, with its own kitchen, shower and toilet facilities.
No tantric juice if you don’t get to see people
The best punishment is to have her attend a three hour lecture by. Bill Stein explaining, in detail, the 1984 tax reform act.
Eventually they are going to figure out how to turn the tooltips on when they have filled half the grid.
and they will be in some weird language that even dabbles has trouble understanding or even trying to translate.
Or N-Tech Clippy.
The horror! The horror!
“It looks like you’re trying to crack the planet you are standing on. Would you like help with that?”
” did you really want to turn your planet into lava soup? [yes] [no]”
“you replied [yes] is this correct?”
“very well, you have 3 minutes to leave the planet. ”
(no matter which selection is actually chosen)
One the one hand I agree that Maxima is being overly pedantic and a bit of a martinet. On the other hand… well, I do understand why they’d want to ensure proper discipline. To put it simply, I don’t see Maxima and Halo ever having a situation where Maxima is screaming at Halo NOT to do something that violates their ethical policies and Halo insisting on leaping off the slippery slope because reasons. Which is something that happens far too often in comics.
Cripes. Somebody needs to teach Sydney to stop sprinting the whole way. That’s what’s burning her out on running.
To be quite frank, Sydney needs to be TAUGHT a lot of things. There’s been a lot of “Throw ‘er in the deep end!” training going on at Archon that these military veterans should know better to not do.
Archon Training:
*drops baggy of pistol parts* There you go! Now put it together!
Actual Training:
Instructor: “Okay, now, we’re going to go through this, piece-by-piece, first deconstructing it, discussing the parts and their functions, then reconstructing it together. Then you’re going to break it down and rebuild it yourselves.”
Which is more entertaining?
In my experience?
Depends on the instructor.
You miss the part where Sydney had a mini-tablet showing how to put the peashooter back together?
Or maybe it never occurred to you that DaveB doesn’t show every freaking minute detail of what happens and erroneously figures most readers would figure that part out for themselves?
This. Really.
Most likely there us a lot of boring teaching stuff happening. This is narrated by Sydney and she tends to skip the more boring parts. Or falls asleep during them. Or only renembers about 10% of it.
Um, no, Sydney was NOT pressganged. She was advised (G. P. 127) that Arc-Swat was a military police force and there were serious consequences for not obeying orders. She expressed her understanding and accepted the offered opportunity to join Archon and be a superhero. She had some idea of what she was getting into, and willingly accepted it.
It was inferred that if she didn’t join them the next would be seeing Maxima again in a much less congenial way. No powers without government control.
You seem to be getting Sydney and Kronachrome mixed up
It’s been explicitly stated that it’s okay to have powers and not be military or under government control aside from the degree to which everyone is ‘under government control’ because we all need to obey the law.
Yes, Sydney wanted to be a superheroine, but she was also worried about being whisked away by government sponsored vivisectionists.
Panel 2, Dabbler thinking:
“I wonder if I could pull off a sombre T-Rex look?”
Bearing.
What you are looking for is military bearing.
Also, one does not salute uncovered (without wearing a uniform hat, referred to as a ‘cover.’), and one does not wear a cover indoors, so don’t worry about saluting unless outside, in uniform, wearing a cover.
As for snapping to, that is reserved for the Commanding Officer, and not just the Div O (division officer, which is what Max would be, if Archon is a single command)…so that would most likely actually be General Faulk. Which isn’t to say that Max isn’t perfectly correct to restore discipline on occasion.
That all being said, Archon is clearly _not_ typical. It couldn’t be, realistically, and from a narrative & design perspective, it would be significantly less awesome if it was. Trust me when I tell you that very, very few people want to read a comic that obsesses over saluting, uniforms, and ‘Yes, Sir, No, Sir, Three Bags Full, Sir.’ Obviously, the place would never function if it devolved into an ongoing frat house party, but given the nature of the people involved, DoD definitionally cannot exercise the same degree of control it can over normal personnel, nor risk alienating them enough to quit…so significantly relaxed discipline makes perfect sense.
That said…I expect there are plenty of dress-right-dress Majors in the regular Army, or the Corp, or Lt. Cdr’s in the Navy, who would have apoplectic fits, being forced to work with Archon personnel ‘on loan’ for particular operations. And I’m equally certain there is a Gunny, or a Chief out there, who can connect with Recruit Scoville, and help her bridge the gap from ‘civilian in a uniform,’ to ‘legitimate, if relaxed, soldier/sailor.’ Something involving along, heartfelt counseling session, specifically tailored training, and doing all the burpees.
Cue montage!
You’ve got a lot of veterans here, DaveB, myself not least…tap us for information
Yeah, pretty much what Bharda said. One of the exceptions is when one is told to formally report to a superior officer, usually the CO but really any officer. Note there is a fine line between told to “report to the CO” and hey the old man/lady, Lieutenant, Captain etc. wants to see you. The first case is a formal affair usually conducted in the officers office and can range anywhere from an ass chewing to getting orders or resolving a situation. In the second case it’s usually a matter of business as usual and catching up to them wherever they are And “You needed to see me sir/ma’am”? Again, indoors no salute, outdoors under cover salute. Those are the basics but there are variables such as when in the “field” saluting is usually not done. But, the bottom line is “when in doubt, whip it out (salute). It really isn’t a hard ass thing, it’s a matter of tradition, courtesy and respect. People with any time in the service wind up doing it as a matter unconscious reflex.
Archon has always appeared, to me, to be like an Elite Fighting Unit, like the original Commandos or more recent Delta Force: they do have discipline, but not as rigid, largely due to the fact their next mission may well be their last (more so than regular cannon-fodder troops, because they are going on more dangerous missions)
Do not mock your CO, ESPECIALLY if they are not alone. They are almost universally vindictive petty lil’ weenies and WILL f*** you under the guise of “maintaining discipline” because you made them look bad.
….did they forget Krona can see something about the skill tree nobody else can…?
Yeah, I am sitting here wondering when they are going to get Krona in to see if she can identify the slots. And it seems like she can bring the tree up at any point by spinning the balls (like on the alari homeworld) so they don’t even have to wait until she gets a new skill point
I feel like you often get hung up on the concern that Archon *should* be more orderly, more strict, more disciplined. I think that’s a mistake. Realistically, a huge number of people are fundamentally uninterested in living that kind of life, and if Archon tried to strictly enforce that, they’d lose a huge number of potentially valuable recruits.
I think a genuinely interesting story beat would be – what if Sydney (or another high-tier super) just nope’s out? Seeing her heaving into a bucket like that, does the thought of “Fuck this, you’re pushing me too hard, I’m going home” not enter her mind at any point?
And what’s Archon’s reaction to that? The (to their knowledge) second or third most powerful person on the planet choosing to remove herself from their asset pool because their exercise regimen is too intense? In any kind of sane world, they wouldn’t just let her go. They’d negotiate. They’d bring on a personal trainer to work out a slower, more comfortable ramp-up. That’s not the *military* answer, obviously, but it is the answer that makes the most sense for Archon’s unique circumstance.
To be honest – the “puking into a bucket” bit is ENTIRELY Sidney’s fault. She hasn’t figured out how to run while expending the least amount of energy yet. And… only more practice is gonna fix that. She has been drawn at walking speed while doing her mandatory laps – so there is clearly no one forcing her to maintain a set pace. But her hyperactivity means she simply isn’t COMFORTABLE at the slower, more efficient speeds. (Puke enough times and she’ll eventually realize the beauty of a nice, steady jog.)
“Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle.
Marine Corps Shuffle…”
…I sooooo prefer the early Dave’s art style… Those 3D faces (with some exceptions) look so wrong sometimes…
+1
I personally like the current style.
It has its moments but the early style works much better for the tone of this comic. There’s space for both styles I think but I’d prefer more of the old style.
It’s nice to see Zephan Zoeng make an appearance. I started to call him Dr. Zoeng but I realized I didn’t know if he holds a degree or not. He would be a good call for assistance n picking the next skill point.
Essentially all of Archon is the equivalent of Special Operations so their bearing and behavior makes perfect sense so far. You’d really NEED someone of Max’s power to be the Division Commander otherwise they’d need to command through sheer personality so people do what they say because they like them. If you really like character drama then a team or organization of super powered beings who don’t have a set hierarchy but work together because they all have goals in common would be pretty cool. But you would be hard pressed to write the level of entertaining chaos that this comic specializes in.
Military Bearing is what we call it in the Navy. As in “showing proper military bearing in dress and attitude”.
Been working with the military for over half a decade and I still didn’t know that…
Globalwarming is caused by Demeter going through Menopause.
Funny, but no. I have too many Hellenic Reconstructionists in my circle to accept that joke.
To be fair, the Hellenic Period did a lot of its own reconstructing, so its not unprecedented.
I mean, let’s be honest…it was less reconstructing & more “experimental architecture.”
in some cases, i think the experi part was left out
:)
So, Max just had Sydney do a five-mile run for not showing military bearing when she walked into a room. I’m sure that’s a GREAT way to maintain unit cohesion, comradery, to retain Sydney when her enlistment is up.
Those that disagree this is NOT the way to do it are asked to run their OWN five miles before commenting.
On the bright side, Sydney is now able to do five-mile runs. That’s a MAJOR improvement considering she wasn’t working out AT ALL before joining up.
No, there’s a big difference between military bearing, casual business as usual and pointing your finger at a superior officer, mocking them and laughing. So not done.
I’ll grant it’s a LOT more formal when you’re E-1 (I’m assuming since Max is still referring to Sydney as “recruit” that they haven’t started her meteoric rise to Corpral E-4 as seen in the intro chapter.) Honestly, though, I’m not seeing this as mocking.
It was 20 laps, no-one said what the 20 laps were, seeing how they are still inside (and looks like the same room), it’s good odds it was 20 laps of the room
Standard lap is a quarter of a mile on every military base I served on.
Punishment for Dabbler: Filing Archon’s tax forms.
She would probably be able to do even that in a sexy way. Something for a vote incentive maybe?
She’d rock the sexy secretary look for that task. We all know it.
Lots of using the pen to fiddle with her lips.
…
No, no, it’s fine. Assume what I meant.
Everything that Max has had to deal with given Sydney’s mental health issues and THIS is what pushes Max to nearly put Sydney in the hospital due to dehydration and heat exhaustion? And Dabbler gets off scott-free simply because there is no easy way to punish her? This is supposed to be funny?
Seriously. In any other situation, Max would have asked Dabbler what was going on before making a snap decision based on her temper. And Max knows about Sydney’s issues and THAT SYDNEY TAKES MEDICATIONS FOR THOSE ISSUES. Max is just being a bully for bullying’s sake here.
Dabs is a civilian consultant, Sydney’s a member of the military, so yeah, they get treated differently. Maybe it’s unfair, but what you gonna do?
And Sydney’s no where near hospital-ready; the lighting fixture in panel 5 is the same as in panel 9 so Sydney’s “laps” are of a conference room.
This isn’t punishment, it’s a reminder about showing respect… and also… clearing up the giggles for getting down to business. You’re right about asking what’s going on and that is what a Colonel would do… but a Staff Sergeant or Sergeant Major would default to laps first (particularly on recruits). Welcome to Bootcamp, we’re going to make your life h… are you not standing to attention? Ten laps buddy, off you go.
Doesn’t make me respect her at all. Makes me think she’s an abusive git
I’ve never felt right about the military aspects that Sydney essentially got conscripted into. It’s unfair
I don’t support the modern military methodology in general, but at the very least people who signed up for that DID actually have the vaguest of choices and choose to do so. Sydney did not, she’d have probly got vanished if she hadn’t agreed
You know, I’m not really sure I “get” Syd’s and Dabbler’s conversation. Are they really saying those words, or is it a suggestion leaving it up to us, the readers, to fill in the actual conversation? Including the “something dour” pointing at Max?
It seems to me that they are interrupting each other shouting out a prediction of what the other person is going to say. When Max walked in, they both jumped on shouting out predictions of what Max was going to say while pointing and laughing.
I read it as they are actually saying the various “something [X]!” lines. Mocking each other, on the grounds that they have such predictable topics or themes of conversation. Which is all very well between near-equals in an informal situation where such levity may be tolerated, but not when your target is the boss and you’re stopping her getting down to business.
So genuine question, which point was taken to change the PPE to the machinegun style bullets?
As I understand it, it was the point chosen in panic at the Wars warehouse. It’s not a change in the sense that the previous mode becomes unavailable, it’s just an extra option.
My point is, if I look at the PPE tree in that one and where it is now, what point was spent? Nothing changed.
Nothing’s changed, but that’s due to artist error. When Sydney used her first point on Alar, we saw that the next node around the PPO’s ‘crown’ was the one chosen at the warehouse. DaveB mentions it in the commentary to the next page. I’m not sure whether that would have been posted by the time of your latest comment; I don’t know which time zone the comment clock is based in other than ‘significantly different to British time’, or when (relative to that zone) the post went up.
How to punish Dabbler: lame movies with no chemistry. Or cut away right before said chemistry.
Let’s pull an Addam’s Family and have her watch Disney!
Nothing makes me feel quite as irritated as people who think OCD is either an adjective or a thing to name-check lightheartedly.
So you get a little OCD about it?
\sorry -really sorry- trying to quit smoking but there is no excuse
I disagree.
First off, English is flexible that way. Everything can be adjectived.
Secondly, OCD/ADHD is a spectrum. Clinical OCD, Severe OCD, etc. are extreme versions of these things, but there is also non-clinical OCD, or OCD-leaning. A proper and analytical analysis says that the common use of OCD actually falls under its psychologically recognized characteristics.
There is also CDO. It’s like OCD, but with the letters in proper alphabetical order. :)
So when are they going to bring that reality-hacking character in (I forget her name) to look at this thing again. She might be able to decode it. Find out what the mystery orb does (I’m guessing communications, going with the starship theme)
(Imagines Maxima giving the “Too silly” speech): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ANufwUPFm8
Bizarre theory #2
Since the orbs are a starship, the pattern is the bridge, which means when the center orb gets filled, Sid will get a new orb- the command orb- which will let her control her orbs by voice instead of having to hold them.
Seems quite a good theory. Not sure about the latter part but the Command Orb seems apt. For me I think the Skill tree will unlock another layer once the middle is filled allowing for a possible expansion or indeed new orbs.
New info: apparently the orbs can sit in skilltree mode forever.
I think that Maxima’s exceedingly juicy lips subtract from her ability to properly convey emotions through her expressions. Her expression hardly differed from a pretentiously sexy pout, in my eyes.
So Sydney currently skill level 39. Look out when she has to decide Multiple orbs at the same time with Time to do so.
“Archon is actually military most of the time, and I have to imagine some readers who were in the military just politely nod and think “Military. Sure.””
As a Civilian in the Military… actually Max has the bearing and behaviors of most Captains (which is really what he rank should be even though the role she perform is little above Sergeant half the time, Sydney has played more Colonel rank than Max ever has, I’m thinking back to the Vegence arc). I haven’t seen a Lt Col leave the office in quite some time and if they do they get chaperoned by a Major. Still this is is ‘special’ like… ‘Stargate’ special, where Colonels serve as heads of five man teams… instead of head of whatever site they’re on.
In my experience it gets quite informal and it’s usually only the newbies that give a salute, stand to attention. Some adhere to it a little more than others but even for them it’s not an ‘every time’ thing. Max’s demeanor to these things again is ‘at the expected standard’, they’re there to do a job no need to make everyone uncomfortable doing it. Usually the Captain/Colonel doesn’t handle discipline like this directly that’s really a Sergeant Major role (Peggy? But Peggy comes off as a Staff Sergeant to me).
It’s really fun and interesting to make the comparisons definitely relatable. Good work on that front (and no, we don’t care about the ranks being technically wrong, we do *like* fiction).
True, but this is practically begging for the team to have an interaction with a newly minted O-1 (2nd Lt / Ensign) just back from school and acting like a complete doof (as butterbars sometimes tend to do).
So if not in uniform you don’t salute also the only time you salute indoors is when reporting to an officer (like when you get called into the bosses office) the proper term would be military customs and courtesies and some units are a little more lax about them (especially ones that have an exceptionally high number of commissioned officers working directly with enlisted like medical units) usually due to the specific working environment. That being said each branch also has its own quirks on how much and when to render those customs and courtesies (most stringent being the Marines and least being the air force as far as active duty goes) those are of course generalizations though…rule of thumb is if in uniform they SHOULD be demonstrating at least a moderate amount of decorum. That’s just one soldiers take though
Almost forgot that seeing as how Archon is a special forces unit they will be weird and be super anal about some customs and courtesies and completely ignore others…..the SF community has its own set of rules
She should put the point in one of the connecting lines.
…I have a friend who works on a submarine…And I know there are some military fans of this comic…