Grrl Power #948 – The non-analog insurance hazard
Yes, Digit was heavily inspired by Gadget. Okay, actually, there’s this poster… I mentioned this in a comment on the previous page, but here it is with a little more info.
Whoever this lady is, combine her and Gadget and you get Digit. Then just her minus the torch but still with the heat powers and you get Heatwave. Weird the things that influence you when you’re an adolescent.
Okay, not that weird. She has nice boobs. (You can click on it for a slightly larger version.)
So anyway, Digit is one of those fairly typical scatterbrained inventors. Her original incarnation was an in-the-streets gadgeteer superhero, but I decided since I already have a lot of other fieldable heroes, she’d be more useful in the basement. Also, less immediate danger to the public. She’s also one of those women (who probably only exist in fiction) who has no understanding that she’s sexy. And not in the glasses and ponytail way where she wants boys to notice her but she can’t figure out how, but in a wearing skintight overalls because she doesn’t want them to snag on things and unbuttoning her shirt because all the welding is making her sweaty and can’t figure out why guys keep tripping over things and staring at that little rivulet of sweat slowly traversing her sternum. I guess she’s the closest to being asexual as anyone on the team, in that the hormones normally responsible for arousal instead light up her brain when she thinks about spot welds and torque ratios.
On an tangential note, Gadget was voiced by Tress MacNeille, who has also voiced… let me see… oh. Everyone. Every female character in every cartoon. Okay, not literally EVERY female cartoon character, but look at that link and scroll down. And keep scrolling, and keep scrolling. Those are the just the voices she’s done for Disney. She’s also worked on nearly every episode of the Simpsons and Futurama. Her IMDB page is pushing 400 credits, many of them for series, and many of them for multiple voices per show. It may not be an exaggeration to say that she has voiced THE MAJORITY of female cartoon characters.
I don’t have a point here, I just think her career as a voice actress is pretty fucking impressive. Well done, Tress!
The new vote incentive is up! Some of you got sort of invested in Lapha and Garamm, so here 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.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like!
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Shouldn’t the spread wings have cut the can in half, instead of putting a semi-neat hole through it?
Unless they fold in on impact, yes. Assuming they didn’t simply knock the can out of that person’s grip. . . or the person off his feet if he didn’t let go. . .
But we lost realism quite some time ago.
We never had realism. This is a superhero comedy. Rule of funny, rule of cool and rule of sexy are the only things important in this story.
Meh. Not a great argument. We actually have quite a bit of realism. It’s one of the hooks of the comic. Subverting superhero comic book tropes.
Rule of Funny though, sure. :)
Good point. I’ll rephrase myself: Dave likes creating a complex world pretty close to ours where supers can fit in but he wisely don’t let it get in the way of a good joke.
Okay yeah. :) Like you said, rule of funny trumps all.
Well they don’t fold, as you can see from the blades being out even when not firing.
And even if they did, an aluminum can wouldn’t be strong enough to cause them to fold in.
Unless it’s the acceleration when launched that folds them in, then they unfold again upon impact.
It is clearly some form of phasing effect, allowing the anchor head to permeate through intervening matter, pulling the chain behind.
So, the head is phased and the chain is unphased? Kinda the opposite of Omar :D
I’m pretty sure that’s a Japanese Soda: Harpoon Sweat
As an asexual. . .
Please don’t use this character for representation. We know damn well what other people are thinking about these kinds of things. We’re just not interested with interacting with that level of toxicity. Or at least, I’m not. . . please don’t use me as a basis for judging every asexual person ever either. And seriously, don’t make her bend over like that. I know plenty of people do it in real life. But it is absolutely horrible for your spinal cord, and it makes way more biological sense to bend at the knees unless there is genuinely something wrong with your knees.
Maybe asexual is the wrong word. She’s not supposed to be disinterested, just comically oblivious.
Thank you. This clarification is much appreciated.
Speaking as an ace, some of us are actually like that, the ace-spectrum is almost as vast as the non-binary spectrum (which seems to grew bigger with each special little snowflake who believes they are the ‘only one of their kind’)
Speaking as a non-binary person, jeez who hurt you? Why the hate from one marginalized lgbt group to another?
Because the snowflakes makes it hard on all of us
And, unless you are a ‘snowflake’, then that dig wasn’t at you, if you are… here’s a spade
ouch. I think both snowflake and spade might be a bit outdated, and possibly a little ethnicity-sensitive.
unless you’re referring to cards or shovel-types, or weather, of course
:)
Kinda figure in the same sentence mentioning a ‘dig’ that ‘spade’ would be something you use to dig
This is the first time have heard ‘snowflake’ being ‘ethnicity-sensitive’
i think hypno was referring to the racist slur against blacks, and specifically to spade, not snowflake
They said both
“I know what it does. I just don’t know what it is for.”
I recognized that reference! *grin*
First time commenting but long-time reader here. I really love this webcomic and it never fails to be enjoyable or make me laugh. Thank you!
Okay now you have got to be kidding me. I do not believe for a second that a type of shovel is somehow offensive.
We are reaching tosh.o levels of inventing new slurs.
This one was from the mid XX century, not a new invention. It was already falling out of use by the time All In The Family was out. But as for the derivation, it comes from the 19th century slur “black as the ace of spades”, which eventually was shortened to just calling black people spades. Not new, unless you think over 120 years old is “new”.
For far too many people, the universe began with their birth, and will end with their death. This kind of distorts their temporal references. Anything older than themselves either didn’t really happen, or has always been that way. Anything newer than themselves is too new, and probably bad.
I guess this would be a combination of both: too old to have really happened, so it must be intolerably new.
#NotAllSnowflakes
Just pointing it out because, in addition to its being true, I think it’s amusing.
Yeah, basically, anyone will see anything as a racial slur if it helps them feel ‘attacked’ (like this sentence)
Guesticules: Words have no inherent meaning. They only mean what we agree that they mean. It’s the intent that matters, and it’s carried within a context.
Even if you choose not to be hurt by someone’s words, they’ve still sent the message that they would like to hurt you, or at the very least, don’t care if their actions hurt you. That’s what makes words harmful: they can be a threat of actual harm.
Paranoia isn’t always unjustified. The difficulty lies in determining the difference between an empty threat and a dangerous one prior to experiencing significant consequences, while minimizing false positives. Some people set their threshold too high, and end up dead. Some people set it too low, and seem unreasonably paranoid. Everyone is different, and has different experiences, so the right amount of caution probably isn’t a universal constant.
Torabi, your second paragraph makes the assumption that the speaker was aware that the hearer would associate a given term with targeting for abuse. And to be honest, so many terms have been declared ‘abusive’ by one group or another, so many of which have legitimate descriptive (i.e. not perjorative) uses, that at times it’s almost impossible to avoid using one or other – or else offending another group by being “obviously afraid to use proper language”.
Remember the fuss a few years back over whether teachers were ‘allowed’ to refer to their large writing surface as a blackboard (chalks) or whiteboard (pens), in case someone thought an obvious reference to the colour of a physical object was a veiled racial reference? Wonder how many people would have actually made that misinterpretation, without being primed to do so by the campaign.
When it comes down to it, you have a choice. Do you continue to fear certain words* because someone in the past hung an association on them, thus perpetuating that association and commemorating the person and the prejudice that spawned it? Or do you continue to use the words* for their intended purpose, robbing that long-dead bigot of the power to hurt you from beyond the grave until they and their cause are long forgotten?
* The discussion started with words, the question also holds valid for longer phrases or for non-verbal symbols.
It was clear from context, I would have thought, that Guesticules was using ‘spade’ as a descriptive rather than a perjorative – and if there were any figurative meanings involved, ‘digging oneself into a hole’ is the one that springs to mind!
There are 10×10^49+ different possible genetic combinations for genders in humans alone.
There are more than enough genders for each person to have their own unique one. (Hel, there’s more than enough genders for each person to have a hundred unique ones, if genetics worked that way.)
I am sorry could you elaborate, or give me a link or something? That number is both surprisingly large and specific, so I would like to know why that specific number.
Also why 10×10^49 instead of 10^50?
Having done some reading, 10E49 is theoretically possible based on how genetics can be combined. Gender is mostly not a “physical” thing so it get even more interesting. Biological Sex if we limit the subject matter to just that for a minute… well then we’re looking primarily at chromosomes. Now these can combine in all kinds of ways, but we typically only recognize the XX, XY variants. Having more or fewer chromosomes is possible, but also having half, unusually shaped… or just flat out a different make up. This number of combinations quickly mounts up. Lets take the lottery for example, five numbers chosen (typically) from something like 45 balls well you can see how just one gene having a fair number of variations can quickly change the outcome.
Really “male” or “female” is ‘fuzzy’. If you take a perfect XY and a perfect XX sample and hold that as the standard… most people would be more or less rather than also meeting perfection (because biology).
With that being said, theoretically possible and actually possible are different things. So in order for humans to exist they need to be within naturally defined limits or we fall apart, self destruct all that bad stuff. When you start adding chromosomes for example it may come with increase learning difficulties or natural behaviors… you start diversifying even more and those problem can ultimately lead to death or at the very least not being able to reproduce. People who have changes to their chromosomes rather than extra or fewer tend to be known as Intersex. (Stanford University)
Harmony however refers to gender and while it does have a genetic impact there is more of a ‘feeling’ impact. This can easily swell the numbers. One distinct example is Transgender, so the feeling of not being in the right body for example, as such this can cause people to legitimately point to not being entirely the gender that they might appear to be. This is because it is possible for different parts of your body to have a different biological sex (really… who invented this stuff… were they high?).
Couple of links for further reading
https://news.cnrs.fr/articles/how-many-sexes-are-there
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5824932/
Disclaimer: I am neither pro nor anti trans. My position is that it really doesn’t matter, the more the merrier. If someone wants to identify as as Apache Helicopter, I’ll start asking them if they want a dash of diesel in their coffee. It’s a meme, but I never did ‘get it’, identify as you will, just don’t be offended if I get it wrong to begin with.
Tolerance and acceptance is how we’re going to move forward as a society.
Based on my Second life account Im a Housecat that turns into a giant mug of coffee or a Drow, and occasonaly a Cheeseburger for thoes times when some idot things all of SL is a giant sex pit and then I start running at them saying Eat me! You said thats what you wanted to do!
Seriously Im thought about turning into Nuka cola Yellow for the ones who pester me about another activity,
Um if you know about Nuka Cola yellow. then I dont need to elaborate,
If you dont. Dont look it up.
When Syndrome said “With everyone super, no one will be”- He is essentially saying that if everyone has super powers, they won’t be unique anymore, which means it’ll become normal, and therefore, not super.
We’ve had similar situations with everything is labeled racist. When all things are racist, the label loses meaning.
Now we are changing a verbal shorthand term into one with more variation than there are humans. Really, if you want to be appropriate….the three primary pronouns are he, she and it (auf deutsch: er, sie, es)….they is plural. And to go all biological; outside of cosmetics, sex change operations convert ppl into eunuchs, not the opposite sex. True sex change is far in the future.
Correction: The appropriate pronouns in English are He, She, and They, for 2 reasons:
1) In English, “It” is an insult when applied to a human. Using “It” is to explicitly call that human a thing, and object, a not-persons. A person is not an “It”.
2) the word “They” as a singular pronoun has existed since at least the 14th century. It has been criticized by some people since at least the 18th century, but remember that “you” was once a plural pronoun, but grew to replace the now archaic Thee, Thou, and Thy for singular.
So for English, the flow of They to be a neutral singular pronoun is natural, and the usage of ‘It’ is not.
My question is what would you call a niece or nephew that chooses to use they pronouns? Since both niece and nephew are gender-specific terms?
It’s not exactly the same context, but I’ve heard use of ‘nibling(s)’ for mixed groups, unknowns (i.e. not yet born), and cases where it could be either. Fairly sure it isn’t officially a word, but it does the job! I think you’d use ‘sibling’ for a brother or sister who chose to go non-specific, so the parallel should hold.
(Yes, that last sentence was probably phrased incorrectly. I deliberately chose it to parallel that of hypnobubbles, and more importantly I’ve no idea what the ‘correct’ phrasing would be without the definition becoming circular.)
I have considered it amazing, ever since I’ve even known it’s true, that there are only six gigabytes of information in the human genome. We have about three billion base pairs, and each can be one of four values, and … six gigabytes. Front to back, including the parts that aren’t unique to humans.
Of course some are several megabytes longer than others because typical X chromes are longer than typical Y chromes.
But seriously. Our brains are the most complex things in existence that we know of and conservatively contain a couple petabytes of state. But the instructions to build them, all fit into that six-gigabyte genome, and in fact are a small-ish subset of that genome’s function.
That’s the power of PROCEDURAL GENERATION! A set of base units and rules, that spin out to greater complexity than the rules themselves. And the universe is rather complex to start with.
Hard on “us”???? Who the hell is persecuting aces? Big talk being a gatekeeper when you don’t actually have any skin in the game here. I’d stand up for a million “snowflakes” before I’d take shit from somebody who could quietly let the rest of us hang without consequence. Stones and glass houses.
“Who the hell is persecuting aces”
Why does everyone have to attack bigots with more bigotry in this chain…
“Aces don’t experience persecution” both you and Guesticules can just fuck off. Stop throwing marginalized people under the bus for internet points, you assholes.
Right, so being an Ace means not having any ‘skin in the game’ (what the hael does that even mean?)
It wasn’t me who was calling DaveB out on describing his character as being Ace and not behaving the same way as them
And by ‘us’, was referring to every other human on the planet
And you, Atramint, can go fuck yourself off before you start attacking someone without reading the full topic
Bite me.
Not without a certificate stating that you are safe to bite, don’t want to get mad cows disease
Non-Binary is just a catch all term for anyone whose gender isn’t strictly either binary male or female. It just means that a person doesn’t fit into those narrow categories, nothing worth getting worked up over. Dozens of cultures have historically included more than two gender roles, the european binary is just one many ways of marking sociological roles sexes are sorted into.
True binaries do not exist in biology or human culture, get over it.
If she was ‘asexual’ she would not be standing like that, or have such curves being shown off…
Do a search about ancient photos, when the camera was just invented… :)
and YES, I have known an ‘asexual’ person! – dressed and talked like a man( though def. female) , she was a programmer… :)
I’m pretty sure DaveB just means ‘she doesn’t really think about sex much because she’s so scatterbrained and focused on inventing stuff.’ when he said ‘asexual.’ Not some big sexual identification thing.
I think people are reading too much into that one word in this case.
That… is a new descriptive to me, sounds more like an ‘androgynous’ person
And, there are so much range in the asexual spectrum, there is a character in “Girls With Slingshots” who is an ace but has a girlfriend (she just doesn’t like the ‘sex’ part, doesn’t mind the cuddling)
If I recall correctly, that character was used as an example of the difference between asexual and aromantic. The former is about who you do or don’t want to go to bed with, the latter is about who you do or don’t want to settle down and live with for the rest of the time. In this case, the character was asexual and homoromantic.
Which illustrates how some of the gender-identification mess comes about. If you only have one category label of ‘gender’, then you end up with countless individual entries within that category and the differences start to look increasingly meaningless – especially if you start also calling the preference for certain stereotypical activities a gender component, as I’ve seen occasionally insisted upon. If you instead break out that multidimensional morass into its component axes, you can still specify as precisely as you want, but it’ll be a lot clearer and you can leave out the ones that make no difference to a given context.
Talantus
May 27, 2021, 10:40 am | # | Reply
Oh get over yourself, no offense but you probably are the last thing Dave is using as an inspiration for his art or comic unless you are a major patreon donator.
he didn’t say she was an asexual, just that it’s the closest thing he could think of to describe her. There is probably better words to describe her such as “dense”, “hyper focused “, or just plain wacko.
Her bending over like that is the whole point of the joke as indicated by Sydney’s inner commentary to point out the ludicrousness of such fan service. Essentially, he did what you tried to do but without whining and with humor which will be a lot more engaging than what you are doing rn.
Might i suggest putting your percieved toxicity on the shelf for a bit a develop a critical mind along with some sense of humor, empathy and maybe just a little bit of “laissez faire”. It’ll do wonders for ya.
I bend over that way when reaching for things. Yes it is hard on the back at times but for me it is easier then bending my mostly normal and functional knees.
And that toxicity comment was way out of line. I think you do not know what it really means or you are looking for things to be upset about.
Maybe I’m just a bit of a jackass, posting stuff to a forum that I can’t talk to people about in real life. What happens here doesn’t affect me much, it just blows up DaveB’s forum. That’s on all you from here on out, because I do not intend to make any further replies to this thread.
You are not the only asexual around, so why should DaveB judge them all based on you?
As for her bending, did you not how she spread her legs to give her a better base from which to bend? It’s the same reason why some cranes have those extra bits that extend out to improve their stability
And, if it ‘makes way more biological sense to bend at the knees’, why are there so many posters and labels on heavy shit reminding people to bend at the knees not at the hips?
A) Precisely my point, Guesticules.
B) No, actually. I’m not much inclined to watch many people bending over to determine which of them are doing it better than others.
C) Because a number of people don’t do it that way regardless, partly because there’s common cultural representations of doing it by bending over instead.
Now, I’d really better head out. I must admit I’m rather surprised you’d call yourself ace and other people special snowflakes, though.
Fair enough, i admit i got a little bit aggravating by your comment which I why i probably came a little but strong.
It just looked like, to me, that you tried to influence or control dave’s work and artistic expression by using a victim card which seemed unfair and a little devious. Ie: i’m [insert], please do/don’t [insert].
I will gladly admit my mistake if there such a misunderstanding happened. But i am willing to discuss or set the reccord straight if you are.
That’s because there is nothing ‘special’ about being Ace, or at least, nothing special about me being Ace
Good looking out, Devilish Imp.
I’m getting a Nitrine vibe from Digit. Nitrine is something of an inventor, with most of her inventions eventually blowing up (often that’s actually what they’re designed for).
https://flakypastry.fandom.com/wiki/Nitrine
Although Nitrine is the exact opposite of “oblivious to sexiness.”
Oh get over yourself, no offense but you probably are the last thing Dave is using as an inspiration for his art or comic unless you are a major patreon donator.
he didn’t say she was an asexual, just that it’s the closest thing he could think of to describe her. There is probably better words to describe her such as “dense”, “hyper focused “, or just plain wacko.
Her bending over like that is the whole point of the joke as indicated by Sydney’s inner commentary to point out the ludicrousness of such fan service. Essentially, he did what you tried to do but without whining and with humor which will be a lot more engaging than what you are doing rn.
Might i suggest putting your percieved toxicity on the shelf for a bit a develop a critical mind along with some sense of humor, empathy and maybe just a little bit of “laissez faire”. It’ll do wonders for ya.
Sorry about the duplicate, i don’t know how to delete comments here.
Users can’t edit or delete comments so check your spelling and proofread twice.
Rats, good to know. Thanks.
And, if it doesn’t appear like your message appeared, and there was no error message, then just give it time
I’ve had that happen to me a few times, even “comment blocked by x” or “comment blocked because of bad words”
And yet there’s no actual filter or moderation, and usually it shows up later, the comment code is clearly full of errors
Have never had that happen to me: it either appears as normal, get an actual page error or the post takes its sweet arse time appearing
Don’t be so judgey sydney she might have bad knees or prosthetic legs
I think she just has to stretch all the way to the back to get the Double Grapple Gun. If squatted, she would not be able to reach it.
In the second panel in which Digit is holding the device I thought that she was sitting on it cross-legged while it floated in the air. For some reason I didn’t register her fingers below the platform and legs going down although the view is nearly identical to the other panel of her holding it.
There’s a character named Digit in the webcomic Wapsi Square. She’s a spider who was changed into a human through an accident of magic. She now teaches at the paranormal high school. The most recent strips have featured her.
I recently binged the original Animaniacs and then the new one on Hulu. Tress does the voice of Dot in both versions of the series.
Many of the original voice actors returned for the new series. For characters where they could not secure the original actors, their characters do not appear in the new series (e.g. Rita and Runt; Bernadette Peters was not available for the relaunch). Then they added a bunch of new segments for the new voice cast.
As someone who’s hung out with Tiffany Grant (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiffany_Grant), I’m mildly annoyed at the suggestion Tress MacNeille voiced everyone. Tiffany voiced at least 50%. Divide seems to be if it was anime, was Tiffany, if Disney, then Tress.
I have said many times that there is a rule in Hollywood that if there is a female character in a cartoon, Tress McNeille has to voice it.
Y’all forgetting about Tara Strong?
…and if it’s an “animal sound”, 99% chance it’s Frank Welker.
So, if she was “Gadget” did that mean Mr. Amorphous = Chip? And who played Dale, Zipper and/or Monterey Jack?
Brooke is totally Zipper :D
And if Morph is Chip, Les has got to be Dale :P
lol! Love the can shot! I can see her namesake. By now almost everyone’s heard of Rescue Rangers. I also like how she’s a bit vacant in the head to.
The orbs are obscured by speech.
I assume the green orb is still in Mr. Mass-spec.
Wait, isn’t Maxi the only Max on the team? Or is one Maxi the max amount of Max’ allowed?
… Amazing shot, but… How do you aim that?
I’m thinking holding it rocket-launcher style, so you don’t accidentally impale yourself.
Digit: “Aim? I knew I forgot something!”
well, the same way some guys are dense (in anime, most of the times)
also, that was a close call. i guess she is getting a lecture about not shooting harpoons in the building.
As one of those types of girls, we do exist.
I’ve had to be told repeatedly that someone was checking me out or flirting with me. It’s because I’m a very logical practical person, and my mental process is, “Naw, they can’t be interested in me. If they were interested in me, they’d tell me.”
Oh, if only the world had more wrench wenches.
One of my best friends is like this. Hotter than the sun, but in complete denial about it. Body dysmorphia is a bitch.
I feel her. Again, similar boat myself. People always tell me I’m pretty, but I just don’t believe it. Like I physically can’t believe it.
Oh, and its Dysphoria, not Dysmorphia. Dysphoria is when you can’t stand your body. Dysmorphia is when your body has grown improperly and your structure is all out of whack.
It’s entirely possible they meant dysmorphia.
I’d recommend being more speculative when attempting to correct people on the internet, because acting like you know everything usually leads to flame wars.
Could you just let people express what they think without interjecting that it would be a good start for a flame war? We’ve had one on this page already. We don’t need another.
Grid seems to enjoy both starting sh*t, and telling people what to do, or alternative, what they “should do.”
Dysphoria is the opposite feeling of euphoria, it’s a deep emotional discomfort. Body dysphoria thus a heavy dislike or discomfort around the appearance of certain body parts.
Body Dysmorphia also exists, with the difference being that the perceived flaws in the body are not noticeable by other people, and leads to dysphoria. The most popularly recognised form of BDD being Anorexic people having dysmorphia around body fat even the eating disorder has already led them to drop to an unhealthily low weight.
So saying dysmorphia in regards to a person regarding themselves as ugly when other people find them conventionally attractive is entirely correct.
Personally, I dislike it when genuine emotional concerns are classified as a disorder. Especially when the solution which then emerges is to treat it with drugs to artificially induce a “better” emotional state. . .or worse. . .if you are not afraid of shattering your faith in humanity, research “conversion therapy” to get an idea of what I mean.
I’m not trying to imply that this is what you meant by referencing BDD. However, I believe that the natural processes of our brains are in fact the correct response to the situations we find ourselves in. When those processes lead to ruinous solutions, we should instead seek to figure out where we went so disastrously wrong to arrive at that state.
A disorder just means it is impacting your life negatively, it doesn’t at all mean they are any less real. The brain is an organ like any other body part and sometimes a function is not correct and it needs treatment, you wouldn’t look down on someone for needing insulin for diabetes or thyroxine for hypothyroidism, so my needing adhd medication so my brain has easier manageable levels of dopamine should be treated the same. I do agree we shouldn’t have to rely on drugs as much, but since most people’s main problems stem from stress from working or not having enough money for things, there isn’t many options without changing the root cause that is capitalism.
And as a person who is both autistic and same sex attracted, I am well aware of the abuse system that is conversion therapy, even though practitioners don’t actually need to be therapists so it should have no right to call itself that.
I started out as one of those types of boys.
I figured it out because there were people who just wouldn’t let it go. Boys, girls. . .didn’t really seem to matter, most everyone found me hot in a decidedly non-reciprocal manner. As for myself? To me I just looked like a boy. Maybe a bit cuter than most, but definitely nothing to go gaga over. I can’t say the whole process has had a good impact on my psyche.
Sometimes, that mental process can cut both ways. Or at least, it does also happen from the man’s side, so it’s highly likely that it’s happened both ways at once: both interested, but both too politely rational to make a move without seeing (or recognising) some sign that their interest would be returned. In hindsight, fairly sure I missed out at least once or twice that way…
I’m another of “those” girls. I figured out I looked nice as a teenager, but the implications went *way* over my head for another decade. And I was almost as far from asexual as you can get ;) I just assumed that all the stuff about guys always wanting sex was mostly true, so of course they’d accept if I offered, right?
plus I had sensory issues with clothes, so I bought low-cut shirts for my own comfort. and dressed for the weather, which in summer meant as little as I could get away with.
when I fully figured it out, I got a *lot* more self-conscious. :/
I don’t know about the rest, but I can state that dressing up more isn’t guaranteed to work either. :/
So Digit gets her own personal lair, in the super, ultra secret sub-sub-sub basement.
Not really for “security”, though that could be a reasonable explanation given her abilities, but for the safety of her co-workers.
Actually, she strikes me as the Hermit Crab model of gadgeteer. The building already had a good machine shop – useful to have around – and she moved in.
Of course it’s for security. Whose security, and from what? Now that is the question!
Another example of why this comic needs an upvote and downvote system. And when a certain threshold is reached for downvotes the downvoted comment is hidden but with a button that makes it visible to those who might want to downvote it more.
Why are they shaking hands left-handed?
Isn’t Sydney sinister?
Thank you.
Whelp. I have a webcomic crush now.
Well Dave, time to spend some of that Patreon money if these guys are still around from 1985… https://imgur.com/a/WiAXJT5
I would be floored if that company still exists and still has stock.
there are way too many R & R associates in Google. there’s a PI firm in Burbank California that goes by that name. Bone needle in haystack search. I suspect it’s changed its name if its still around.
It’s actually a vintage poster so it’s not in stock anymore but they do still sell it on collector sites. Costs about $40.
I did a search on TESS (it’s a trademark search website used by the USPTO) btw to see if the company is still in business. The trademark was abandoned in 2015 if this is the same company (Product Design company was the closest thing listed on the USPTO). It’s listed as a dead trademark.
I would have done a deeper search but I didnt feel like paying money for random curiosity :)
Btw here’s the poster on a collector site for vintage posters from the 80s:
https://www.collectors.com/entertainment-item/vintage-1985-too-hot-to-handle-original-welder-girl-man-cav/4474893209204508576
As far as female cartoon voices, it depends. If you go back far enough, they’re all voiced by June Foray.
Don’t forget about Bea Benaderet. Many of the female voices in the Loony Tunes cartoons and the voice of Betty Rubble.
So why does Digit have an iPod plugged into that wrist thingy?
Strip out the formatting and firmware, and it’s a cheap and readily available source of large storage in a small and durable package?
Why not? What else is she going to listen to her music on?
It reminded me of the insulin pump a friend of mine wears. Of course with Digit it could be damned near anything she created herself, and she just used an iPod shell to house it.
Digit: “It should work just fine!”
Everyone else in earshot: Cowers in fear, rolls their eyes, or runs for the hills.
Or all three :D
Stay far away from her if she ever decides to make any new twists on old gum flavours. Spearmint may get the ‘how it feels to chew 5 gum…..ONCE’ treatment.
I always thought that Digit was similar to Agatha Hetrodyne, from GirlGenius…. Dave outta have a collab with them where Digit & Agatha swap universes for awhile >.>
Named after Didgit from Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers? TOO ADORABLE!!!
Not Shocking about Tress MacNeille, since the late 80’s you can probably count on 4 hands the total number of voice actors that get most of the work in recent cartoons.
“When you’re a Spark,
You’re a Spark all the way!”
nice girl genius reference
Hey, Dave, when’s the next time you’re gonna update the cast list? It’d be nice to have ‘playing cards’, the way you made them, that are actually readable size, and a breakdown of what the different symbols mean, plus, you know, *all the characters who’ve mattered in the comic*. Just saying.
At least he didn’t call her “Idgit”. ;-)
My first reaction to “Digits” + cartoon mouse + airheadedness was “is that a Pinky (and the Brain) reference?” ^^”
well I could see that be useful for ship capture. one hook goes to the target aka the ship. the other to another ship or the floor etc
My favorite example of Tress MacNeille’s talent is the time in a “Tiny Toon Adventures” episode where she was playing Babs Bunny mocking the singing skills of the class’s teacher (Elmer Fudd). Since Fudd’s classic sound was created by Mel Blanc, in the scene it was Tress MacNeille doing Babs Bunny doing Mel Blanc doing Elmer Fudd doing Elvis Presley (singing a parody of Summertime Blues)… and you could hear all the layers.
No! No knees for her! Gadget in human form? In the words of Jayne Cobb: “I’ll be in my bunk.”
I’ve got a serious thing for hot mechanics. Amanda Holiday, Kaywinnet Lee “Kaylee” Frye, Cidney Aurum…there’s just something about a gal that knows her way around hardware, be it mechanical, industrial, or military. ^_^
Speaking of Hot Mechanics, I keep hoping for an inter-dimensional crossover with Agatha Heterodyne.
Them sparks are crazy! It could definitely happen, with one of her whacky inventions…or by tampering with one of the ancient portal mirrors. Who knows?! Would be fun.
Also, love your avatar! I miss reading that series in my local library, growing up. ^_^
Seconded.
I would love to see Halo on a Jaeggarstomp, with Dino & the Boys. I’m also pretty certain Agatha would be happy to talk shop & do some adventuring with Dabbles.
But, best of all…can you image the metaphorical – and also possibly literal – fencing between Big D, and Gil & Tarvek? It would be worth it just to see the plots play out and hear the witty rejoinders & snark straffing.
Also, who else wants a full page of Ariana doing the Blofeld thing while petting Krosp? There’s your Power Couple.
All hail the Multiverse!!! ^_^
Mechanics girls aren’t afraid to get filthy.
So, so dirty. ^_^
Oh hell! I forgot to list Gilina, from Farscape! Yeah, Aryn was hot, but Gilina, that tiny, blonde mechanic in a green jumpsuit and gray sports bra…grease smudges on her face…full, pouty lips…yummy!
“Wait, ALL my inventions have to have IFF?”
“YES.”
“Even the coffee machine?”
“ESPECIALLY the coffee machine!”
this was due to an unfortunate accident involving a semi sentient brew control system and a novella by Martha Wells.
Arthur Q. Bryan was the voice of Elmer Fudd from 1940 through 1959.
Sorry for displaying my weak fandom-fu, but;
HEY DAVE! What did you mean by “IFF”?
Oh, it’s an engineering term actually. (so far as I know, at least)
Shorthand for if and only if.
Identification, friend or foe (IFF) is a radar-based identification system designed for command and control. It uses a transponder that listens for an interrogation signal and then sends a response that identifies the broadcaster. It enables military and civilian air traffic control interrogation systems to identify aircraft, vehicles or forces as friendly and to determine their bearing and range from the interrogator. IFF may be used by both military and civilian aircraft. IFF was first developed during World War II, with the arrival of radar, and several friendly fire incidents.
My professors lied to me?
Impossible!
No, just different applications in different contexts using the same term. Both your definition and Wiki‘s above are valid within their respective contexts, although this context is probably one for Wiki‘s definition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identification_friend_or_foe
Basically, an identification system to attempt to prevent (or at least reduce) friendly fire.
in this instance it’s a military term…identification friend/foe
so you don’t Shoot at Friendlys
Not that that’s stopped a lot of stupid Americans from doing it anyways, but then Equipment is no replacement for competence.
Funny.
I THOUGHT the first ‘friendly fire’ incident with radar was during the Battle of Britain and involved a squadron of Hurricanes in the wrong place at the wrong time. Shows what I know, being a historian and all.
Say what you will, the Brits DID come up with good ways to keep from repeating that shameful incident for the most part. That said? Humans are human, no matter the nationality and friendly fire incidents WILL continue as long as humans are pulling triggers.
Dave, just saw this on chive: https://thechive.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/9ad216ff6179179f0271431c267071af.jpg?attachment_cache_bust=3684951&quality=85&strip=info&w=600
You probably know that already, but there is a cult in Russia with Gadget as a goddess. Seriously. And there are many incarnation of the goddess: Kaywinnet Lee Frye, Florence Ambrose, well, you get the picture. So, I guess she decided to get one more reincarnation.
Have never heard of Kaywinnet Lee Frye, but Florence is an AI wolf, not a mouse (still an engineer though, so close enough?)
Kaywinnet Lee Frye, better known as Kaylee, as featured in Firefly.
I suspect the ‘goddess’ is a general patron of all attractively competent female engineers, rather than being specific to any particular one.
Well, yes, but her “canonical” avatar is still Gadget Hackwrench, she is usually referred to as “Gadget” (well, actually, by her name in Russian translation of the cartoons, and it is different) and so on.
Oh yes, thank you, been so long forgot she had a ‘proper’ name :(
those lines (“you don’t know what it’s for”) so reminded me of a similar scene in the movie VanHelsing
in that case the inventor was a Monk, who built a Grenade that wghen it explodes causes a massive amount of sunlight.
as in this case he ‘knew what it did, but not know what it was for”
… They were fighting monsters, vampires amongst them, and he claims he didn’t ‘know what it was for’? o_O
If memory (and a previous reference on this page) serves, it had been invented several years previously. Well before the events in which it found a practical use, so until that use turned up it wasn’t really ‘for’ anything.
Yeah, but they were still fighting the monsters for a long time, right? Wasn’t that why that monkly order was founded?
It’s been a long time since I saw the film, and I don’t have a copy to go check. But note that a Monkly Order dedicated to fighting ‘monsters’ won’t necessarily be aiming for sunlight-combustible vampires all the time. In fact, wasn’t it part of the plot that the friar didn’t have the support of his Order for that mission, hence having only a small force for the battle rather than having the
cavalryartillery come to the rescue? If their main recent focus has been on creatures without that specific weakness (manticores, redcaps, water horses, etc.), then a sunlight bomb to them is just an overpowered flash grenade.That poster reminds me of a Kids in the Hall sketch.