Grrl Power #949 – Hob-nobbin goblin
I far more amused with “tall, bark, and fluffy” than I should be.
Sydney is only just barely on board with attempting polyamorous relationships, and even then, it does seem it’s mostly because the two guys she’s shown the most interest in were already taken. Well, except for Olivia’s half-brother cousin. (Back when I could get away with drawing half-backgrounds in half the panels.)
Okay, we don’t actually know if Tony was attached to anyone at the time, but Sydney never mustered the courage to ask him out, and she hasn’t seen him in the store lately, as she’s only there one and a half days a week now. Still, Sydney’s giving it the ‘ol college try. Just barely.
Digit is your typical scatterbrain inventor, which is a fun trope to play with, but if I had really given it a lot of thought before introducing in inventor into the comic, I think it would have been just as amusing to have an inventor that was super organized and buttoned-up. Like a sexy lady Jamie Hyneman. Which is not a sentence I thought I would ever type again. (I typed it once already in a (non-Grrl Power) Discord I occasionally idle in.) There isn’t a Grrl Power Discord in case anyone was wondering. My attention is already pulled in too many directions for me to manage something like that.
I guess that’s not to say Arc-SPARQ doesn’t have someone like that, but if they ever bumped into Digit, they might mutually annihilate.
We’ve got a brief cameo in the form of Frosty’s Prinrin, a goblin inventor. I’m not sure she’s normally this forward, but that’s how it worked out on this page. :) The Twilight Council has its own engineers, of course, but they work with magical stuff and enchanted things as much as they restore old pumpkin carriages and DeLoreans and whatnot.
If Prinrin does get Frix in bed, she might be the first cameo character that dies in the comic, because there is some evidence that Frix is… unaccommodatable to someone of her stature.
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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"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
Sydney, take your meds!
PLEASE!
Before someone gets hurt.
Polyamory do be like that sometimes. It’s hard not to get all up in ALL the business that one’s partner(s) get up to, in the beginning. A lifetime of being monogamous, and surrounded by a society that predominantly espouses monogamous beliefs, ill-prepares one for the emotional turbulence of attempting more open relationships.
I’ve got a fair amount decently in common with Sydney – albeit not to the same extremes – so I can really feel the record scratch through the brain that is witnessing someone being so open about their sexual desires towards one’s partner(s) for the first few times.
That all being said, I do have to admit, when I first started reading this comic a few years ago, I didn’t expect in the slightest that it would go in these kinds of directions, show these kinds of matters. Depictions of polyamourous relationship troubles weren’t exactly on the packaging back then, and I am curious how that’s received overall by other readers that were with this from the beginning.
Hopefully she’ll be able to process those feelings and move on to acceptance, if not compersion.
I don’t have an issue with it, I’ve read other comics that deal with that stuff well and had a good time, and I’m not super surprised it would show up in a comic with characters like Harem and Dabbler. That said, I doubt Sydney will last as poly, largely because she’s getting into it for the wrong reasons and I doubt she has the emotional maturity to pull it off. I’m into monogamy personally, but not because I necessarily see anything wrong with polyamory but rather because I doubt I’d be able to pull it off, emotionally speaking (besides I’d have to get one girl to give me a relationship before I could even consider multiple relationships), and I expect Sydney to eventually reach a similar conclusion based off what we’ve seen of her thus far.
//* I am curious how that’s received overall by other readers*//
IRL it’s not my thing, but that’s true of a lot of stuff in a lot of literature and webcomix so what the heck? as long as it advances the plot or gets a laugh, preferably both.
Yeah it seems like Dave likes writing this sort of thing. I am more of a old fashioned monogamist myself but this is no big deal. If we get good jokes like this I am all for it.
They’re supposed to be aliens. Most Americans fail to grasp that 96% of HUMANS do not share their Puritan-derived values. Why should aliens? And aliens from technologically superior nations will probably regard your foibles with the patronising amusement that Americans obliviously dish out.
I never said that anyone had to agree with my opinions and values just as I don’t have to agree with anyone else.
It’s really more complex than 4% of humans have “American values” and 96% of humans disagree. Americans don’t even agree with other Americans about what’s right/moral. But also, many cultures around the world have varied opinions on every subject. Many in alignment with what you consider “American culture” and many who are not. It’s not nearly so simple as “Americans are so dumb, they think their opinions matter but the whole rest of the world knows better.”
I’m honestly curious as to where you got those figures, because nothing I find correlates with it. Most estimates range from 2-5% of humans, and the highest was 20% that practice polyamoury. It’s suggested that it’s much higher in primarily islamic countries, but for men, not women. Furthermore, it’s also suggested in several scientific articles I read that humans are primarily monogamous, and have been for millions of years and several iterations of humans due to being bipedal, being able to carry more food, and females choosing a specific male because of that, not being ‘puritan’, as you stated. Care to share where your figures came from? I’m not trying to be contrary, but your numbers sounded really wonky, so I figured I’d look it up given the number of divorces and high rate of cheating these days, it does seem like people aren’t inclined to monogamy, but not anywhere near the rates you suggested.
So… my experience with polyamory may be limited since I’ve only been in a poly relationship for a few months but it’s also my first relationship, and I have to admit that I was nervous about how I’d feel (long story short, a friend was asked out by another friend the same day she worked up the courage to ask me out, so we’re all feeling things out) but it’s actually been fine and as far as I know, nobody’s had any hurt feelings or conflicts so far… I love my girlfriend, her other girlfriend loves her, she loves both of us, and honestly seeing my girlfriend get excited to make gifts for my metamour makes me love her more because I get to see another side of how sweet and creative she can be.
All that said… that’s pretty different from random strangers soliciting your partner. But what I can say for sure is that being in a poly relationship requires communication and honesty. I was honest with my partner, “I’d like to give it a shot but I’ve never been in a relationship before so I don’t know if I’ll feel jealous or hurt about your other relationship. I can only promise I’ll be honest if that does happen, and we can figure out where to go from there.” That was also how Sydney and Krona started this discussion, for that matter, “hey I don’t have any experience with this so I’ll have to think about if I’m open to it.”
Sydney is… obviously not being honest about her feelings on that page, and that is likely to get someone, possibly everyone involved, hurt if she keeps it up. Just my IMO.
Tell you a thing: ALL kinds of relationships require communication and honesty. With more people involved simple more things can go wrong, so it is that much more important. The point stands, do not make your life into a cheap sitcom plot, where nobody talks straight with anyone.
Oh yeah, for sure, every relationship requires communication and honesty. But I mention it specifically because some people think polyamory “just doesn’t work” when the problem is… some people just aren’t polyamorous, and aren’t comfortable in an open or poly relationship, and that’s fine, unless they force themselves to be in a relationship they’re unhappy with. Again, just like monogamous relationships… it’s better to figure out if your needs and wants are incompatible rather than trying to force it to work when they’re not.
Yeah, i’ve been in an open relationship for 13 years. It’s a bit different from a poly relationship, but the basics are the same, honesty, communication (any relationship needs this really), and lack of jealously. I trust my girlfriend completely, so when she hooks up with a guy when travelling without me, i KNOW that it’s just some fun, and that in the end of the day she is with me.
Poly is different, but with such immediate instinctive reaction, Sydney is clearly supressing a major rant, and unless she and frix talk and figure out why she was so unconfortable TODAY, it’s going to accumulate and blow up in irrational jealousy later, i’ve seen it happen, and it’s NOT pretty.
“I far more amused with “tall, bark, and fluffy” than I should be.”
– Same.
The List has increased by one goblin
At this point the list probably looks like goblin slayer diary.
Who is Prinrin?
Explain please. Or provide link.
Thank you.
I think (It took me a moment too & reading Dave’s blurb), that PrinPrin is guesting\making a cameo as a Goblin known to ARC & co (Digit, Boss etc) by way of the Twilight Council.
https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1274668
Still puzzled, but thanks for your helpful input which adds a little light.
This is correct. Prinrin is just one of my characters who’s making a cameo.
She’s here through ARC and is an inventor/roboticist.
Neat how does one go about getting a cameo?
$50 tier on Patreon.
or… do a really awesome comic that the author really likes. Probably cheaper to cough up.
Please don’t make that face again, Sydney…
“Drink cactus juice! It’ll quench ya! Nothing’s quenchier! It’s the Quenchiest!”
Brawndo! The thirst mutilator.
Nope. Poly doesn’t mean getting into whatever hookup swings by. If Frix is interested, enough that he feels like running it by his partners, yes. That does not yet seem to be the case.
I mean, depends on the specific agreement he’s made between his partners. SOME poly people require you to discuss things before you get busy, some are just outright closed off to people that aren’t involved with all parties, and others generally have a “do whatever as long as nobody gets an STD” situation, just like how every monogamous dynamic is different, every poly relationship is different too. Cora and Co. seem like they’d probably leave that up to the individual, based on how they interact and how Frix and Syndey handled their time together.
At this point *HE* hasn’t shown any interest, and if Sydney is trying to be poly, her making the statement alone should be acceptable. Now if Frix doesn’t react in a way that’s appropriate, then things might (and should) get more interesting ;)
This seems to be the first Frix has heard of sex being in the offering.
wait when…. no wait aliens where in the twilight council never mind
Honestly it makes sense that Sydney, as someone who’s based a lot of her identity around nerd culture, would have a LOT of things to work through on the polyamory front. On the plus side, whee, something less doom-and-gloom to discuss with Dr. Frost!
Eh…. Poly relationships need a LOT more communication than Sydney is capable of doing at this moment, and a LOT of exposing one’s innermost thoughts, fears, and confidence issues. But most of all, those sorts of relationships require that both primary members understand that their bonds between each other MUST not suffer during such activities.
As sappy as it sounds, love, trust, and understanding are needed before any relationship can be made between any two people, let alone more than two. Physical and nonphysical affection are needed, and both main members MUST trust the other one not to break their confidence and TRUST.
Syd is a bundle of psychoses that acts like a sapient being…. So I can sympathize, but not recommend this course of action. Poly relationships are NOT for everyone, and especially not for people with trust, self-confidence, or paranoia issues.
“Like a sexy lady Jamie Hyneman.” Thank you for this mental image.
I dunno… The *body* and overall feminity comes out okay in my mental-imaging of that, but the walrus-stache is strong enough to *insist* on manifesting on her face; No matter how the rest of her form turns out in my thoughts. :P
Kinda like a fem-Waluigi? Body of a hot female, head of a Waluigi
Or, just have a look at the latest pages of Spinnerette: a bad guy has rubber-powers (think, Reed Richards) and is able to change his shape into that of anyone else, including the title character, at the moment, he still has the body of Spinny but has reverted his head back to his own
And the hat
well, she can try but i guess it would result in internal bleeding… but i know there is ways… but still there is no way in Hell she can do all of it.
Also: Hang in there Sydney. you can do it
That’s assuming goblin physiology has similar elasticity to human physiology. She could be stretchy enough to avoid the internal bleeding, but it would still make a lot of the normal mechanics of sex impractical.
Or … she’s an inventor … she might make a gadget that results in mutual amusement. Imagine goblin s3x toys?
Yeah, if that goblin shares the same elasticity as the ones in Corruption of Champions, she’ll be fine…
I was waiting for a comment like this…
While the little lady could be just a tease, the presumption is that she knows how much can fit into where and, if she is not put off by the prospect, we don’t need to be either. Now we might advise caution since we are talking two unusual types who have presumably not done this before, but the immediate danger seems to be more that Sydney will find she is not as poly as she might have thought.
I’m reminded of a web comic from many years ago. I’m blanking on the name, but I recall there was an extra short gal like Prinrin who was over the top hitting on all the regular sized guys. Eventually, the comic introduced a male of similar stature, with whom she did not flirt nearly as much. It wasn’t long (at least, in comic time) before she confessed something like, “Look, I flirt with them because everybody knows it’s just not possible. It’s fun to flirt.
“You and me? We could happen. And I’m not ready for a relationship. Not while all this crap is going down. If we survive this? We can talk then.”
To be fair to Frix, it looks as though this is the first he’s heard of Prinrin’s proposition as well. Sydney, hold the jealousy until you know whether he’d take her in the first place!
Well, we know that Frix is part of Cora’s male harem, so having been with Sydney shows that he’s open to ‘poly’ relationships. Still, that’s not the same as saying “yes” to every invitation that comes his way. I imagine that he’ll consult with Syd before any decisions are made.
As for Prinrin, unless she has invented a device that can shrink Frix (or enlarge herself), I’d say that she most likely will have to settle for “just the tip.”
Either that, or she gets to enjoy the Space-Woof’s <a href="https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-716-emboldened-sydney-is-bold/"species speciality.
ON_A_SEPARATE_NOTE:
In Panel_5, the fact that both word-balloons have the same length of “tail” creates the impression that Digit is the only one talking. If the 2nd “tail” extended further down, it would be clearer that this was Prinrin’s response.
As for the 3rd figure in Panels_5_&_7, perhaps this is the [DaveB]’s version of “Cyrisus”, Prinrin’s favorite humanoid robot assistant … ? This might explain how his facial features are somewhat ‘minimal’ … ?
“Cyrisus” is mentioned in the “Details”-portion of this page: [https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1274668]
Actually, on my second time reading through, I think the second balloon is Sydney to Frix.
A good point!
Still, if that’s the case, I’m wondering how this might be made clearer?
Tiny little Syd-head at the bottom of the second tail?
Fairly sure that that is Sydney’s big(er) head seen through the hole
Really?
I’d just assumed that it was Digit’s face that I saw thru the hole (in Panel_5)…?
I think that this assumption was based upon the 1st speaker knowing Prinrin’s name. I reflexively assumed that the visible face belonged to the 1st-speaking voice, because the last time we saw the window from that angle (Panel_2, directly above), the hole was clearly framing Digit’s face. Given the speed of standard dialog, I saw no reason to think that Digit & Syd had moved to new positions.
#Or_Maybe_I_Am_Overthinking_This
Quick! Show Sydney something shiny. Or comicy.
Looks like we have green monsters for Sydney to deal with!
So… ‘Rune Crafting’ is a bit of inter-system knowledge? Magic is known in the greater galaxy? Or is it considered a field of science? Or is the translator Frix is using choosing a bad term for what people are saying?
Also how many people noticed that in spite of Sydney’s jealousy, Frix doesn’t really seem interested in Prinrin’s come-on?
In a cosmos where you’ve got a hard magic system with quantifiable measurements, engineering, and even a damn set of at least two programming languages…yeah, I’m going to say that what we’re calling “magic” is just another field of science. Paraphysics, or something. Think of M:tA’s Technocracy lingo, and you’re in the right neighborhood, I expect.
Personally I prefer the following group of sayings about technology and science. By Rick Cook –
Any sufficiently developed science is indistinguishable from magic.
Any sufficiently developed magic is indistinguishable from science.
Any sufficiently developed anything is indistinguishable from utter non-sense.
There is one more saying along those lines:
Any technology, no matter how primitive, is magic to those who don’t understand it.
http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff300/fv00255.htm
Usually when doing poly you talk with your partners about what is allowed and what is not, and what should be talked about before and what people would like to know…
Basically exactly so that situations like this is avoided
Sydney just has too much ego and self-centeredness to be able to cope easily with poly relationships – even though she fully understands the logic of why they SHOULD be ok, her emotions and values are still centered around the culture she grew up in.
“Hobbledgoblin” sounds like an urban fantasy bondage club.
Drow approves.
Urban fantasy … Drow… mhh
Makes me think of a certain female artist/roleplayer with the website project-drow… whose Shadowrun character is named drow…. is the one you talk about related?
No, but now I’m painfully curious. ^_^
Honestly, as soon as the technology to shed this meatsack for something better and more customizable comes along, I’ll be going Drow, and never, ever looking back.
And I know for certain that there will be those who want to be gubbins, and dance/perform/serve/bartend at The Hobbledgoblin, which I will be opening about 1/10^69 seconds later.
I forget, when did Sydney agree to a pol relationship?
Not exactly …..agree.. More forced to face some realities, including not being able to claim one while denying the option to others..
Check the return party arc, which incidentally has some prime Maxima-trolling by Dabbler…
Yeah it’s obvious poor Sydney would prefer to have Frix all for herself.
The only thing I miss about Digit is a “For Science!” t-shirt by the obvious suspects..
Yeah, yeah copyright and all that.. But it would fit her like a tee.. ( pun intended.)
polyamory is great right up into the time you don’t get any but he/she does.
Polyamory works right up to to point where you put it into practice. Then you find out why people mostly don’t do that. And pour one out for the relationship you ruined.
Or, you try to keep it going until everyone involved dies from mortification and resentment.
I mean, my current primary poly relationship has been going for fifteen years now, with no sign of death by mortification or resentment… Maybe I just haven’t waited long enough.
Monogamy works right up until the point where you put it into practice. Then you find out that the majority of relationships don’t last forever, and sometimes people even turn a “monogamous” relationship into an “unethically nonmonogamous” relationship.
If you want to look into some fun things scientists have done….Look into the one who lit a smoke from a *nuclear explosion*
I figure Prinrin is one of those people who throw out provocations for the sport of watching to see who turns purple. Once in a while it got him laid but that was just a bonus. He just enjoyed saying outrageous stuff. He would always back it up if you called him on it but for him the risk of getting called out was part of the thrill.
It goes to show that you shouldn’t comment when you are really tired. I left out a whole sentence identifying that it was one of my friends in college who was the provocateur.
Last panel Digit is concerned. Last panel Sydney is
in danger of blowing a gasketconcerning.You can’t spell “unaccommodatable” without “datable”
Sex does not have to involve penetration. And, assuming Frix finds that fun, she could basically give Fritz a helping hand with her body. Commenters have mentioned that erotic fantasy goblin women are often surprisingly able to accomodate much larger men, another fantasy trope is a much smaller partner giving a much larger partner essentially a pole-dancing job.
Yeah, if WoW porn is to be believed, female goblins (and gnomes) have either a vagoo of holding or no internal organs/a limited version of the rubber person powerset. To say nothing of fairies/pixies on normal-sized partner stuff…
Worgen hard at Goblin’ him up… innn a good way.
A wild (very wild, it seems) shortstack appeared!
By coincidence, InCase is just starting a new chapter in Alfie which features (his? her? their?) version of sexy, diminutive Goblins. And “forward” doesn’t even begin to describe them.
Oops, I looked at the first page of these comments and someone noticed that already. Ah, small Internet.
Don’t mean to derail, but have attempted to comment on “Quantum Vibe” a few times (followed the guidelines and only commented on the actual page) but the comment(s) didn’t go through, was just wondering if you put me on a ‘black list’ or something (if so, that’s fine, been reading QV for years, always look forward to finding out what happens next, and not being able to comment won’t stop me from enjoying it)
Way to be possessive Sydney
Maybe let Frix decide if he even wants to take Prin up on the offer before you blow a gasket
Frix does have a look of both “what just happened?” and “that was uncalled for.”
Anyone else just want to give Digit a hug in panel three?
I don’t think you need the “of” in panel 3.
Dave, you’ve accidently re-created some of the lyrics from Frank Zappa’s “Goblin Girl.” It’s a bit disappointing that I seem to be the first to point this out, but if it’s already been done then *perhaps* that will restore a little of the faith that I had in you young people.
She’s the size of his forearm. Comes just above the knee. Can you imagine?? I don’t think it’s gonna work Goblin, dear. ^__^’
“If Prinrin does get Frix in bed, she might be the first cameo character that dies in the comic, because there is some evidence that Frix is… unaccommodatable to someone of her stature.”
pierce anthony books: i take offense to that *As another trope-y love story involving two normally incompatible beings is written, with something called an acomidation spell*
How many fetishes will we see addressed in this comic now. It’s getting a bit out of hand… There was a lot of stuff, but the vore seemed so out of place, then the foot fetish, now this…