Grrl Power IV: Constantly Expanded Universe

[Honest Tiefling]

No.. if they would pick Max then they would not be straight.
And yes we get it you think he is really annoying. But clearly its not a sentiment shared by the majority of Archon.
We dont have any signs of him being the social outcast he in that case would be.

Social outcast or not, the man looked like a goblin on meth before the art shift and after the art shift...Well, still not exactly handsome. The man is NOT physically attractive, so he cannot be the hottest guy in the room. This is a bit like calling Danny Devito the hottest guy in the room with underwear models in it, except that Danny Devito is funny, wealthy and famous.

And in at least 1 of those groping cases its her own dam fault for pushing the escalation to the physical level.
If she dont want her bum groped, then she shouldnt grab Dabbler and drag her towards weird floaty balls.

So...If you are sexually assaulted by a space demon, just...Let it happen? Maybe Maxima shouldn't have used Dabbler as an experiment, but it's NOT her fault for pushing it to the physical level with Dabbler because according to this very thread, is either a jack*** or incapable of understanding basic human rights.

[lord_khaine]

Social outcast or not, the man looked like a goblin on meth before the art shift and after the art shift...Well, still not exactly handsome. The man is NOT physically attractive, so he cannot be the hottest guy in the room. This is a bit like calling Danny Devito the hottest guy in the room with underwear models in it, except that Danny Devito is funny, wealthy and famous.

Yeah rubbish. If you want to see a gobling then here is a fine selection
https://www.google.com/search?q=gobl...=1920&bih=1086

Then take a closer look at Mat and confess he does indeed not look like that.

So...If you are sexually assaulted by a space demon, just...Let it happen?

Please either directly quote where i said that, or else stop putting up strawmen?

What i am saying is that if you physically assult a space demon, then your also asking for her to assult you back.

[Honest Tiefling]

Then take a closer look at Mat and confess he does indeed not look like that.

Sorry, you just gave me a link to a google search of men who look like Math? I'm confused.

What i am saying is that if you physically assult a space demon, then your also asking for her to assult you back.

Then if the Demon assaults YOU, shouldn't you be able to assault back? Maybe there is a miscommunication on which incident, but the first I can think of is near comic #100 (I can dig up the particular one if needed), where Dabbler grabs Maxima's butt, and Maxima strikes her back. In this case, I would not say that Maxima is at fault for physically escalating, as she did not instigate and Dabbler really should know better. Dabbler is not in the right to further grab Maxima.

[Ibrinar]

I checked, no miscommunication it is 101 https://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/...nvisible-arms/ and lord_khaine is the one correct about the order of events.

[Traab]

I checked, no miscommunication it is 101 https://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/...nvisible-arms/ and lord_khaine is the one correct about the order of events.

And we see maximas response to the butt grab is an easily and casually blocked single punch, that quickly stops being anything aggressive, at which point it turns into catty comments back and forth between them. Had maxima wanted to file sexual assault/harassment charges against her, the freaking general in charge was RIGHT THERE WATCHING IT HAPPEN. It would hardly have been difficult to get her transferred to say, arc light or whatever the investigative/research branch is at the very least.

For those who object, thats fine, I can understand why being put through this would be way past acceptable for you and that you would be filing complaints as fast as you can fill out the paperwork, but clearly thats not how maxima feels about it because we see no sign of her wanting to get rid of dabbler, and the same goes for everyone else involved in the various pranks, gags, and petty junk that takes place here. You never see someone whose feelings are truly hurt by anything anyone does, its a big game to them all and they have fun with it (when not the target of course, lol) The closest exception being the pool scene where harem went too far teasing sydney about casual nudity when she accidentally blew off harems swimsuit in an attempted prank of her own.

[Honest Tiefling]

Hrm. So I was wrong. My mistake.

However, I am not sure if I would classify Maxima's and Dabbler's relationship as friendly. Maxima got really angry at Dabbler when she initially walked in, and does tend to lose her temper around her a lot. Maxima might be tolerating Dabbler simply because she's too useful, or someone above her thinks that the crazy space demon is too useful. If Maxima is aware that she herself acts unprofessionally by hitting first (and Dabbler seems like the type to push buttons to get the reaction she wants) she might not feel it best to go through the paperwork for a variety of reasons.

[The Glyphstone]

And two comics after that, Math just casually motorboats Harem and she's laughing while smacking his head. I think I have to sit in on the side of the 'they do this all the time' camp. Would it be a hideously dysfunctional work environment with anything approaching a sane and competent HR department? Sure, which is why Arianna always looks so frazzled. Does it somehow work for them anyways? Apparently so.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Say he did go for that attack, I am unsure what exactly not wasting time like that would have done to prevent that? I mean I guess they could post lookouts when they gather somewhere but that is a different operating procedure and not just not screwing around.

The place they should have been is any secured location where you don't have the waitstaff trying not to flee the premises because they're terrified of you. Like, say, their own headquarters. You don't make yourself a huge target by essentially declaring war on anyone not doing thing the way you want (and note that ARCHON gets to decide what behavior is breaking the rules--if they want, you can suddenly find that using your super-strength in your construction job is a felony) and then go parade about in public. It's terrifying to think that if this was a game, most players would be looking to take out the Authority-ripoff ARCHON in jig time and likely no thought to the collateral damage. Vehemence is a prince of a guy, apparently.

Also, note that Dabbler spent both #99 and #100 working up at pissing Maxima off, and even in #101 she again has to be told to do what she was called in to do, before Max grabbed her. I'm dead certain that Max has no say in whether Dabs stays or goes, which is even more frustrating for her. And if Dabbler had any real social skills at all, she'd take it down a notch on occasion to keep Max from blowing her lid and speed-blitzing her alien butt. A possibility already noted in re Harem right at the beginning.

[Honest Tiefling]

And two comics after that, Math just casually motorboats Harem and she's laughing while smacking his head. I think I have to sit in on the side of the 'they do this all the time' camp. Would it be a hideously dysfunctional work environment with anything approaching a sane and competent HR department? Sure, which is why Arianna always looks so frazzled. Does it somehow work for them anyways? Apparently so.

Problem is, I wonder if there is a divide. Harem is also shown playing pool with Math, but...Max constantly gets angry at her teammates, including Harem and Dabbler. Brook also basically gave Harem a death threat over her boyfriend. Sydney seems to get upset, but might also be easily distracted. Others, like Anvil, don't seem to contribute, but also don't seem to care much at all. So basically, it's a group of highly dysfunctional people, some of which don't seem to get along put together because of their powers. Like a really bad reality TV show.

This would explain the relationship between Maxima and Sydney. Sydney is extremely annoying at times, but she does care and can show signs of being helpful outside of her powers.

Still, I think Dabbler's personality is at least very polarizing. Either you like her, or you want to bash her head in. She just isn't attractive to everyone, bazoongas or no.

[Keltest]

The place they should have been is any secured location where you don't have the waitstaff trying not to flee the premises because they're terrified of you. Like, say, their own headquarters. You don't make yourself a huge target by essentially declaring war on anyone not doing thing the way you want (and note that ARCHON gets to decide what behavior is breaking the rules--if they want, you can suddenly find that using your super-strength in your construction job is a felony) and then go parade about in public. It's terrifying to think that if this was a game, most players would be looking to take out the Authority-ripoff ARCHON in jig time and likely no thought to the collateral damage. Vehemence is a prince of a guy, apparently.

Also, note that Dabbler spent both #99 and #100 working up at pissing Maxima off, and even in #101 she again has to be told to do what she was called in to do, before Max grabbed her. I'm dead certain that Max has no say in whether Dabs stays or goes, which is even more frustrating for her. And if Dabbler had any real social skills at all, she'd take it down a notch on occasion to keep Max from blowing her lid and speed-blitzing her alien butt. A possibility already noted in re Harem right at the beginning.

I think you forget that even though theyre technically soldiers, they aren't the Justice League. They aren't anticipating supervillain fights, Maxima's boasting aside. That's not their job, and as far as theyre aware, supervillains like Vehemence aren't really something they have to regularly worry about.

[Rogar Demonblud]

You throw a gauntlet down, you lose any right to be surprised when someone picks it up. ARCHON is about as dumb on that front as Tony Stark was in Iron Man 3----you remember what happened to his house, right? And it's not just Vehemence. What would've happened if another rogue faction of the Twilight Council had decided to nip this thing in the bud? V's crew are pretty monochromatic and all speak American English, so it's likely they were all local. The TC can recruit globally, and have the magic to make sure everyone on their side will fight to the best of their ability and to the death.

Really, the GM in me can't see any real upside to Maxima's stunt, unless she's trying to flush out upper-tier metas to spar with.

[Max_Killjoy]

Problem is, I wonder if there is a divide. Harem is also shown playing pool with Math, but...Max constantly gets angry at her teammates, including Harem and Dabbler. Brook also basically gave Harem a death threat over her boyfriend. Sydney seems to get upset, but might also be easily distracted. Others, like Anvil, don't seem to contribute, but also don't seem to care much at all. So basically, it's a group of highly dysfunctional people, some of which don't seem to get along put together because of their powers. Like a really bad reality TV show.

This would explain the relationship between Maxima and Sydney. Sydney is extremely annoying at times, but she does care and can show signs of being helpful outside of her powers.

Still, I think Dabbler's personality is at least very polarizing. Either you like her, or you want to bash her head in. She just isn't attractive to everyone, bazoongas or no.

It's a group of fictional characters in a "sexy funny superheroes with a side of genre deconstruction" story, who do things as much for their funny or cool value as anything else.

The typical consequences of some of their interpersonal failings are not explored because that's not the story the author wants to tell. But those same failing would lead to serious problems in the real world, outside of story-logic.

Sydney I can least sympathize with, she's neurologically "wound like a cheap watch" and highly self-conscious.

Dabbler in contrast doesn't need to act like she does, she's simply so arrogant and self-absorbed that she thinks she's doing people a favor by crossing their boundaries against their wishes.

[Douglas]

and note that ARCHON gets to decide what behavior is breaking the rules--if they want, you can suddenly find that using your super-strength in your construction job is a felony

Where'd you get that from? Legislators and judges get to decide what behavior is breaking the rules, and making super-strength construction work a felony would require, at a minimum, a majority vote of at least one major legislature. Even if that happened, I would expect it to promptly get challenged in court, likely with a lot of publicity.

ARCHON exists only to enforce the rules. Deciding what the rules are is the job of other parts of the government.

[Honest Tiefling]

I think you forget that even though theyre technically soldiers, they aren't the Justice League. They aren't anticipating supervillain fights, Maxima's boasting aside. That's not their job, and as far as theyre aware, supervillains like Vehemence aren't really something they have to regularly worry about.

They might not be Justice League, but I do think several were expecting a fight.

1) Math only joined to fight, if he wanted to fight regular people he could just find some on his own.

2) Dabbler had lethal ordinance before the restaurant fight. Given what she fights, it could probably take down far more than a supervillian, and regular humans don't pose a problem for her.

3) Zephan makes mention of Archon's charter involving super threats.

4) I forget where, but I do think Ariana made arrangements for the restaurant to be scheduled for demolition because she expected something like this.

I think a better way to put it is that Archon isn't Justice League, as it's probably not pickier due to needing to compete with other national interests and criminal enterprises.

So kinda like that Justice League episode where Lobo tries to join, except the League can't kick him because he'll just cause more trouble, get attacked by enemies, and because the Lleague has a dozen other Lobos trying to kill them.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Your 4) is when Harem was in the armory for the gear run. She theorized to the supply sergeant* that the restaurant was picked because it was a mob front or the business was about to fail and get razed. It's spitballing by one of the less quickwitted characters.

*and there's another guy I'd like to learn more about. Is he a norm like Peggy? What did he do to be deemed qualified to work with these people? Did he ever get his steak sandwich? Really, Dave could spend half the next arc just giving more of the cast some development.

[Keltest]

Personally I would love to go back to "here are a bunch of superheroes just living their lives and doing their 9-5" for a while. Its a much more interesting premise than "sci-fi and fantasy clash with a comic book nerd providing commentary sometimes".

[Honest Tiefling]

Aha! Thank you Rogar. But I think Harem is supposed to be smart.

It's a group of fictional characters in a "sexy funny superheroes with a side of genre deconstruction" story, who do things as much for their funny or cool value as anything else.

The typical consequences of some of their interpersonal failings are not explored because that's not the story the author wants to tell. But those same failing would lead to serious problems in the real world, outside of story-logic.

Yeah, I know. You're right, as usual. But doesn't mean I don't want to punch Dabbler at times. Or that the comic doesn't have some interesting bits to it, despite Dabbler's presence. But Dabbler is like surströmming, in that I know that plenty of people like it, but the idea of getting close to it makes me wanna puke.

But I feel like at times that Sydney is based off someone the author knows, or more likely, a group of people, so I am invested in her at least.

Through on another note...Does anyone else notice that the fashions are all over the place? I mean, Sydney initially wore MOM PANTS. How did she even FIND mom pants in her size!? Through ironically, mom pants have come back into fashion.

Personally I would love to go back to "here are a bunch of superheroes just living their lives and doing their 9-5" for a while. Its a much more interesting premise than "sci-fi and fantasy clash with a comic book nerd providing commentary sometimes".

You and me both. I think the silly antics of...*sigh* DABBLER would be a lot more tolerable without the Alari refugee crisis, or Deus being an intergalactic threat or what have you going on. starving space elf children and silly sex antics go together like hamburger, chocolate and garlic. I liked the Vehemence fight, but I think it also introduced a TON of great characters that could have gotten a day in the lime light going about their lives in between more 'grounded' battles.

So...What happened to Olivia, Tony and Joel again?

[Rogar Demonblud]

Tony kind of evaporated once he wasn't Sydney's drool-bait any more. I think Joel and Olivia have shown up once since Sydney got called in to start filling out her employment paperwork, for a conversation that heavily involved the word "redacted" because Sydney can't not spell out everything in her head, even if she does manager to turn "I'm not touching you" into an art form.

[Max_Killjoy]

Yeah, I know. You're right, as usual. But doesn't mean I don't want to punch Dabbler at times. Or that the comic doesn't have some interesting bits to it, despite Dabbler's presence. But Dabbler is like surströmming, in that I know that plenty of people like it, but the idea of getting close to it makes me wanna puke.

But I feel like at times that Sydney is based off someone the author knows, or more likely, a group of people, so I am invested in her at least.

Through on another note...Does anyone else notice that the fashions are all over the place? I mean, Sydney initially wore MOM PANTS. How did she even FIND mom pants in her size!? Through ironically, mom pants have come back into fashion.

I agree on Dabbler, she'd be someone I'd avoid like the plague in real life, and I'm very glad that there's a 4th wall between her and I.

On the jeans, I guess I never noticed. But then I've worn what are now called "dad jeans" since I was a kid, I've always hated tight clothing, and the whole "men trying to wear tighter jeans than women used to wear" trend moments that have happened, I completely ignored.

[Honest Tiefling]

We should probably make a pool on which background character is going to come up again, and which ones will never get mentioned again.

[Max_Killjoy]

We should probably make a pool on which background character is going to come up again, and which ones will never get mentioned again.

And then post the results in the comments under the comic, see if Dave responds...

[Honest Tiefling]

Uh no, we post what character we'd actually want to see and possibly support in the comments, not who we think will make a comeback.

[Max_Killjoy]

I'd like to know more about the characters who are elite soldiers and I think don't have any powers, such as Shawn, Seneca, Harrison, etc.

[Rogar Demonblud]

A revisit to the restaurant from the beginning of the comic would've been nice, at least in part for Sydney reaching for a familiar place, but we've jumped the shark on the spicy food joke.

Maybe some more time with ARC-Light and ARC-Dark? For starters, what in fact does Dark do? They seem to be counter-intel if they're checking up on Dabbler, but you can't really make much out of a couple strips.

[Traab]

A revisit to the restaurant from the beginning of the comic would've been nice, at least in part for Sydney reaching for a familiar place, but we've jumped the shark on the spicy food joke.

Maybe some more time with ARC-Light and ARC-Dark? For starters, what in fact does Dark do? They seem to be counter-intel if they're checking up on Dabbler, but you can't really make much out of a couple strips.

Im thinking arclight is the investigative branch of the crime fighters. They are the detectives searching for clues to tell arcswat where to go and what to punch when a metal golem robs a bank and gets away before anyone can stop it. Arcdark is probably counter intelligence cia type stuff for the super front. Figure out what the other nations are doing and keeping an eye on all potential threats. Arc aegis is either their prison system for supers, or its research and development team. Im leaning towards research and development. their job is to solve problems that cant be dealt with by punching. Like how to imprison a teleporter, or a guy who gets stronger the more violent things are. I mean I suppose you could punch the teleporter every time she wakes up, but that probably ends in brain damage and lawsuits about "human rights" and "violations of justice" and other such nonsense.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Sydney's in better shape than I expected. Still, she really could use a large green tea about now (with extra honey).

[Honest Tiefling]

I'm still not sure if I am in the 'Peggy had to' or the 'Peggy had a brilliant idea' camp. Sydney seems like she would complain a scootch regardless. Especially if she could bum a piggy back ride.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Anybody have a count on how many Patreon cameos this makes? I make it five (Mach the Knife, Hex, Glowbug, that guy at the TC meeting and this therapist).

[TaRix]

Anybody have a count on how many Patreon cameos this makes? I make it five (Mach the Knife, Hex, Glowbug, that guy at the TC meeting and this therapist).

There's Ashley, the iron tailor, but he's a half-step above cameo with his scene and his smash-cut appearance.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Yeah, I agree with the comments on the comic page. Sydney hasn't even begun to process everything from the Alari homeworld, so the nightmares are only going to get worse.