Grrl Power VI: Stripping The Hero Doesnt Work

[Dragonus45]

Eh, we still haven't even come close to the 'major villain prostitutes herself to Deus' levels of squick yet.

Personal lines may vary and all that but I find this way way more off putting a diversion then that was.

[DataNinja]

Personal lines may vary and all that but I find this way way more off putting a diversion then that was.

Yeeeah, this kinda just felt to me like a "deliberately inaccurate usage of terms for shock value", with a tangent that feels like it could be theoretically interesting as a one-off mention for worldbuilding, but... doesn't really properly fit in at all with how it was introduced.

[Shining Wrath]

Also, it's pretty boring. Who cares about ancient archmage fetishes?

[Forum Explorer]

Also, it's pretty boring. Who cares about ancient archmage fetishes?

I can agree with that. As a two page divergence, sure. But we are three pages in and we haven't even gotten to succubi yet. This could go on for a whole month at this rate.

[Keltest]

I can agree with that. As a two page divergence, sure. But we are three pages in and we haven't even gotten to succubi yet. This could go on for a whole month at this rate.

Yeah. If the next arc villain is some sort of ancient proto-succubus trying to imitate Pinky and the Brain maybe it will have been worth the exposition, but other than that i dont really think this actually needs to be a thing here at all.

[Dragonus45]

In the name of god just make this ****ing plot digression be over. I feel like I'm watching Alien: Covenant all over again, NO ONE WANTS THE BACKSTORY OF THE ALIEN!!! And no one wants the backstory of how succubi were blow up dolls once. Also this still does not explain how there are no male succubi.

[Shining Wrath]

I think we're about to learn why there are very few archmages, though.

But yeah, does Dave even realize that at least some archmages would be female, or gay men?

[Traab]

Im pretty sure dabbler mentioned inccubi once back when sydney was on one of her rambles about the supernatural. She said something like they are complicated and dropped the subject. Maybe to avoid covering this exact thing. Or its possible that in this universe, they are the same thing. Glamours shapeshifting etc. Dabbler saying, "They are just futanari succubae, dont worry about it."

[Nettlekid]

The focus of this series has really drifted off from superheroes, and it is not improved for it. I can respect that some superhero backstories grant them powers because of something like alien or demonic powers and so both in their respective comics and especially in cases where they team up with other superheroes (like the Hellboy/Batman teamup) the presence of these other worlds has to be at least implicitly acknowledged. Batman teaming up with Hellboy means that yes, there is Hell in Batman's world. But that must never eclipse the focus of the superhero genre. Grrl Power went from "superhero team with one member whose powers come from being an alien demon" to being about how there's a shadowy cabal of monsters hiding behind humanity, and then about how there are innumerable alien worlds, and now about how demons and archmages have influenced the world from the shadows. I would be more forgiving if the author made a comic about any one of those things, but to cram them all into a space that didn't really ask for any of them...it's just not good writing, plain and simple.

[Max_Killjoy]

Like I said before, these digressions should mainly be in the under-comic text, or in side-comics, or something.

[Shining Wrath]

I'm guessing we will spend two more strips on this. Next strip is the Silence of the Archmages, and then after that the explanation of how succubae reached their final form.

[Shining Wrath]

So Dabbler can't survive without a master? That complicates things, a lot. Maxima can't kill Tom. Unless it's possible to have a new master?

And right away I'd pull Dabbler's security clearance. Sorry, but an alien with intentions of invading earth has her life on a string. This is a dumb plot twist.

[Traab]

Aaaand dabbler just became an unacceptable security risk. Unless the next update mentions the terms and conditions of this servitude and how they dont involve her being stuck in a position where she can either do as he says or die. I could see contract law working along the lines of, "You cant sever the connection without an eviction process (or divorce as the case nay be)" which means at worst she has time to find her next master and move on so she cant be forced into providing spy services against her will so he wont even bother trying as it gains him nothing and costs him his succubus.

[Max_Killjoy]

This is one of those things that just keeps getting WORSE the more they try to explain it.

And yeah, Dabbler should be OFF the team and OUT of the building ASAP.

And all the tech she's touched for the team should get a full review before any further use.


E: bugged enough by this whole aside about the nature of succubi that I posted in the comic's comment section.

[Shining Wrath]

I think Dave just wrote himself into a corner that it'll be hard to get out of.
Unless, this strip being about the cheesecake, he's going to figure out how to transfer Dabbler's contract to someone on the team, and then we'll get to see saphairic energy recharges.

[Dragonus45]

This is one of those things that just keeps getting WORSE the more they try to explain it.

Yea that sounds like Dave. The webcomic is genuinely good and he comes up with some crazy cool powers but he is totally unequipped to actually do this kind of deep behind the scenes lore building.

[tyckspoon]

So Dabbler can't survive without a master? That complicates things, a lot. Maxima can't kill Tom. Unless it's possible to have a new master?

I think the explanation so far at least strongly implies you can get a new master, but given the very short timeline to death Dabbler gives for not having one a succubus would usually not want to risk it unless they had somebody already on hand and ready to do whatever was necessary to take up the position on very short notice.

just.. so many questions that I do not expect the author to ever address, and frankly don't really want him to because it's gonna be another two month long digression into some rabbit hole of half-baked worldbuilding.

I was/sort of still am expecting Dabbler to end this with something like 'So that's how it works for old-school succubuses like me. I've been around a while. For new ones, we bind everybody to this awesome magic rock we found out in ..umm, I can't actually tell you that, secrets critical to the survival of my race, you know. Anyways turns out you don't actually need your 'master' to be a thinking being if you make the spell right.'

(And then a 'hur hur, guys, amirite?' jab on the 'they don't have to be thinking' line.)

[Traab]

Im fully expecting heavy duty magically enforced contracts involved in this day and age. Sort of a list of what is and is not ok between them, the methods by which either party may back out, so on and so forth.

[lord_khaine]

I think people are blowing the severity of this issue way out of proportions
As we can see its not something that can be used to trace or compel Dabbler.
And at least its not even more issues of Max being a hypocritical jerk.

While regarding the actual bond.
We cant agree on marriage traditions across a single planet.

Highly unlikely its being the case across different planets or different races.
And so there is likely bonds that are more onesided than others.
Likely also bonds that only seems onesided.

[InvisibleBison]

As we can see its not something that can be used to trace or compel Dabbler.

I'm not sure about that. The comic says that Tom can drain Dabbler's mana. If he drains all of her mana, wouldn't that kill her the same as not having a master? And so the threat of doing so is a very effective means of compulsion.

[Keltest]

I'm not sure about that. The comic says that Tom can drain Dabbler's mana. If he drains all of her mana, wouldn't that kill her the same as not having a master? And so the threat of doing so is a very effective means of compulsion.

I mean sure, but by that token he could also pull out a gun and threaten to shoot a human spouse while she sleeps, or just on the spot if he ever needed to know something suddenly.

[Shining Wrath]

I mean sure, but by that token he could also pull out a gun and threaten to shoot a human spouse while she sleeps, or just on the spot if he ever needed to know something suddenly.

If my spouse was capable of killing me at will, and my spouse was also a general in a foreign military with known hostile intentions toward the United States, I suspect I would not be granted a security clearance, nor would I be admitted to an organization that might be called upon to repel an invasion from said foreign power.

[Max_Killjoy]

If my spouse was capable of killing me at will, and my spouse was also a general in a foreign military with known hostile intentions toward the United States, I suspect I would not be granted a security clearance, nor would I be admitted to an organization that might be called upon to repel an invasion from said foreign power.

THIS is the point.

[Ibrinar]

I wonder whether he actually though this through or it was just a world building idea he liked.

[Keltest]

If my spouse was capable of killing me at will, and my spouse was also a general in a foreign military with known hostile intentions toward the United States, I suspect I would not be granted a security clearance, nor would I be admitted to an organization that might be called upon to repel an invasion from said foreign power.

I mean youre probably correct, but for the wrong reasons. It would be the "relations with a hostile power" (which seem to be rocky here given Dabbler's expressed hostility towards this guy) rather than the "can kill you at will" bit, which is theoretically true of most spouses who live together.

I dont know that its ever stated what level of clearance Dabbler has relative to Max or Sidney, but given that she's an information source rather than an agent being fed information, and that most clearances work in the context of "need to know", i think you guys are massively overestimating the actual security threat here. Dabbler is a consultant and sort-of-cop, not the president's bodyguard or anything like that.

[Max_Killjoy]

I mean youre probably correct, but for the wrong reasons. It would be the "relations with a hostile power" (which seem to be rocky here given Dabbler's expressed hostility towards this guy) rather than the "can kill you at will" bit, which is theoretically true of most spouses who live together.

I dont know that its ever stated what level of clearance Dabbler has relative to Max or Sidney, but given that she's an information source rather than an agent being fed information, and that most clearances work in the context of "need to know", i think you guys are massively overestimating the actual security threat here. Dabbler is a consultant and sort-of-cop, not the president's bodyguard or anything like that.

She's intimately familiar with and has near full access to the facilities, practices, and personnel of the agency on the front line against this sort of threat, and can be threatened with having her plug pulled at any time.

Regardless of the reality of what she'd do if it came down to it, any sane high-security agency would view her as a risk of being blackmailed into actions that would cripple that agency at the worst possible moment.

[Keltest]

She's intimately familiar with and has near full access to the facilities, practices, and personnel of the agency on the front line against this sort of threat, and can be threatened with having her plug pulled at any time.

Regardless of the reality of what she'd do if it came down to it, any sane high-security agency would view her as a risk of being blackmailed into actions that would cripple that agency at the worst possible moment.

Right, but again, this is true of anybody with a spouse, conceptually. "is not immortal" is not a good reason to have security clearance revoked. The specific nature of their relationship is basically the only relevant factor here.

[Shining Wrath]

I mean youre probably correct, but for the wrong reasons. It would be the "relations with a hostile power" (which seem to be rocky here given Dabbler's expressed hostility towards this guy) rather than the "can kill you at will" bit, which is theoretically true of most spouses who live together.

I dont know that its ever stated what level of clearance Dabbler has relative to Max or Sidney, but given that she's an information source rather than an agent being fed information, and that most clearances work in the context of "need to know", i think you guys are massively overestimating the actual security threat here. Dabbler is a consultant and sort-of-cop, not the president's bodyguard or anything like that.

If I understand correctly, Tom can drain Sydney's mana at will, at a distance. He may have to be on the same plane of existence, but I very much doubt he has to be in the same room. That's very different than my wife. It may be a good idea to buy flowers on the way home, though.

Given that Dabbler is allowed access to ArcSwat HQ at will, and that Dabbler is probably capable of whipping up / obtaining a device that could download and store the entire classified networks of the USG with alien tech, she's a major security risk.

[Forum Explorer]

Dabbler's 'not quite mind control' always made her a massive security risk though. And that's why she had the mysterious guy watching her, presumably all the time.

[Traab]

Right, but again, this is true of anybody with a spouse, conceptually. "is not immortal" is not a good reason to have security clearance revoked. The specific nature of their relationship is basically the only relevant factor here.

Having a spouse is one thing. If im married to fidel castro then I would expect my security clearances to have a much harder time being approved in the states. (for a variety of reasons really but you get the point) We just learned that she is basically the servant/slave of a very powerful leader of a foreign army that has made no attempt to pretend they want anything but to take over entirely. On top of that, he has what amounts to a kill switch for her which is the ability to inflict immense pressure on her to do things she might not normally do. The potential security risk here is absurdly high unless the next comic adds in some serious safeguards to avoid situations like this from being an issue.