Grrl Power Thread #2: The Most Common Super Power

[Admiral Squish]

Also, keep in mind, she didn't just go walk up to Vehemence, she spoke to him via telepresence, letting him know she was more or less onto him. A behind-the-scenes type mastermind would have probably just left after having been spotted/identified like that.

[lord_khaine]

Yeah, i do think that was actually a smart move from Sydney, she were trying to gather information from Vehemence, perhaps hoping he might reveal something. It was just a shame Vehemence were smart enough to distract her with something shiny.

[tomandtish]

I have to agree with this. In a matter of days Sydney has gone from "in hiding because she's terrified of getting outed as a non-super Super" to "a headliner in a legal Super organization and friends with the biggest badass on the planet". She's in a very different place in her head, and I don't think she believes Maxima would put her in significant danger without warning.

More than anything, Sydney has consistently done something astonishing over the course of the story thus far. She learns. I don't mean she picks up new skills or tactics or what-not, she honestly, truly learns. Give her a lesson on the nature of armor, and she puts it into practice. Show her the logical flaws in comic book heroism, and she adjusts her tactics accordingly. Explain the rules of gun safety to her and she puts genuine effort into learning how to put her gun together and ever reiterates parts of the lesson when it becomes applicable later. Sydney is learning. Growing. That's something you don't see in most web comics, much less comic books.

So you surprise her with Greenie. She's been lectured plenty on over-reaction and the the presence of unofficial visitors like Dabbler, so she doesn't freak out. She looks around to get a better idea of the situation, pulls an expert aside a private discussion, and that's it. After seeing an alien, vampires and werewolves aren't a big surprise and, since this is explicitly a place Maxima wanted to bring Sydney, the terms of the meeting were clearly friendly.

She's still Sydney. She still is hyperactive, geeky, and prone to action before thought, but you can clearly see how her experiences are affecting those actions.

Exactly. And note that while she's assuming she's in a safe place because Max brought her there, she still acts on impulse. Notice there's no thought to the fact that it would be a perfectly reasonable instinctive reaction on most people's part to shove away (with various degrees of violence) a stranger who grabbed (hugged) them without permission.

She's learning, but she's still got a long way to go.

[lord_khaine]

True, Sydney has almost no respect for personal space, or for that matter other people most of the time. She has done things that would often be considered downright rude comming from others, and are rather lucky in avoiding to be called out on it most of the time. Of course only most of the time, i do like how at least Peggy has taken a rather less tolerant tone on her anticts.

[Admiral Squish]

I wonder if superheroes usually develop the 'fantastically photogenic' look to go with their powers suddenly, or if they were always spectacular and just later on happened to develop powers. We know Max was normal, but she's an exception. If they were always like that, it could explain some of the oddness in their reactions and behavior, as they probably wouldn't have had what could be considered a 'normal' adolescence.

[lord_khaine]

We have had some rather solid hints from the author that Max is a super in her own right, and that the "Geode Water" is what makes her stronger than just about any other super seen so far.

[Traab]

Welp, its now official,

Spoiler

Show

Everything is REEEAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!

Heh, poor sydney on overload.

[The Glyphstone]

"And over here we have Plumbera, representing the kitchen sink..."

[Traab]

"And over here we have Plumbera, representing the kitchen sink..."

Yeah honestly, I think he oversold it a little. It would have been enough to share half as many names then say, "So basically, if you ever heard of them in folklore, history, fables or science fiction, they most likely exist in some form and are represented here." I also liked the "extra living" title showing that political correctness extends even into the fantasy realms.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

We have had some rather solid hints from the author that Max is a super in her own right, and that the "Geode Water" is what makes her stronger than just about any other super seen so far.

It also kind of connects her to Sydney. Neither were born with their powers, those come from outside forces that started to show up at the same time as "normal" superpowered people. Whatever the reason, the limits of normal supers don't hold up for them. Sydney will be stupidly overpowered when the comic is done with her.

[lord_khaine]

It also kind of connects her to Sydney. Neither were born with their powers, those come from outside forces that started to show up at the same time as "normal" superpowered people. Whatever the reason, the limits of normal supers don't hold up for them. Sydney will be stupidly overpowered when the comic is done with her.

Well.. i honestly dont think most if any of the Supers were born with their powers. As i understod it they tend to show up during their early teenage years. And my comment were more hinting towards the information we have that Max would have been a Super even without the Geode incident.

And honestly, if there are anyone the normal limits of Supers dont apply to, then i would say its more Vehemence or Dabbler.

[Traab]

Well.. i honestly dont think most if any of the Supers were born with their powers. As i understod it they tend to show up during their early teenage years. And my comment were more hinting towards the information we have that Max would have been a Super even without the Geode incident.

And honestly, if there are anyone the normal limits of Supers dont apply to, then i would say its more Vehemence or Dabbler.

What info is that? Her origin story seems to imply the opposite. That the mystery geode water somehow caused her powers to develop. It would be one hell of a coincidence that she drank and bathed in mystery fluid then started turning gold shortly afterwards. As for limits, eh, I think its two different things, maxima very definitely has limits. She isnt superman who is theoretically infinity strong/fast/fire eyed, she has a hard cap to how strong tough or fast she can get. We just havent been told officially what those caps are. At best we have seen vehemence push her to that physical limit, but with no real scale to work with.

Sydney also has limits, the difference with her is, she also has a tech tree that could push back those limits further as time goes on. Her real strength is in her flexibility. Like they said way back during the yay or nay discussion about her, just the truesight orb alone is enough to qualify her to join up and she has like a dozen other abilities to add to it as well. She has super strength with her lighthook (15 tons isnt much in comic book terms, but its still hurling traffic around levels) Super defense with her shield, a super ranged attack with her ppo, super speed/flight, the ability to see through illusions and see auras now as well as telepresence, and thats just what they have come up with so far. I honestly see her being maxima junior eventually. She has the raw stats in enough fields to fill in for maximas normal role in battle. Being the invulnerable eye in the sky calling the plays while taking on any of the big deals that are causing issues. She just needs the training to back it up.

[lord_khaine]

What info is that? Her origin story seems to imply the opposite. That the mystery geode water somehow caused her powers to develop. It would be one hell of a coincidence that she drank and bathed in mystery fluid then started turning gold shortly afterwards. As for limits, eh, I think its two different things, maxima very definitely has limits. She isnt superman who is theoretically infinity strong/fast/fire eyed, she has a hard cap to how strong tough or fast she can get. We just havent been told officially what those caps are. At best we have seen vehemence push her to that physical limit, but with no real scale to work with.

Its author comments from the pages where the backstory with the mystery geode. The water is most likely what turned her golden, but the comments where that she most likely would have been a super anyway.

The first draft of this page stated explicitly what they’re both dancing around, but these two like being circuitous with each other. Essentially, Max is a super in her own right (at least a late bloomer since she hadn’t exhibited any powers by the age of 13.) AND has some sort of symbiote (?) of indeterminate origin adding its powers to hers AND that it was able to determine her superness and made a decision (whether consciously or by some sort of instinct – if it indeed even had any agency at all) to hitch its wagon to her horse. All guesswork by both of them, and probably impossible to determine at this point. Also it would be virtually impossible to tell if it’s boosting her existing powers, or if she would have been a moderately powerful super on her own, and it provides her power pool, or if it’s the source of her armor or what.

From comic 415.

I honestly see her being maxima junior eventually. She has the raw stats in enough fields to fill in for maximas normal role in battle. Being the invulnerable eye in the sky calling the plays while taking on any of the big deals that are causing issues. She just needs the training to back it up.

I cant see her in that role though, maybe as a specialist support, a specialist adviser or a tactician. But i dont think she will ever get Max's leadership ability, and she is to easily distracted. She is also kinda limited by that in major engagements she more or less only has 1 free super power slot. If at any point lowers her shield she is suddenly an extremely juice target for just about anything with range. And if attention is drawn towards her like that, then smart people will focus more on taking her down as soon as that happens.

[BannedInSchool]

So I'd better say this now. I'm wondering if the alien representative here won't recognize Sydney's orbs and tell her what they are, that being some alien super science super soldier gear, and also give us some limitations or drawbacks on the orbs.

[lord_khaine]

I will bet this gigantic pile of Imaginary coins on it not happening though. I suspect its a long time yet before we get anything solid on the orbs. And if they were alien devices easily recogniseable then i suspect Dabbler would have been able to say more.

[Traab]

Its author comments from the pages where the backstory with the mystery geode. The water is most likely what turned her golden, but the comments where that she most likely would have been a super anyway.



From comic 415.



I cant see her in that role though, maybe as a specialist support, a specialist adviser or a tactician. But i dont think she will ever get Max's leadership ability, and she is to easily distracted. She is also kinda limited by that in major engagements she more or less only has 1 free super power slot. If at any point lowers her shield she is suddenly an extremely juice target for just about anything with range. And if attention is drawn towards her like that, then smart people will focus more on taking her down as soon as that happens.

And on day one she managed to lead not just the superheroes but the bad guys as well in an assault on the big boss, kicking his ass when up till then everyone got curb stomped including maxima. She was a day 1 recruit who hadnt even SEEN basic training yet, and yet everyone listened to her. She has the leadership potential, she has proven her ability to plan and make said plans work, she just needs training to bring it out and make it reliable. You dont need to be a general to lead. You just need to be known as the person who comes up with plans that work. Im not saying it will happen any time soon, heck, it may not have even happened by the time this flashback is finished and we are caught back up to corporal sydney three months from now, im just saying she has what it takes.

As for her super powers, yeah, thats going to be an issue, but to be the eye in the sky she just needs to hold her shield and flight orb and float there, talking into the communication device they all have. If she has to take part in a fight, she can land and switch out for her ppo or light hook or whatever. Assuming she doesnt just ram people at high speeds. And this is just with what she currently has. We still have the two mystery orbs, plus an extensive tech tree to try and decipher that can make her capable of lord knows what, and increasing her stats lord knows how much.

[lord_khaine]

And on day one she managed to lead not just the superheroes but the bad guys as well in an assault on the big boss, kicking his ass when up till then everyone got curb stomped including maxima. She was a day 1 recruit who hadnt even SEEN basic training yet, and yet everyone listened to her. She has the leadership potential, she has proven her ability to plan and make said plans work, she just needs training to bring it out and make it reliable. You dont need to be a general to lead. You just need to be known as the person who comes up with plans that work. Im not saying it will happen any time soon, heck, it may not have even happened by the time this flashback is finished and we are caught back up to corporal sydney three months from now, im just saying she has what it takes.

Yes, hence why i said she could make a great advisor or thinker, just not a leader. At the situation with Vehemence she did have the advantage of being the only one free to think though the situation, because she were perfectly safe to observe in her shield bubble, and the only one not affected by the agro aura. And she did also have the advantage of everything else having failed, so people were very likely to listen to her. Im not denying her ability to think or to plan, just saying that a leader needs more than that. To be dependable for once, Sydneys antics may be amusing, but they should not gather trust in people among her. And her excentricity is a still a hue liability that could drop at any time. Thats why i think its prefereble for her crazy ideas to when possible be filtered though a net of common sense.

As for her super powers, yeah, thats going to be an issue, but to be the eye in the sky she just needs to hold her shield and flight orb and float there, talking into the communication device they all have. If she has to take part in a fight, she can land and switch out for her ppo or light hook or whatever. Assuming she doesnt just ram people at high speeds. And this is just with what she currently has. We still have the two mystery orbs, plus an extensive tech tree to try and decipher that can make her capable of lord knows what, and increasing her stats lord knows how much.

Eye in the sky can for that matter be done even safer with her telepresence orb if need be, she would be a great scout if she can focus her attention. But considering how light she are, and how large an area her shield would deflect a given impact upon, then i dont think ramming is doing to be a viable tactic against many opponents. But no, i actually dont know what she might be able to do with those mystery orbs either
But all the same, none of us knows, though i doubt the main limitation, of only being able to use 2 orbs at once, will ever change.

[Traab]

Actually, theoretically that could change, depending on what the inner circle of talents does. There are a lot of talents linking various orbs together, and there is no way to be sure what that could mean. For example, it could mean that if she links the shield and flight orb, she can use the abilities of both while only holding one. But thats pure theorycrafting and we are likely years away from seeing it come to pass, seeing as how the next 2-3 orb upgrades are already reserved for experimenting on other things.

As for leadership yeah, she needs training. Im not suggesting she be put as maximas second in command this week, im just saying she has the natural traits needed as a starting point. And thats in addition to her suite of powers which gives her the ability to basically ignore being under attack and focus on directing traffic like how maxima was able to handle things. We dont know what her durability limit is with that shield, but its pretty clear that its really really high. Also, her dependability. I think she showed that she is pretty damn dependable in a tight spot. Yes she had some drifty moments, but be fair, half the team did the same. She was able to use her invulnerability to analyze, plan, and carry out effective strategies and the entire team now knows to take her seriously when she says she has an idea. She did it twice in the big battle alone, figuring out both the periwinkle butt sniffer and vehemence and how best to counter them with relative ease. Should another super fight break out, you had best believe the higher ups will listen if she gets on the com and says, "Hey guys I figured it out, I need you to trust me!" And earning that kind of trust is both incredibly hard, and incredibly important for any leader.

So give her training in squad tactics, teach her how to lead outside of battle as well as in it, give her responsibility and see if you can get her to settle down. I could see her being put in charge of a team of newbies later on. With the justification being, "We give the new squad the easier jobs, and with sydney there to be the experienced heavy hitter she gets command experience and is able to watch their backs just in case." And assuming she does well with that, she gets promotions. So we have The Mighty Halo, Spiders Man, Black Hulk, Varia, and Jiggawatt going on assorted adventures, with perhaps a bit of crossover when big fights break out and they need to call in the heavy hitters back to the A squad.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I don't know where the comic is gonna go, but at this point I would personally not put Sidney in charge of anything. A leader is a people person first and foremost, when you've got that part down you can start thinking about tactics and stuff. Second in command on the other hand is a great place for a "technical expert", someone who knows a lot (or can guesstimate things based on how they work in comic books) and can solve problems coming from other angles than the team not functioning for people reasons. It's the classic Leonardo-Donatello structure (as seen in the Ninja Turtles, in case those names didn't ring enough of a bell). If you'd switch those two around both functions would be filled by someone less effective at them. Given only the following two options I'd rather make Sidney Maxima's lieutenant and right hand than putting her in command of even a single newbie squad. Handling and leading people are things she'll have to pick up over time.

Yes, people listened to her, but that's more of a "she has a point" thing than the "I don't know what we're doing but if she says so it's our best bet" a leader has to inspire.

The big risk in a structure like that is of course that at any point the leader could fall away leaving the expert in command. But since this is Maxima we're talking I guess we're pretty safe.

[Traab]

Now to cover todays comic, Im hoping this whole meeting is setup to discuss the ramifications of archon making supers public knowledge. How will this effect the various groups on the council? Are they in greater danger of exposure? Less danger because now they can claim to be supers instead of aliens/mutants/extraliving/misc? Can they use this as a way to slowly bring themselves out of folklore and into public knowledge? This is a huge event for the paranormal peoples of all types and will have ramifications that shall echo through history!

[Yuki Akuma]

We know where the comic's going to go - Sydney's going to be promoted to Corporal. Which, assuming ARCHON uses the same rank structure as the army, would put Sydney at OR-4. Which is "in charge of a squad" command level.

Of course, there aren't many people in ARCHON, so Sydney might not end up with a squad all to herself... especially considering there's a whole lotta Corporals in ARCHON.

Technically this means she's going to get promoted four times, although a few might be skipped. Recruits in ARCHON might graduate at Corporal level for all we know.

ARCHON's command structure is honestly really weird, but they're a specialist branch without many members so it can be excused.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Military organizations usually have different training tracks for soldiers, non-coms and officers. Becoming a corporal is more often a matter of being accepted in the non-com line than or getting promoted through soldier.

[lord_khaine]

I kinda have a feeling Archon's rank structure is designed to more easily fit into the regular army structure.
Judged on their numbers Max should not really be much more than a sergent, despite her importance.
Instead she is given a higher rank, that no doubt gathers more respect and coorperation with other branches and the military when she has to deal with those.

[Traab]

I kinda have a feeling Archon's rank structure is designed to more easily fit into the regular army structure.
Judged on their numbers Max should not really be much more than a sergent, despite her importance.
Instead she is given a higher rank, that no doubt gathers more respect and coorperation with other branches and the military when she has to deal with those.

She got that rank in the regular military I think. As for sydney, when I joined the air force, I had in my contract that upon finishing basic I would be promoted up to an e-3 or e-4 ranking. (Its been like 16 years, I forget which) Basically a step below sergeant levels. When you are taking on a military job of some relative importance they often bump you up a few grades right away as a part of the recruitment process. I would imagine supers getting incentivized to join up with archon get all sorts of little bonuses and benefits in their contract. Heck, we know sydney got a few goodies in hers already, like her deal with new comic day for example.

[Traab]

Heh, new comic, and the weres get even better. Im not sure if there is enough medicine in the world to deal with how hyper sydney is going to be as she processes everything she has seen and learned tonight.

[halfeye]

Heh, new comic, and the weres get even better. Im not sure if there is enough medicine in the world to deal with how hyper sydney is going to be as she processes everything she has seen and learned tonight.

The night is yet young.

[Yuki Akuma]

"KA-BUN" is my favourite unsound effect, and makes me consider just how many webcomic artists were influenced by The Wotch.

[Traab]

"KA-BUN" is my favourite unsound effect, and makes me consider just how many webcomic artists were influenced by The Wotch.

I am still fond of KA-PANTS! Oooh my!

[Eldan]

A few pages later we get BOING followed by UN-BOING.

[Traab]

A few pages later we get BOING followed by UN-BOING.

Huh? There was writing in that comic? Hold on, I have to look again.... it may be awhile.