Grrl Power IV: Constantly Expanded Universe

[Rogar Demonblud]

Figures it would be Peggy to check in on Sydney's mental wellbeing. She's probably the best person in the comic.

[Traab]

I agree with you about peggy, though I am surprised max didnt say anything as she seems to honestly care about sydney as a person, but in this case it was more, "You are late for pt, which i run, I dont like that. Oh wow, you look terrible, you want to talk to a professional after training is done?"

[Rogar Demonblud]

Max also has a proven track record of forgetting people aren't like her, or have you forgotten the scene with "Ol' Painless"?

[Dragonus45]

I also figure that with Sydney still riding the emotional high of her escapades in space, in both battle and on the intimacy front, she likely didn’t show signs of emotional turmoil till she was already in bed and unable to sleep. Then the nighttime hate yourself thoughts take over and so on and all of it really catches up with her for the first time.

[Honest Tiefling]

Maxima might not have said anything not because she forgot (She still has emotions, but might sometimes forget that Sydney isn't trained, so valid point), or because she doesn't care. For all we know, she's involved in the PR mess this caused or is being briefed on other matters. She might not have enough time.

But yes, Peggy is great. Is it bad that I find her just so darn cute?

[Traab]

Honestly, im surprised she isnt on some form of leave. Lets face it, this was a huge stressful horrible ordeal for her and she had absolutely no business being a part of it. The first thing they should have done was tell her to get out and relax for x amount of time, oh and here is a therapist you should speak with. Instead it was treated as "Welcome back! Now get back to work!" And only now is it possibly sinking in that yeah, this is a problem. Sydney hasnt even gotten through basic and she has already faced superhero battles, a near death experience from trollsciona, and being left behind on an alien world with a genocidal army attacking she had to figure a way out of, and oh yeah, adjusting to the fact that she has lost a couple months due to the time twisty nature of the portal she went through. WHY IS SHE REPORTING TO MORNING PT?!?!?!

[Honest Tiefling]

I honestly got the feeling that Peggy herself can't get Sydney out of PT. I would imagine that her reporting back from her adventures really doesn't come on a form, even if Peggy had enough pull to do this.

Also, Peggy might have ulterior motives to push her to PT. I feel like Maxima would be worried about having a very powerful set of artifacts connected to a very squishy Sydney, and having her be surrounded by supers is probably a great way to keep her safe for the time being. Max also seems like the type to try to push her to protect herself, because with her powers she can be very easily separated from the group. If Max is busy, I could see her mentioning this to someone else, like Peggy.

Peggy might be trying to give her a sympathetic shoulder in a way that doesn't require getting Sydney into trouble later. Sydney isn't objecting because she wants to be left alone, she's objecting because she doesn't want to run. Given how Sydney is acting, it really could come across that she wants to talk to another girl (hence mention of not bottling things up inside due to gender roles), but Peggy isn't about to make things worse by getting Sydney and herself into more trouble.

If the comic were more serious, I would consider the idea that Peggy might have some knowledge of ADHD and is trying to help by keeping an eye on her in the quickest, if least effective way possible. I mean, Sydney didn't exactly get doses of space Ritalin, and those with ADHD are prone to anxiety, and addictive behaviors. And would YOU want a super-powered Sydney on meth!? It would be like Florida Man times a hundred. But I doubt the comic is going to touch on that.

[Dragonus45]

I mean, even if they give her the day off PT is still a good idea for mental health reasons.

[Traab]

Im not saying you are wrong, maybe you are right, and putting her through pt to take her mind off things will help when talking to a professional later. I just think they are treating this a little blase. Im hoping that it was just overlooked as she seemed to be ok at the party. Now that peggy has seen she is having problems sydney can get taken care of.

[Honest Tiefling]

Might just be a problem that finding a professional who even knows how to address these problems and is willing to adhere to military protocols. They didn't have time to get Sydney properly briefed and look at what happened! Not to mention, they would have to do extensive background checks on one.

They could also be getting into touch with her former psychiatrist/therapist. Pretty sure the comic indicated she had a prescription and most places don't like handing that stuff out. I would imagine a therapist would probably like access to that sort of thing before beginning.

EDIT: A bit late, but Maxima's last name isn't Oleander, but Leander, which more likely means 'Lion-Man' in ancient Greek, and has no reference to Oleander, which could even be of possible of Latin or corrupted Latin origin.

It does however, relate to another one of the Zodiac signs, Leo the Lion. Sidney is derived from 'At the water-meadow', which could be an allusion to Aquarius. The zodiac sign of Scorpio, which is now being inhabited by a rather deadish woman is associated with the planet Pluto. However this is probably just coincidence, else Sydney should be very worried as Aquarius is a reference to Ganymede of all people.

Unless Deus kidnaps her. Which seems like it could happen, but I really rather not have to think of the connotations of that.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Honestly, I'm surprised she isn't on some form of leave. Lets face it, this was a huge stressful horrible ordeal for her and she had absolutely no business being a part of it. The first thing they should have done was tell her to get out and relax for x amount of time, oh and here is a therapist you should speak with. Instead it was treated as "Welcome back! Now get back to work!" And only now is it possibly sinking in that yeah, this is a problem. Sydney hasn't even gotten through basic and she has already faced superhero battles, a near death experience from trollsciona, and being left behind on an alien world with a genocidal army attacking she had to figure a way out of, and oh yeah, adjusting to the fact that she has lost a couple months due to the time twisty nature of the portal she went through. WHY IS SHE REPORTING TO MORNING PT?!?!?!

The last thing you do to somebody who's been through trauma is chuck them out on their own with nothing to do except think and think and think and think about that trauma. You have to give them structure, and something else to focus on. PT is actually good, because it is full of little things you can control and all sorts of small tests you can win. And doing it as part of a group helps dispel the notion of isolation, for you are evidently not alone.

It also wouldn't be a bad idea to put her in contact with Joel and her family, but you have to be careful about that. Too many people are all 'tough love' (really bullying) and demanding you just snap out of it, with most of the rest doing a good job of enabling every problem.

Source: a career dealing with abused kids and getting them into better situations.

[Honest Tiefling]

It also wouldn't be a bad idea to put her in contact with Joel and her family, but you have to be careful about that. Too many people are all 'tough love' (really bullying) and demanding you just snap out of it, with most of the rest doing a good job of enabling every problem.

You have a good point, but I think there is going to be one huge difference between your work and this situation: Sydney is going to be pestered about the alien invasion and her new powers. I assume this is not as much of a problem in your line of work (Or that there is some sort of protocol to metaphorically slap someone stupid enough to try), but who WOULDN'T ask Sydney for her side of things? SHE FOUGHT ALIENS! SO COOL! People might not really realize they shouldn't try to bug her about it.

Not to mention, uh...Sydney can't be allowed to contact the public. It's been established that many people regard her as being quite bad at keeping a secret, so they aren't going to let her out into the world. Pretty sure the aliens think that too!

[Rogar Demonblud]

Her family and Joel are, to a certain extent, in the know already. And unless ARCHON is completely incompetent they've had a background check that likely only stopped just short of a rectal exam. At least, that was the case with the one the FBI did on us when my nephew became a White House Marine (thanks to the FOIA, I now know the middle names of every teacher I ever had AND their college GPAs). And with the Alari ship being out in the open, well, a lot of secrets are going to get reconsidered. Worst case scenario, people have to sign NDAs before spending a lot of time with the hurting little spaz. They'd be happy to, I think, if that meant getting to talk a little more freely with her.

[Max_Killjoy]

The last thing I need when I'm upset about something is to have some jackwagon screaming at me that I'm not "trying hard enough" or some crap.

IDK, maybe PT would be good for some people, but it would just end in someone getting punched in my case.

[Honest Tiefling]

The last thing I need when I'm upset about something is to have some jackwagon screaming at me that I'm not "trying hard enough" or some crap.

We haven't seen the PT for today. If the theory that Peggy is trying to do this to be nice, it might be something Sydney enjoys or excels at. I really don't know you that well, Max, but I am going to assume that you might not have the same personality as Sydney. Just a stab in the dark.

IDK, maybe PT would be good for some people, but it would just end in someone getting punched in my case.

It has been proven that Sydney punching people is really ineffective and probably better than her blabbing about stuff.

Her family and Joel are, to a certain extent, in the know already.

But not completely, and Sydney has gotten access to a LOT of information the average Joe shouldn't know.

And unless ARCHON is completely incompetent they've had a background check that likely only stopped just short of a rectal exam.

And what if they found something they didn't like?

Worst case scenario, people have to sign NDAs before spending a lot of time with the hurting little spaz. They'd be happy to, I think, if that meant getting to talk a little more freely with her.

Agreed, but they might not have gotten time to do that, since you probably can't just helicopter over to Sydney Scoville Senior's house to get him to sign a piece of paper and then fly him back. I assume there's a bit of a mess going on right now.

There's another reason that has just occurred to me is that Archon might not want to contact Sydney's loved ones, since again, she's a target. They can keep her distracted and safe, they can't really start shuttling other people over and keep them cooped up.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Why would Sydney be a target? We know of nobody who is hunting her or even looking for her. Besides ARCHON and her family, that is, and one of those has already been handled.

[Honest Tiefling]

Why would Sydney be a target? We know of nobody who is hunting her or even looking for her. Besides ARCHON and her family, that is, and one of those has already been handled.

1) Sconia, as it is clear that her first death did jack squat. They also didn't see her die, and if Sydney got away, well...

2) She just had contact with aliens, and who knows what their motives would be.

3) She has several very powerful artifacts that foil pretty much anything Archon has...And she waved them around in an Alien marketplace.

4) 'Shadow Nightmae Kaiju' clearly didn't appreciate her presence.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Yes, they know Sciona's about, given what we were shown. Nobody has said a single thing about that mattering.

Sydney has already had contact with aliens, along with everything else in the Twilight Council. Wasn't an issue before, not likely to be one now.

If anyone had recognized her orbs as anything besides decorations, she would not have gotten off of Fracture. Again, non-issue.

The bio-engineered weapon platforms took a beating, yes. We have no evidence they are sentient or sapient, and anyway she disappeared in a way that doesn't allow tracking, then wandered in a crowd for a couple hours before getting smuggled off in Cora's ship. The trail is well and truly buried.

[Honest Tiefling]

Yes, they know Sciona's about, given what we were shown. Nobody has said a single thing about that mattering.

Nobody has said anything on screen. If Sydney was so stressed, would you really remind her that she has an unstoppable blood mage who might be a little annoyed at her?

If anyone had recognized her orbs as anything besides decorations, she would not have gotten off of Fracture. Again, non-issue.

Or...Would someone follow her to figure out where she came from, where she got the tech or possibly steal it from her in a less dangerous place than Fracture? Fracture is a place where melting femurs is an acceptable form of self-defense, and neither Space Cop seemed all that fazed by it. I wouldn't mug someone there.

The bio-engineered weapon platforms took a beating, yes. We have no evidence they are sentient or sapient, and anyway she disappeared in a way that doesn't allow tracking, then wandered in a crowd for a couple hours before getting smuggled off in Cora's ship. The trail is well and truly buried.

Unless they have access to the Space Internet, which had a video of a earth woman with strange orbs over her head eating spicy food...

[Rogar Demonblud]

Again, how would they recognize those orbs as anything besides decorations? They have holographic wings as fashion statements. And since Dabbler, the canonical expert, didn't recognize them Joe Squat isn't going to. Actually, now that I think about, the fact Dabbler didn't recognize them as Nth Artifacts is a pretty good clue they aren't.

Anyway, you are making the cardinal error of assuming something not spelled out in the comic has to happen. With others, you can make inferences. With Dave, you cannot. He has one heck of a track record of not thinking things through and ignoring stuff we fans consider blindingly obvious. So until it is officially stated that someone is hunting Sydney, nobody is.

[Honest Tiefling]

Again, how would they recognize those orbs as anything besides decorations? They have holographic wings as fashion statements. And since Dabbler, the canonical expert, didn't recognize them Joe Squat isn't going to. Actually, now that I think about, the fact Dabbler didn't recognize them as Nth Artifacts is a pretty good clue they aren't.

That's a good point, but it does mean that Sydney's trail isn't completely hidden. If the platforms on the Alar planet are able to transmit any data back, a connection COULD be made, but isn't certain.

Anyway, you are making the cardinal error of assuming something not spelled out in the comic has to happen. With others, you can make inferences. With Dave, you cannot. He has one heck of a track record of not thinking things through and ignoring stuff we fans consider blindingly obvious. So until it is officially stated that someone is hunting Sydney, nobody is.

In the man's defense, it does seem to be a fan service based comic with bits attached to it. He generally succeeds at a boobular level. I was under the impression the comic was started as an excuse to get practice drawing anyway.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Yeah, that was part of the plan. Another was working on plot skills for his gaming. The art is a success, no question. The plot, not so much (although he is starting to figure out he doesn't need to show every last detail).

[Honest Tiefling]

Yeah, that was part of the plan. Another was working on plot skills for his gaming. The art is a success, no question. The plot, not so much (although he is starting to figure out he doesn't need to show every last detail).

I assume tabletop gaming? I don't write stories, but I assume it is a different set of skills from running a game. I mean, you have people looking over your story for plot holes sitting about two feet away from you at the least with a game, and they won't hesitate to ask about little details to get a leg up on someone.

Still, could be worse exercises to learn to run a game.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Given his issues with pacing and tendency to be a bit didactic, I'd say he's a very top-down GM who likely has issues with not doing things the exact way he sees (which is often a problem with world-builder GMs, and generally leads to the Frustrated Novelist label).

[Lamech]

Unless they have access to the Space Internet, which had a video of a earth woman with strange orbs over her head eating spicy food...

Yeah, that would be pretty awful. Good thing, Sydney's orbs don't show up on video. Let's just hope no one else had ioun stones or something. That would suck for them.

The aliens would be able to figure it out if they were able to cross reference witness statements AND video AND they saw the orbs with eyeballs AND cameras.
Or if the aliens just tracked Sydney while her jump thing was going off.

Once they actually get to the station tracking Sydney might be tricky, but if they got her DNA they might be able to track a certain completely different human.

In other words, the aliens could totally track down Earth if the plot requires it and/or the author feels like it.

[Honest Tiefling]

In other words, the aliens could totally track down Earth if the plot requires it and/or the author feels like it.

Huh. Forgot about the video thing. Still, the witnesses could be contacted. In my defense, this is a parody of super hero comics, so everyone has super punny names and Sydney happened to be at the market the same time Deus was.

Regardless, given how Archon generally treats Sydney, I think they would assume she potentially did SOMETHING and might want to keep an eye on her. Very few people seem to trust her to stay out of trouble, and this often includes herself.

[Traab]

So uhhhh, todays comic huh? Poor math and hiro, totally unprepared for the morning after.

[Honest Tiefling]

Dabbler, again proving that you can buy Appearance traits in many systems without actually buying any social skills to go with them. I mean it.

[Keltest]

Dabbler, again proving that you can buy Appearance traits in many systems without actually buying any social skills to go with them. I mean it.

I think she's just suffering from a major cross-culture circumstance penalty. Im sure among other Succubi Dabbler is considered to be quite social.

[Traab]

I think she's just suffering from a major cross-culture circumstance penalty. Im sure among other Succubi Dabbler is considered to be quite social.

Nah, we saw that even among succubi she is different. The council rep was basically a high society type of gal and talked about lessons dabbler apparently skipped in favor of her adventuring and tinkering skills. I get the feeling she is probably considered the less refined friend in a group of succubi but not outside the realm of the acceptable. I see her as a free spirited adventurer. She can get along with arcswat because they are a bunch of fighting men and women who understand the draw of a good throw down, but they are also more regimented than your normal gang of adventurers. She is a hard fighting, hard playing adventurer, who doesnt act like your normal type of people at all, because normal people dont do what she does for a living. She also loves to mess with everyones heads.