Grrl Power #1194 – Assembly of shame
That awkward morning after. Except it’s not the morning after, it’s like, 30 minutes after. And everyone you work with is there, and they’ve all got sex hair and there’s more than one person with their shirt on inside out. At least no one is giving a presentation in their underwear.
Yes, I know there were already a few comments with the Hulk reference on the page with Math and Jabber getting down, but like, I’m not going to use it too? Yeah, you called it. Some people are asexual, some people are Math. And apparently Jabberwokky. Maybe to a lesser extent. Like all things, it’s a spectrum. If the average person’s sex drive is a 5, Jabber is an 8, Math is around 9.5. Succubi can’t really be measured on the human scale. It’s different for them. It’s obviously super high, but it’s also like hunger. They need to eat, and it affects not just their number, but the spectrum itself, and it if gets bad enough, it starts affecting the numbers of people around them. But that brings us back around to discussions of free will.
I know some people are finding this storyline a little squicky, which really wasn’t the intent. What Parfait did wasn’t malicious or even intentional – which doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences, but I certainly can’t guarantee this will all play out to everyone’s satisfaction. I mean, obviously nothing that starts of with a lust aura incident could possibly have a satisfactory conclusion for everyone. It’s just too serious of a topic for some people, for any number of reasons.
The whole comic is supposed to be that slice of life, lighter side of being a superhero. Obviously sometimes there have to be villains who do pretty terrible things, but I try not to dwell on that stuff. I just need enough to show “this person is bad and here’s a reason we have to stop them.” The comic isn’t and will never be “The Boys.” I watched a season of that and, honestly I found it to dark to be enjoyable. It certainly had its moments, but I had that uneasy feeling that, yeah, this is unfortunately what it would probably be like if Supers were real. There’d be this honeymoon period (assuming we didn’t instantly go the X-Men/hunt them all down route) but before long it’d be like how it seems every few weeks now some once beloved actor gets exposed as a pedo or domestic abuser or QANON conspiracy moron. I mean, it’s bad enough when someone is just a rich asshole, my utter lack of faith in humanity tells me that if there were people out there who “saved a thousand lives today” then some of them would absolutely be able to justify doing literally anything they wanted. Like what does it matter if my basement is waist deep in murdered cheerleaders? I kept a cruise ship from sinking and saved 5,000 people. Worse still, there would absolutely be people who would defend their favorite superhero’s predilection for cheerleader disposal because of “how much good they do.”
So, yeah. That’s not this comic.
The August vote incentive is up! Yeah I know it’s late, so hopefully I’ll manage to get some bonus (read: overdue) incentives up as I attempt to catch up.
Oh no! Sydney’s been injured! A Wampa may or may not have been involved, I’ll leave the exact nature of the incident up to you. It’s not relevant to the picture. And before you’re like “Dave, Bandaged Rei is one thing, but floating unconscious in a bacta tank is probably an even narrower fetish.” just check the picture out.
The Patreon version has nudes and variants, and a comic that reveals something interesting about the orbs.
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.
Not sure what it is but Jabberwocky is – visually – the best character. Love the design, the body language and the expressive way Dave draws her. Just awesome!
I would like to see a display of her tattoos as a vote incentive.
Have to wonder who’s still going at it and who’s asleep now Because of it.
You can bet Max made a round of the building and forcefully dragged any team member she found in the briefing room.
Some may have to be dragged into a cold shower first.
Arianna seems likely to have her office door locked for a few hours yet.
Arianna strikes me as the type where her office is locked 24/7, regardless if she is in it, and it only unlocks in brief 15-second intervals when there’s an appointment or an extremely concerning voice message.
With Dabbler there, they can sense anyone still actively generating much tantric energy. And if someone were able to mask that, they’d likely be protected from the aura in the first place.
Jabberwocky is also the name of two things, a monster in the middle ages, and a movie from the Monty Python people who made movies like “A Fish called Wanda” and “Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail.” along with several other movies on a very long list.
It’s also the name of a poem, which may be about the monster I don’t really know. And the name of minor planet 7470 Jabberwock.
The same poem that gave us “Bandersnatch”, as used by both Larry Niven and Charlie Brooker.
Final Fantasy has had some of the best ideas for what a Bandersnatch looks like. ^_^
It is also the basis for the Vorpal Blade found in D&D and other fantasy games.
the poem was in the movie and actually an intricate part of it.
It is not a “real” mythical monster, but was invented in poetry by Lewis Caroll in the 1800s.
Pretty sure the myth came about by some drunk who faceplanted into a puddle and looked up to see the face of a very large (but also friendly) dog at point blank range.
I believe that there is only one fundamental decision to be made: walk in the light or the darkness. Walk in the light and let your deeds be know or hid the deeds that you do (which moralists will call evil). The rest could be described as functions of your personality. I also believe I’m wrong, so there you go.
Nope. Secrecy =/= evil. There’s a Jewish term for a good deed that is hidden. I’ve forgotten the modifier at the moment so I’ll not list the main word involved.
Do you mean ‘Tzadikim nistarim’? (צַדִיקִים נִסתָּרים) Think the translation is something along the lines of “the truly righteous stay hidden” although you probably shouldn’t quote me on that because I’m like 25 years out of practice in my Hebrew and to my great grandmother’s disgust and my embarassment, my talent for languages was never more than lackluster even at my best.
“The old becomes new with the telling of the story.”
You seem to value the old, so here’s some quotes from that which I follow:
• “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” which confirms your position.
• “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” This is where my initial position comes from… or rather a modification of it.
• “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” This suggests that the use of the word “choice” is invalid.
• “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” And this position renders the position of excluding the belief in Free Will to be invalid. Meaning that Free Will beliefs and non-Free Will beliefs are equally valid. I reconcile the differences between disparage beliefs the same way as the scientific positions Light is a particle and Light is a wave: Reality is a paradox.
Theory: Math has some Succubi in his family tree somewhere.
His level of lust seems to approach the actual succubi they hang out with,
If he is also powered by tantric energy he should have endless potential.
Naw, if he were a succubus he’d have long since died from starvation.
He can’t be, because succubi bloodlines always breed ‘true’ and female. The child of a succubus is always a succubus, and they can not father a child on another female.
The CO loves Scott Pilgrim and thus they said someone dropped a ‘Sex Bob-omb’
It doesn’t look like the HR nightmare I imagined.
It was consensual all around just the brakes were off?
No physical injures apparently. (If any, they’d be in the infirmary.)
The non-supers are in a different room?
Both Peggy and Seneca are non supers, as are Omar and Prinrin (Goblin and company)
isn’t that a junior officer cuddling with two fresh recruits in her chain of command? HR nightmare.
I’m not sure why people would find this little story arc problematic. I mean…Hasn’t this always been as much a PG-13 sex comedy as it has been a superhero comic? That said, it HAS been awhile since the last big battle and I do hope we can get back to the action side of things soon.
Also, if Math is a 9.5 on the horniometer, that’s just begs the question…Who the fuck would be a 10?
Because people don’t like the idea of mind control being used to rape people?
Seems a valid opinion.
It’s fiction, man. Cartoons don’t have feelings.
But guess what? The real people reading the comic have feelings. Stories communicate values. Life imitates art. If we didn’t see ourselves in them, they wouldn’t mean anything to us.
Where was this “real people have feelings” when there was a giant mind-controlled brawl in a parking lot? Do you have any idea how traumatizing it is to get jumped by a crowd in a parking lot? Where was the “Life imitates Art” when Deus assassinated third-world leaders to install a puppet government?
That stuff didn’t bother any of us before, so let’s not get all worked up now. This is a comic that explores some rather extreme what-ifs in a lighthearted way. The inclusion of sexuality in this has been clear and present for the many years it’s been running.
Hey, im not sure about the mud brawl, but there were definitely people arguing the ethics of Deus, his plan and his assassination of national leaders. Whether or not you agreed with what he was doing or achieving, there was definitely people discussing it.
This comic constantly skirts themes and situations where some people take it at face value entertainment and some people get concerned. Everyone has different lines for different things, and this is just crossing the line for some people.
Argue their actual points, but dont hide behind this false narrative.
a) It’s a superhero comic you expect some violence
b) Supervillains do bad things is expected
c) Nobody I can recall argued that somebody being mind controlled into violence was fine
There’s a huge difference between consensual sexual situations and people being mind controlled into it
“Real people have feelings” doesn’t mean that all those real people feel the same way about something.
“I am not upset, therefore nobody else should be,” is not a great argument, my guy.
but so many use the ‘I haven’t experienced/seen it so its not real’ argument. that’s why I consider my hearing normal, its the rest of you who are strange. why are so many letter sounds inaudible to this person with normal hearing!!?!?
note the above statement may contain sarcasm and/or satire. please read responsibly.
“But…b-b-but I’m the MAIN CHARACTEEEEER! My feelings and beliefs are supposed to be what determine what you NPC’s do and saaaay!”
*whining intensifies*
I don’t believe snow is real, because I have never experienced it myself.
Birds. Aren’t. Real.
WAKE UP, SHEEPLE!!!1!ONE!
only when I put my aids in do I hear birds. so this seems believable.
Birds are nothing more nor less than inspiration: look, something in the air, you can figure it out! Oh, dang, it’s a penguin, you’re drowning!
Do sheeple dream of analog androids?
It’s not my issue if someone else takes a webcomic too seriously. Maybe don’t read it if it bothers you so much?
I honestly don’t know how someone can get so personally riled up over fictional characters as if this has any connection to them, and then say *I’m* the person with main character syndrome here.
Then maybe don’t pay any attention to the comments who are voicing their discomfort with the current story? That argument goes both ways. Its pointless.
People have feelings that they felt should be aired, regarding a piece of media they are invested in, this is normal. Try not to be “riled up” by people having other opinions from you.
I’m probably one of the most feminist-minded people reading this comic, and I don’t have a problem with it. It was a lust aura, not a roofie. Heck, they’re following it with awareness and discussion, which is exactly the right response. The problem with spiked drinks isn’t the getting horny or being easy, it’s about someone intentionally trying to control someone else against their consent – it’s the problem of someone trying to exert their will over someone else’s, the problem is the power dynamic.
This wasn’t an attempt to manipulate or control someone against their will, and more like a spill at the aphrodisiac-scented lube factory. Everyone just got a libido spike. Heck, coming onto your period can do similar. Honestly, with Dabbler around, it should have been something everyone was already being prepared for. This strikes me as more a military failing than a moral one.
I agree entirely.
I suspect that Dabbler – being experienced & self-possessed as she is – probably created a certain sense of false security on that front.
If we were to talk about military failing, we would be talking about how Sydney brought an unauthorized visitor on base without notifying her CO, a Base Commander, or even a Duty Officer.
And, no. Unless Gwen falls under one of the latter two, her approval doesn’t qualify any more than if you turned to your bunkmate and said “I’m going to sneak someone on base. You cool with that, Bro?”
But, at this point in the comic, picking at the comic’s many…..MANY…..shortcomings concerning military procedure seems pointless.
As for the Parfait and her “Bill Clinton” aura story arc: I’ve already made my thoughts on that clear so no need to rehash.
*wiggles fingers*
KA-SUSPENSION-OF-DISBELIEF!!!
the Disney sequels burned my suspension of disbelief out. then John wick came and very politely and professionally killed it off.
Was he nice?
I bet he was nice. ^_^
yes he was.
To be fair, there are good reasons why Archon gets a very relaxed version of military discipline and procedure. The supers that make out the team would not tolerate anything stricter, and if they get unhappy they can always leave and go to work for Deus or similar. The rest o the world would love to hire a defector from Archon. There are good reasons why Max simply cannot afford to beat down anyone else into compliance about eveything, and the best she can do to keep some discipline is to deal the occasional punishing training. Besides, she screwed up about the causes of this crisis as much as Sydney in her own way.
Exactly! The ‘military attitude’ aspects of this comic are barely believable at best. And the least funny.
And, worst of all, Maxi didn’t “get any”. What about her morale?
(Let’s just hope a certain paramedic survives the aftermath without serious injury!)
I guess the debate would be where the line is between “mind control” and “lust hormone overdrive.” I didn’t see anyone mind controlled, no one actions being dictated to them. I did see a bunch of supers get super-horny and act on it with other super-horny adults. No body even looks like they regret the sex they just had. If having one’s libido unwillingly turned up to 11 equals some kind of mind control or rape, then Donna from my 12th grade English class owes me an apology.
The only one that was sexually assaulted in this story line was Sidney. She seems more annoyed than hurt or afraid.
> The only one that was sexually assaulted in this story line was Sidney. She seems more annoyed than hurt or afraid.
Totally consistent with her “unsinkable Sydney Scoville” characterization. This is the indomitable gal that recovered from being stranded across the galaxy, hunted by murderous kaiju on a dead planet, being murdered in cold blood in an erased timeline, and being covered in the innards of another would-be murderer with little more than a couple therapy sessions or scenes of comedy freaking out.
She is also the gal that exploited the opportunity of aforementioned galactic marooning to get in an open relationship with a hunky, furry, poly alien, and try to set up the other guy she fancied in the polycule soon afterwards. Why should a few unwelcome kisses and gropes from a dear friend not in her right mind and control of one’s powers faze her? Besides, she was in the process of regaining control of the situation when Max And Dabs intervened.
Sexual hangups are (one of) Max’s Achilles’ heel, not hers. The only thing that truly threatened to traumatize her was the threat of losing her lived dream of being a superhero.
Some people are just anal about what “consensual” means. There is no indication anyone had sex they didn’t actually want, but some folks just have to White knight for fictional characters’ chastity even when literally no one is complaining about what happened.
Or, you know, Dave’s overall handling of the topic has been inconsistent enough about how much ‘consent’ is involved with lust aura-induced sex that some folks are expressing concerns that a lot of the language used resembles real-life rape apologia.
The biggest problem, though, hasn’t actually been anything in the comic. It’s been reading the comments and seeing the Red Flag Brigade come out, lashing personal attacks against anyone expressing any concerns. Not all of the defenders fall in this category; some have been thoughtful and focused on elements like the apparent ability of everyone affected to choose how they relieved the desires to make the case that it wasn’t as bad as some first took it; that’s a reasonable approach, and it largely convinced me to take another look at the whole sequence.
But those who’ve decided to rail against consent culture and other efforts to reduce the instance of sexual assault? Yeah, y’all are cordially invited to remain in your parents’ basement, because their failure to raise a decent human being means they’re the ones who should have to deal with you.
*furiously pokes screen in search of ‘like’ button.*
TBH I’m one of the ones who probably overreacted. It’s hard for me to see a ‘dubious-consent’ scenario like this without relating it to two very specific relationships I’ve had with people who were hurt in very specific ways that left me with a lot of frustrated rage because there was precious little I could do to make it better or easier.
It doesn’t really help that people were framing it in terms of ‘blame’ and whether something was done intentionally. The emotional fallout that poisoned those relationships wasn’t about blame. And it’s my lasting regret that I made the mistake of thinking primarily in terms of blame (and rage) at one of the perpetrators when, as I finally understood much too late, what she actually needed from me was my presence and emotional support, not immediate violent retribution. Anyway, people making apologia about “but wasn’t done intentionally” got seriously on my nerves because I still deal with regret for letting the blame thing hit my berserk button way back when.
From the POV of the woman I was involved with it came out in self-blame. Self-hate and self-doubt and self-punishment and self-harm and try as I might I could never be whatever it was she really needed as she dealt with all that.
So, yeah, I’m hurt, and she was worse hurt than me, and decades later I still have rage, though no longer physically violent rage, whenever I start hearing apologia and blame-gaming on scenarios where these decisions are subject to anything remotely coercive.
The hilariously thing is that Math and Jabberwokky actually make sense as a couple.
The are so perfect for each other that it literally isn’t actually funny.
More like, “well finally.”
The fact that Jabbers also seems to be bi and open to least some polyamory probably makes this a bit easier for her.
You may call it “lsck of faith in humanity”, I call it “total faith in humanity”.
It’s possible I may be a touch cynical.
An optimist say we are are in the best word possible en emphazises best a pessimist think the same but emphazise possible.
And both lack imagination.
It is wiser by far to ask if, than to assert that, we are in the best possible world.
But…the answer to that question is uncomfortable to the owner class, because it would lead to people thinking about how to improve things, which would upset their privileged position in the current system.
I always feel so bad for Dave whenever I read his blog posts.
Both for the self-inflicted backlash, and the self-inflicted mental issues.
Can confirm.
Lots of obligatory self-flagellation.
The ads for Succubi junk-food would be wild.
“You’re not you when you’re horngry. Grab a Dickers!”
Edward Bernays would be proud of you for that one. X’D
Oh you wish you were Oscar Mayers Weiner, because everybody would be in love with you!
Approved by the joint improved diplomatic relations council.
Make love not war, man – ☮️
Lots of satisfied smiles there. Just a bit of fun, no harm done, and no one’s fault.
So it looks like it did conclude to everyone’s satisfaction.
Except Jigs and Mr. Amorphous.
Remember he’s spoken for.
Math is my hero.
This has really brought to the fore for me the realization that there are several different approaches to law, different perspectives on the purpose for them, and that people tend to gravitate towards one, and neglect the others.
Harm-focused: The purpose of law is to minimize harm, and to provide restitution. The experience of the victim is central, and greater harm requires greater restitution — but conversely, if no harm has been done, then no punishment or restitution is necessary, even if the law has been broken. Intent doesn’t matter, and the person responsible for that harm, if any, is just the most reasonable person to provide restitution. Punishment is itself harm, and is thus to be avoided, unless it is expected to provide a significant deterrent factor.
Intent-focused: The purpose of the law is to pass judgement, to categorize people into good, law-abiding citizens, and criminals. The goal is to make a more moral society, and ensure that justice is delivered. The harm inflicted on the victim is almost irrelevant — there needn’t really be any harm at all. If someone intentionally breaks the law, then they must be punished to see justice done. Conversely, if they broke the law unintentionally, it would be wrong to punish them — no matter how much harm their actions caused. It’s important to distinguish between an evil criminal and a good person who made a mistake, even when they break the same law, because if you punish good people, or show evil people mercy, they’ll no longer feel that the system is fair or consistent, and will be less inclined to obey the law.
Order-focused: The purpose of the law is to maintain civil society, to prevent it from falling into chaos. Neither intent nor harm matter — the law is the law, and must be followed. People who break the law must be punished to maintain order. Showing mercy undermines the consistency of the law, and people will no longer feel compelled to obey it. The law itself has no goal, other than to ensure people conform to the legal consensus.
I imagine most people follow a muddle of the three, because people aren’t generally philosophically consistent, but I think that everyone could find one of those three motives at the bottom of their mental stack, and that a lot of people talk past each other because they hold fundamentally different views without realizing it.
I’m thinking that all of those “purist” philosophies fail thoroughly.
The purpose of the law is to maintain a working society and minimize disruption, while supporting freedom to the greatest degree possible. Intent matters, harm matters, and the law matters. To intend harm and act contrary to law requires punishment, whether or not the harm occurs. To intend no harm and act contrary to law, causing harm requires punishment, because the law exists to ward off the harm. To intend no harm and act without breaking the law, but causing harm, is a civil matter and need only be pursued if the entity harmed desires restitution. In all cases, what actually happened is the lens through which the event must be viewed, not the perception of the parties. “Mercy” is not a thing, whereas “leniency” is, where intent to harm and knowledge of transgression are found factually missing. Ignorance is not an excuse, but notice is required for justice to be served and predictability (thus social stability) to be preserved.
All of which presumes the “function of law” to be more-or-less benevolent & egalitarian.
Which is a honking big presumption, and riddled with instances to the contrary.
Consider that in many instances, the punishment for a given unlawful act is a fine. In such a case, the act in question is _materially_ permissible, as long as one can afford to pay for the privilege. At a minimum, this demonstrates two classes of “Justice,” one for the poor, and one for the rich. Now by your standard, one could argue this is still a “working society,” but it doesn’t either “minimize disruption,” or “support freedom to the greatest extent possible.”
Maybe I didn’t make it clear enough, but I’m not suggesting that any real-world system is likely to exclusively use any of those models, but a combination of them. It’s individual people who are likely to view the law primarily through one of those lenses, and to struggle to understand the views of people who use a different lens.
A good effort, and thoughtful, but also incomplete.
You should read up on Foucault, and specific his book ‘Discipline & Punish.’ It providers a superb structural analysis of the entire system of laws & penalties. In a single, broad stroke, however, it can be very roughly generalized as, “The modern system exists to shape individuals into effective profit centers for the ruling class, as efficiently as possibly.”
Hrrmm… I’m inclined to say that’s approaching the question from a different angle, and I would categorize that as a different expression of the same underlying system as my intent-focused model. More specifically, it’s an economic expression of the principle of power, rather than a legalistic expression. What’s common between the two is the focus on identity over action — on hierarchy. That some people are intrinsically deserving, and others undeserving, and that the system should reward and punish them appropriately.
But I’ll certainly look into your reading recommendation, as it probably will help me develop my ideas further.
Glad to help.
If you need something a bit less time consuming and digestible-while-driving, PhilosophyTube has a couple of videos that discuss Foucault’s work on the subject.
Nothing beats the primary source, though.
why do I suspect that the original will give me lidlow?
I enjoy Philosophy tube. I just wish the one featuring a guy in a spacesuit had workable audio. I learned a word from her- Ideation. say it with me. ‘leftists on YouTube have ideation.’
(posts like this make me glad for a lack of PM capability.)
Where I find your observation inapt is in not applying it to a specific legal code. Legal codes have particular guiding philosophies, and are all about specifics. But forums like this receive comments from people living under differing legal philosophies without specification. I suppose “guilty if you can’t afford it” to differ from both “guilty until proven innocent” and “innocent until proven guilty”. But “good law” and “bad law” are only defineable in the context of the guiding philosophy of a given human legal code.
That is a longwinded way of saying that you appear to be criticizing the U.S. legal code as a whole for failing to follow its’ own philosophy with an argument that can only be applied to specific laws. I am, of course, guessing. The U.S. legal code, as our form of government, is as prone to errors as it is unnecessary for angels, but we try. In God’s Law on the other hand, the temporal consequences of sin are as impossible to evade as gravity, so it is a much more effective system.
I would recommend considering a fourth:
Harmony-focused.
The law exists to ensure that everyone’s rights are protected, especially from others who would violate those rights, and doing its best to fix it when violations happen. In this regard, accidents are almost non-events, but they would be used for examples with mild restitution to deter others from attempting, but no intent to actually harm the accident-causer; slap on the wrist response, actually. On the other hand, those who intentionally violate the rights of others, would be seen as someone who is currently working disharmoniously. The goal there involves also respecting their rights as much as possible while also ensuring the rights of others are protected, meaning that there would be a focus on rehabilitation, not punishment. Also, as if people mutually consent to something, there would be no rights violated, so things involving mutual consent wouldn’t even be issues (i.e. poly relationships, drugs, duels, etc.)
That doesn’t seem to me to be distinct from the harm-focused approach. The descriptions I provided weren’t meant to be taken too literally, but as rough descriptions trying to find real-world categories.
In the harm portion, you bring up it being focused on bringing restitution. Although there is effort to ease the victims suffering, restitution implies the culprit is the one to do it. That’s not the case in what I’m talking about.
I included restitution just as an example of the upper limits of a harm-focused approach, the only reason for “punishing” the actor. Perhaps I over-emphasized it, but I would also suggest that restitution need not come from the actor who caused the harm, and that you interpret it that way because our society is primarily intent-focused. What I meant was that under a harm-focused system, the goal would be to make the victim whole, to restore what had been lost. To undo the harm, or balance it out. Who is responsible for making that happen is not the focus, whereas under an intent-focused system, judging the actor is the first priority.
There are actually a couple more versions of the purpose of law, but they don’t get much press…
Such as “profit-focused” – the goal of the law is to prevent people from profiting by breaking the law, thus preventing people who OBEY the law from feeling like chumps. If you broke the law in such a way that you did massive harm to yourself and profited almost nothing, that’s a relatively low priority for legal enforcement. EG, disabling your own air bags, engaging in reckless driving, and then dying. probably not worth suing your estate for civil infraction fees related to air bag tampering. You punished yourself just fine.
or “Standards-focused” – the goal of the law is make very certain that EVERYONE is crystal-clear about what sort of behavior is completely unacceptable, and what they are expected to do when they encounter a possible violation of standards. And to correct the situation when bystanders fall short. This is where things like public stoning and collective punishment come in…. “I can’t prove that every adult in this man’s extended family KNEW he was a wifebeater, but I can prove that they DIDN’T ASK ENOUGH QUESTIONS about the bruises on his wife’s face… and therefore, the punishment is this: The criminal will be stoned to death by his own family, and any adult family member holding back will be shot. This constitutes teaching the family that failure to investigate and prevent wifebeating is unacceptable. If there is anyone else in the community that the local police believes might need to learn this lesson, they will be forced to watch….
I would categorize your “profit-focused” under “intent-focused”, because it’s about controlling reward and punishment according to how “deserving” the actor is. The point is to control people, to not allow “bad” people to get away with anything, and to not punish “good” people, because, as you say, if someone profits from breaking the law, then the “good” people feel like chumps, and thus feel less inclined to follow the law. The purpose is to align the morality of the actor with the consequences.
“Standards-focused” I would categorize under “order-focused”, which is the category I least understand, and thus provided the shortest description for. It is about conformity over any other property. The law is justified by agreement, rather than some underlying goal of preventing harm or judging the actor’s character.
Culture is a self-reinforcing pattern of interaction which has the effect of tending to promote its own survival.
Law is an aspect of culture. But it has the same effect as all the other parts of culture. It creates a system of conduct, custom, and consequences internal to a civilization, which renders that civilization capable of surviving, whether in isolation or in competition with other cultures. At a high level it promotes the creation of value and prevents wasting valuable resources.
One could argue that that’s what it’s “for”, but that anthropomorphizes the universe by ascribing intent to something that is merely a consequence of the way physics works. The going concern is about what *WE* – that is, the actual people of the culture in question – want our laws to mean.
Because believing something good about our laws, or formulating moral principles about them, is also a way of promoting the survival of our culture, through shared ideals.
I would say that I think I agree with what you’re saying… But I’m not sure why you’re saying it. Or rather, I’m guessing that you’ve misinterpreted what I said, if you intended it to be some sort of counterpoint. I’m not suggesting that these categories are some sort of divine or inherent purpose of law — I’m putting them forth as a model for understanding the different ways that people want laws to operate, to provide insight into the different kinds of values people use to make decisions, because people tend to mistakenly assume that other people share their values. Throughout the discussion on the past few pages, as well as many other discussions, I’ve seen people argue past each other, because they clearly hold different values, but assume that the person they’re arguing with holds the same values they do, and they can’t understand why they come to different conclusions.
I think these differences in values are the fault lines in our cultures, the irreconcilable differences that we’ve ignored or papered over for centuries, and that it’s becoming increasingly hard to pretend that we’re all the same. I think we’re going to have to face those differences sooner, rather than later, and find a solution, or we’re going to end up going to war over them.
Notice that Sydney and Parfait are on the stage,along with Dabbler.
So how will this turn out?!?
It *seems* that Sydney has permission from Anvil, and Gwen would no doubt be allowed to perform a summoning.
Otherwise it’s a bit of a culture clash.
Dabbler will likely treat Parfait in a similar manner as an elder sibling would a younger that dropped mom’s expensive china.
Max will likely be gathering information at this point, and determining who should see Doc Frost. Safeties would be put in place, but punishing a matter like this is tricky (and likely to be avoided) as there was no ill-intent or motive.
An incident happened that can be avoided. Yes it struck at a very sensitive core value that people are passionate about (sexual consent, other posts can go into that), but it was a first.
I like this comic a lot.
But.
I would like to see Parfait (and any other new succubi) get an option to not have to take the collar.
If she WANTS to, okay. But she shouldn’t HAVE to.
… No collar, means they die, there is no alternative
The only choice is if they want to keep living, or die slow and painful
Wow, you have no ability to think hypothetically, do you? And that isn’t even getting into that the matriarchs were already stated to be able to fix the need for a collar.
It was described as, “We figured out how to do it ages ago, but it would fundamentally change what we are, and we really like what we are.”
That said, I imagine exceptions do exist. We may even discover at some point that the Succubae Matriarchs has a sort of back-door for the rare case who really, really, wants to be not-a-succubus. Some amalgamation of witness protection and very confidential transition services. Could make for an extremely interesting story.
Honestly, I am much less concerned about the case you describe, and much more so about which contingency policies succubus society has in place for the scenario of a master’s sudden death. E.g. Tom is a warlord/merceary leader endlessly busy with interdimensional warfare and likely intrigue in the likely cutthroat infernal society.
What are the chances of a domestic or foreign enemy offing him, and Dabbler and Parfait suddenly being hours or days away from death? How easily and quickly a bond can be shifted? We are told that a perspective master’s background check process is not so quick or easy in normal cicusmtances, for good reasons. Does this mean there are lists of potential masters pre-approved for emergency replacement? Are they shared, or individual? Did succubi bother to create a master succession procedure the way we have presidential succession laws?
I would prefer if Dave finds a way to reassure the likes of me that Dabs and Parf are not at risk of a dire medical emergency if Tom gets a very bad day on the battlefied. Admittedly it would be an interesting plot arc, even if I do not really wish harm for Tom. I have grown somewhat fond of him once his Evio Overlord facade gave way to the reality of being a noble demon (heh), a good childhood friend with benefits to Xuriel, and a doting Pygmalion figure to Parfait.
To be completely honest, what we have seen of both Dabbles & Tom incline me to think that they themselves have some sort of contingency in place, and I’d guarantee that includes Parfait.
Some sort of massive mana battery.
It was also implied that if Tom comes very close to death, but isn’t dead yet, that he has the hypothetical ability to pull so much emergency Mana from Dabbler and Parfait as to render them comatose or near-death as well. I think Dabbler said that Tom had made at least one ‘small’ version of such an emergency Mana pull at least once.
The would have to have something in place.
Dabbler is in fact in a pretty risky situation, with Thom being the leader of an army that regularly invades other worlds/realities. Before he rose to that position he must have been a /soldier/ in that army.
It would take only one spell or projectile that was not dodged for Dabbler to find herself suddenly with a huge hole in her soul through which her magic (and life) was rapidely draining out.
No matter the succubi matriarchs like who and what they are, that is an unacceptable risk. My guess is that they have a secondary spell in place that allows a succubus who suddenly finds herself without ‘owner’ can draw on the collective magic of the other succubi until such time that a replacement can be found for the departed.
(but in honesty, the whole concept is nightmare fuel. It is something that utterly amoral slave owners would come up with, if they could, to keep their slaves on a tight leash. Horrifying as the concepts, it is consistent from the world building. And it is not as if actual real humans have not considered something similar when some of the CEO caste fearing societal collapse earnestly discussed which technology was better to keep their guards under control. Having the only key to the supply store or explosive collars … )
You’re making the assumption that she bonded with Tom _before_ he became command staff.
Also, if the Demonic DoDis anything like the American DoD, he probably has he equivalent of an advanced degree, was essentially recruited as a Zero, and may not have actually ever seen live combat.
Given that thinking about the collar is what begat this scene, that question has been answered.
Yeah, since they gained their freedom, succubi have been reluctant to give up the collar, despite acting to make the bond voluntary and monitored, although apprently they would have the means to tinker with it. The likely main reason, as shown by Parfait in this very arc, is they don’t want to give up the recreational benefits from the extra pleasure centers activated by the collar. This despite the residual drawbacks of the situation, such as the vulnerability to the soul hole and extra need to train to control their powers.
If you ask my opinion, much more optimal solution rather than the one they found would be to find a way to plug the ‘soul hole’ for good and keep the option to enter a bond on an entirely voluntary and harmless basis (so far, it is necessary for survival). Alternatively or in addition, to find a way to activate those extra pleasure centers without the collar. Succubi are a biodroid species magi-engineered from the beginning, the soul hole was introduced relatively late in the development of the species, and the matriarchs are told to be expertise rivaling the one of the ancient artificers, so this modification should be possible. This could be done by tinkering with existing succubi, or genegineering the next generation. I am still waiting for a good in-universe explanation of why this not happened already in the history of the race.
Did you not see the Kwisatz Succurach? Not that it would necessarily turn out that way, but the underlying question is if you can change anything and everything, what should you change? Why keep things like eating, or sleeping, or breathing, or even sex? People become attached to their identities, even their “flaws”.
Well, as a dedicated transhumanist and min-maxing powergamer, I totally support the notion of removing typical human weaknesses such as a need to eat, sleep, or breathe. I just support the idea of keeping the ability to do
the latter two activities on a voluntary and recreational basis. As an hedonist, I do not see the point of removing a source of pleasure, so sex would stay, even if we could certainly improve on the template of Mother Nature in various ways. I admit a serious sentimental fondness for the humanoid form and appreciate the practical benefits of it that Dabs talked about sometime ago.
The equivalent in succubus terms of building an optimized human form would certainly include patching the soul hole and keeping the ability to bond on a voluntary and recreational basis. I am not into BDSM stuff so Parf getting hot and bothered about the collar stuff left me scratching my head, but I am always in favor of getting options. If the horned girls like it, why not keep the option? But the dire threat of the soul hole absolutely needs to go.
I would also augment or replace the glamour with Mystique/Skrull-like shapeshifting (I suppose the in-setting equivalent would be full doppelganger powers), b/c to my mind actual body change as opposed to illusion is the superior method of doing that thing.
I suppose a lifetime of being a transhumanist and a min-maxing (power)gamer left me with a notion of identity more flexible and practical than most, and I am usually ruthless about eliminating most flaws.
On a tangent, I find myself thinking that Tom’s collar is less “four “X’s” that a triple diamond, or a stylized chain. I’m reminded of the design of the Garlean banner in FFXIV.
that makes me think he’s on top of an MLM pyramid the 3 black diamond level….
Suddenly I like Tom a lot less. -_-
Poor Parf looks miserable :(
Les and Jiggs? She looks… smitten, while he looks confused :P (hoping it is Les and not Morph… because that sure has nookie ain’t Brooke!)
Wait, is that Les in the background of panel 5? Kinda looks like his blond mullet…
Scarlet was on-base at the time? And she hooked up with Hiro? Good for him ;)
Okay, keep getting Scarlet and Crimson mixed up (their names, not who they are: Crimson is the ex-singer who has set up her own record label and was ‘turned’ some time in the last fifty years or less)
What concerns me most is now the public shaming of Parf and Sydney. This should have been private.
Yes, there should be a meeting, but it should be about what to do in the future not what or who caused it now. When you’re on a blame hunt, people get hurt.
Comedians get unintentionally caught up in this all the time. Comedy also serves another purpose, to test the waters of tolerance.
Intolerance has led to more pain, death and destruction than anything else on this planet.
Succubi it’s 12 + 14i + 37j where i is the square root of negative 1 and j is a direction orthogonal to 1 and i.
Hmm, wonder people would have felt if the Lust Aura had affected those with Average to less than Average beauty, and not these “I have powers so I get to cheat the beauty standard” just a thought.
Well we kinda already knew she and math wouldn’t notice lol
Question: Does the Lust Aura affect only the Harem present in its radius, or does it affect the brain and thus make all Harems horny (well, more horny) even if only one Harem is present? I mean, I know they all felt the result of that horniness; but did Harem get up to a bunch more trouble outside the base, too?
Given the quantum tangle, and that we’ve seen that if one is enjoying themself, all of them get it, I’d say all 5 were suddenly VERY down bad. of course, once one of them does something about it, they all get the feedback, so only one actually needs to do “something” about it. Virgin Harem should still be saved for marriage.
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We demand more Prinrin! I got my girlfriend into the Grrl-verse and she happens to be a very tiny lady compared to my 6’1”. She’s a bit complexed that she is still being asked her IDs at 28. So of course I call her my little goblin girl! She gets mad at that. LOL!
I am hating myself considerably but I must know the name of the short green one in the man’s lap…… I cannot help but find that short green one cute. I am not into that sort of thing but my brain is in a location I can’t drag it out of no matter how hard I try! Dang it Dave draws her so nicely and cutely that makes me want to grab hold of her cuddle her and do many things with her.
The goblin girl is Prinrin. I searched through the comments to find out myself. Several people mentioned it, and if you click on the link of “Prinrin” below the comic, (in the list of names) you’ll find the other pages where she appears.
Hmm indeed indeed, thank you.
goblin shortstack would be twistedtox approved.
Prinrin looks like she’s still “ready.”
Honestly, I wouldn’t have a problem with seeing everything that happened, especially with the gobbo.
Nonsense, Succubi are on a logarithmic scale, like a 6 through 8 if humanity is a one, and every point is twice as horny as the point before it.
… if I was a Forensic Analyst with Arclight, who would have to worry about getting hit by this shit while working on CSEM for the FBI, I would quit immediately after this.
No matter how basically harmless this event turned in the end, no doubt Archon missed a bullet here. To highlight why and how much, I have thought of a plot variant that makes the recent arc much worse (and a proper crossover crisis for Archon and the Grrlverse).
Let’s suppose a rogue succubus supervillain exists, a broad equivalent of Sciona (Succubus Sciona, or SS for short) that is on the run from the matriarchs and the Twilight Council. She decides to take over Archon for supervillain reasons. She has the support of a henpecked demon ‘master’ she has wrapped around her finger, the ‘bad’ equivalent of Tom (BT), and his demon horde, including a few other rogue succubi. Apart from having mastered succubus abilities like Décolleté, she is an expert sorceress like Dabbler and a master blood mage like her Alari equivalent. She is half-doppelganger, so she has shapeshifting powers as well.
She kidnaps Parfait without Tom noticing and analyzes her metaphysical signature. She sets up a big orgy somewhere in the world, enough to empower her as much as Vehemence was at the apex of the restaurant battle. She takes Parfait’s appearance and contacts Sydney subtly giving her the idea of a hangout. She uses magical means and her knowledge of Parfait’s signature to hijack Sydney’s summoning. Her impersonation of Parfait is flawless for Sydney. At the usual apex of the hangout, she fakes losing control of her lust aura, and hits Sydney and everyone else in the building with a big lust zap. This is the mind-control real deal, powerful enough to override wills, sexual orientations, and everything else. Sydney succumbs to her mind control. Once she has neutralized any opposition in the Archon HQ, she opens a portal for her allies/minions to take control of it.
In this scenario, Dabbler stays back a while for reasons (maybe she is called to the matriarchs and/or the TC to get a warning about SS). Max returns alone to Archon. She is captured by SS using the super lust aura and enslaved Hiro as a honey trap. SS makes Max, Sydney, and every other super in Archon HQ her brainwashed thralls using a combination of blood and sex magic. SS uses Max to issue a call to all other Archon supers and key personnel to come back to HQ immediately. Once they arrive, they are captured and enslaved too. She does the same with Leon, and uses him as a honey trap to capture Krona.
When Dabs comes, she is able to resist SS thanks to her powers and expertise. However, she is badly overpowered by enemy forces and barely manages to flee and seek help. She is left with the monumental task of saving the day with the help of the matriarchs, the TC minus Krona, other friendly supers, and Cora’s crew. Almost surely Deus and his assets too b/c he can easily see the looming danger. They face SS, her minions, the enslaved Archon supers, and thrall Krona.
It gets worse. Using her captured assets, SS easily takes over North America. Its enslaved population is left on a rotating schedule of an ongoing mass orgy, a blood donation mass drive, resting, and working to support the invasion. With America running a national orgy cum blood donation spree, who knows how great her power can get. Almost surely to godlike levels. The matriarchs and the TC can in all likelihood deploy magical protections for their assets and allies, but that’s it. North America has a new God-Empress that controls all Archon and North American assets. Earth is in big trouble.
If SS wins, conquers Earth, and seizes control of its supers, the galaxy is in big trouble. The Xevoarchy would surely mobilize, but as far as we know, the supers overpower the alien cops to begin with, not to mention SS’ impersonation of Galactus. Every advanced alien civilization SS conquers feeds her war machine. If the supers fail to stop SS, I don’t know who else short of the Nth could.
Nightmarish (and rapey) as heck, but also a scenario that a proper superteam in an X-rated superhero setting would deem a typical crossover crisis event. If Archon cannot deal with this kind of threat, they have no place in the superhero business. It could have totally happened if someone like SS existed and Archon was caught pants down (heh) w/o defenses against aura attacks.
On second thoughts, a few other ideas for this scenario:
SS can capture and enslave the Semper Vigilantis thanks to Archon faking a call for assistance. Krona may fall this way, or by using Leo as a honey trap.
Another reason why Dabs is delayed may be b/c SS fakes a call by Parfait that sends her on a wild goose chase. Nothing that would alarm her or Max, just a little sister calling for some teen succubus trouble. So far that had been a quiet evening/night, so Max does not mind Dabs taking a detour.
Math and Jabberwokky are able to resist SS’ mind control because they are already quite lewd to beign with and have found the perfect partner in each other. They are overpowered by enemy forces, and have to flee with Dabs when she comes. They join the good guys in the battle for Earth.
Yet a few other ideas for this scenario (I am having fun with this train of thought):
At some point, SS contacts Vehemence and offers him to join her. This is a big crossroads and test of character for him. If he resists the temptation of easy, godlike sex and power and refuses, she joins the good guys and completes his redemption arc. If and when the heroes win, he gets a pardon and joins the team like Jabberwokky did. He becomes a friend/rival to Max, Hiro, and Ren, and another bug gun for Archon together with Max, Syd, and Dabs. Quite possibly he can be the ‘big man’ super boyfriend that Anvil longs for.
If he falls to temptation and joins SS, he sinks further into supervillainy. SS makes him another consort and second-in-command of hers alongside BT. She adjusts the schedule of her enslaved subjects to include mass brawls and gladiator fights. This empowers V to godlike levels, the Mars to SS’ Venus/Ishtar. The heroes face another ‘god’ in enemy ranks.
At the apex of the crisis, the matriarchs decide to take the field. The global tantric spike empowers them just as much as SS, although she still has an edge thanks to her blood magic and her slaves spilling a sea of blood for her. Moreover, the tantric spike empowers her succubi minions too. Earth/the galaxy becomes a battleground for literal sex goddesses (and one god of battle).
So…wasn’t Mr. Amorphous dating Heatwave? How is she going to react to him having sex with Jiggawatt? How is Jiggawatt going to react once the afterglow wears off? Is that why he’s the only person here who seems kind of nonplussed about it?
I’m pretty sure that’s Sydney up on stage next to Parfait… but where’s her Titular, Eponymous Halo???
Maybe we’re reading to much into this aura….
Maybe it just lowered inhibitions….like 4 shots of tequila?
Remember high school? Anybody get horny at the prom? Anybody NOT get horny at the prom?
How much of that was from your feelings toward you date and how much was from proximity to other horny teens?
Do humans have sex pheromones? If we do would me admit it?
Thinking back, did the chaperones have buckets of ice water on hand?
A quick Google search seems to say “Possibly, but their efficacy remains unproven”. So there may very well be human sex pheromones, but it’s pretty hard to prove if they actually do anything. One thing Science! does “know” is that the Veromernasal Organ (the part of a human’s nose that responds to pheromones) is largely vestigial, and doesn’t seem to actually connect to the brain at all. On the other hand, there are semi-rare humans who can reliably ‘smell’ if a woman is in estrus, so it’s possible those folks DO have a functioning VNO.
To quote Wikipedia on the subject: “The VNO contains the cell bodies of sensory neurons which have receptors that detect specific non-volatile (liquid) organic compounds which are conveyed to them from the environment. These compounds emanate from prey, predators, and the compounds called sex pheromones from potential mates. Activation of the VNO triggers an appropriate behavioral response to the presence of one of these three.”
I hope Heatwave was serious when she said she needed some time when she saw Mr. Amorphous skull turned inside out. He’s on big trouble otherwise.
props to the strawberry blond, he rang Jiggawatt’s bell quite well.
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