Grrl Power #1391 – Flourish with unsuccess
Yes, Max is Neo-ing him. At the end of Matrix 1, when he IDDQD’d after getting shot? You know the scene.
It’s the no-look more than the one-hand that’s really got to sting. The only way this would hurt more is if Max manages to add a few pumps of apple pie filling from the nearby condiment dispenser to the top of her funnel/warp cake without missing a parry.
Man, imagine if apple pie filling was a regular condiment alongside ketchup and mustard and mayo and “magic sauce” which is really just horseradish and BBQ sauce mixed together. Would I try a few pumps of apple pie filling on a hamburger? Especially one that had cheddar cheese and bacon on it? Hell yeah I would. A waffle or pancakes? I mean, I have eaten that. It’s great. A hot dog? No, probably not. Unless the hot dog had sauerkraut on it. Sauerkraut and applesauce work well together, so yeah, I would probably try that. Though sauerkraut dogs usually also come with spicy mustard. I don’t think that would work well with apple pie filling. Hmm…
Anyway, if life were a game, this guy would be surprised by how much XP this duel earns him, since he doesn’t realize how many ranks higher his opponent is. That is, assuming the game doesn’t give you any hints about relative level disparity, and also grants XP for non-mortal combat. Which games really should. Grant XP for sparring, I mean. I understand why most don’t, because you could level in total safety, but if it doesn’t then what would be the point in practicing? Like, schools for learning weapons wouldn’t really exist if you couldn’t advance your skills in them. This assumes, of course, that XP in a given game is simply a numerical representation for skills learned, and not some external system that functions as a sort of currency for purchasing level ups and new abilities.
Ooh, look! A new vote incentive! And it’s updated with color!
Well, in progress, obviously. I have another one that’s actually a bit further along, but everyone was all, “Sydney Kobold vote incentive!” So I switched to this one. Plus the other one was a multi-character picture so it will actually take me longer to finish. I hope to have an update for this one each week, so stay tuned. There is a slightly higher res version on Patreon.
By the way, this gunmetal blue-ish background and teal pencils are how I draw the comic. I set it up this way so I don’t have to spend all day staring into a bright white blank page.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
Try bacon jam on your hamburger, then. It really rocks.
Have you ever tried a slice of pineapple and swiss on a chicken burger? delish.
Where do you find bacon jam?
Bacon jam isn’t hard to make!
Also, not just Pineapple, but GRILLED pineapple. On any burger, not even just chicken (though that combo is damn tasty)
While visiting Montana, I got a burger at a place that did one with huckleberry bacon jam. I can’t replicate it at home (no local huckleberries), but I get close using blueberries. It’s delicious.
“Where do you find bacon jam?”
Everywhere in Texas. Alongside the jalapeno jam.
There’s a burger joint near me (Only Burger, in Durham NC) that has a burger with bacon, bleu cheese, and red onion jam, which really ties it all together.
Was Sydney about to eat Max’s funnel cake?
Is that a rhetorical question? ;-)
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape
You don’t spit in the wind
You don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don’t eat Maxima’s funnel cake.
The better question is what happened to the one she was already holding when she went to catch Maximas, did Max make Syd drop her own funnel cake, that is just a party fowl and nomming on the replacement is totally justified.
Or Dave forgot she was holding her own in the first place and failed to depict her holding two but the intention on this page was that was still Syd’s original cake she had started out eating in the first place?
Maximum disrespect is what this poser deserve.
Should be written as “MAXimum” disrespect. And yes, he does.
I would even say it is MAXIMAl disrespectful dear huan…
Thank you for the correction.
Fable gives you XP for sparing and otherwise practicing, it’s honestly great.
I mean, you get a whole lot more experience by killing the highest level enemies you can but running around makes you faster and it’s awesome.
Morrowind was the same way. Run around and you gain athletics. Jump around and you gain acrobatics. Cast random spells over and over? Gain spell skills. Etc., etc.
I think the spells had to actually hit something in Morrowind, unless they added that in Oblivion, but spellmaking was so cheap in those days, you didn’t have to do some long-ass quest chain just for the opportunity. Anyway, I agree it’s better when your effort is rewarded with skill experience.
Yes, because of that you made a spell that damages yourself for a point and heals yourself too.
Valheim also gives you exp for practicing various skills.
Is he just trying to be that show-boaty? It seems ridiculous he just decided to guard in the complete opposite direction to Max there. Maybe it’s like a badly AI-choreographed fight scene he’s seeing play out?
Also, Sydney was just gonna scarf that and apologize later if Max hadn’t intervened right then. Get your own Sydney. Actually she probably spent all her space shore leave allowance trying other spicy space dishes than last time, didn’t she?
I was kind of expecting this, honestly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cuihrjLNAo
There’s still time, dear viewer… there’s still time.
This is really, REALLY important…
Max may still bend his beak.
You obviously never met a teen- early twenties male athlete.
Did she ask for her funnel cake back because the guy that challenged her to a duel is not worth her time or because she knew that if she left it with Sydney too long Sydney was going to eat it?
Yes
More ‘and’ than ‘or’, I think.
1 – The middle set of panels remind me a lot of the Robin Hood Daffy cartoon from the actual Golden Age of Loony Tunes. (Not the more simplistic ones during the WWII era… the ones between that and the revivals around the mid 80s and beyond where they got too tame.) Mostly the whole quarterstaff fight where he’s doing all those fancy moves to no effect other than smashing his own beak in repeatedly (even when he’s just going through the motions with his fingers to figure out what he did wrong).
2 – An egg fried medium well is great on a well made burger. So is a nice creamy peanut butter, which gives a nice sweet but salty accent to it. (I can see a peanut putter sauce dispenser for use with funnel cakes… and one with strawberry jam beside it… but also for those who like it on their burger, and if they want just a bit more peanut taste to their Thai food. (Of course they have Thai food… They have Thai Fighters, don’t they?)
Dave’s inspiration for this sequence I’m sure. We were all thinking it.
Have to agree, that’s exactly where my brain went…
Ho! Ha ha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Ha! Thrust!
Only Burger also has a Fried Green Tomato Burger, with a fried green tomato (natch), a fried egg, and pimento cheese. Messy but delicious
me at A&W: could I get a buddy burger with the egg medallion please? (poached egg, basically)
counterperson: um, sure, that actually sounds really good, i’ll have to try it
me: well, give me half off and you can have a bite of mine
counterperson: *blank stare, idea processing*
you beat me to it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cuihrjLNAo&t=1s
Wow.
…
I mean… wow. What else can I say, except…
This kid is an idiot. Every single move he made is wrong.
“In the Mushashi-Bayard scale you are equivalent of a complete noob” followed by obvious truths
Combat 001
telegraphing your attacks has never been a way to win.
Combat 002:
distance is important if you had longer reach, in a duel don’t waste it, stabilize and stay out of reach.
Combat 003:
Your stamina isn’t infinite conserve energy… A combat is a gutter figthing not a carfully coregraphed and readable action sequence.
Combat 004:
Flashy is often the contrary of efficient in a serious combat act like William Ewart Fairbairn not Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Even if your aren’t under influence in the last case if your opponent is midely competent you could end as the Belgian of a French joke.
About french and pastry a Chausson aux pommes a french classic is is a Viennoiserie filled with applesauce , a form of turnover .
Well said, well said. *golf clap*
Seems relevant here.
https://youtu.be/xTWjJDh87SE?si=NyZZ9Ma19_TTr1Ly
Hopefully this isn’t a double post.
Even the Daffy Duck clip others have been referring to had the showy fighter defeated by a simple move.
Or as the Belgian of a Dutch joke! There are a [i]lot[/i] of Dutch jokes about Belgians.
The belgian of the french jokes are Flemish , and Flemish Dutch (Vlaams-Nederlands), Belgian Dutch (Belgisch-Nederlands) or Southern Dutch (Zuid-Nederlands) speakers.
French are friendly to Walloons , seen as french speaking familly members like Québécois, even if the traditionaly drawl speak french of Walloons is mocked.
French and Dutch share a comon border on Saint Martin an island in Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the northeastern Caribbean, approximately 300 km (190 mi) east of Puerto Rico.
Morrowind gives you “XP” (levels) for “sparring” (ok, non-mortal combat is better description. Or let’s say practicing skills, because running around (while jumping for bonus) also counts towards level-up). Those DAYS spent punching crabs and rats, or sneaking in a quiet corner for no reason at all… Can’t say it was a good idea, though. “Once” was enough, I don’t think I could stand another game like that in this age. Too much focus on leveling the correct skills, otherwise you’d loose ton of bonus points for health/mana/stamina.
In Morrowind I did a lot of leveling with a summoned Scamp and a non-magical weapon.
I kept hitting him without dealing damage (increasing attack skill), while he hit my shield and armor for that part of training.
Apple Filling?
Isn’t that just sweeter/less savoury Apple Sauce?
As for Burgers, I do like a bit of Brown Sauce/Fruit Kechup on mine as it cuts through the fat.
No sir, apple sauce has a pretty specific definition – it is a sweetened puree of apples that has been cooked down.
Apple FILLING refers to a sauce that usually goes inside an apple pie. It is a thickened sauce usually made by cooking juices and sugar together, and it holds apple slices or apple chunks together in the pie. In a dessert setting, it is usually kind of syrupy and has tiny little pieces of apple for texture.
Personally, I would have apple filling on a meatier/smoker dog like a bratwurst, along with the sauerkraut and whole-grain mustard of course. Kind of reminiscent of an apple-smothered pork chop, y’know? I think it’d work.
and there there’s apple butter :D
Y’know, I’ve never had it. I’ve seen it, but just never bothered to buy or try any. Isn’t it cooked down applesauce?
Yes, cooked down aka reduced liquid SLIGHTLY CARAMELIZED applesauce.
With an absolute crap ton of cinnamon. When I was a kid, e old grannies at the church would cook up huge batches of it for the autumn bake sale. It’s amazing on toast with peanut butter.
Awright, you guys sold me on it. Next time I see some I’ll get some apple butter.
However, that’s going on my bagels, not my bratwursts…
Can’t help but notice that the blade is now in the right direction for the guard, it was backwards on the last two pages.
these type of guys never learn. even getting effortlessly beat by their opponents they twist it in their minds to how close it was.
Is the next panel where guy admits Max is better than him, and Max asks why he’s still smiling.
Kid then responds with, “Because I know something you don’t know”.
Max says, “And what is that?”
And guy finishes, “I am not left handed!” [switches to fighting with his right hand]
A few panels later:
Max says, “Let me guess: you’re not right handed either?”
I’d say that your Intelligence stat would be a influence in how quickly you accumulate XP. And this guy’s stat is, shall we say, lacking.
Pain is a wonderful teacher.
I can just imagine a pair of fine mesh shoulder length chainmail gauntlets being used at a weapons compitition.
The compeditors all complaining because they are all getting their asses handed too them.
For shame. How do you decide to make an obvious reference the old Robin Hood Daffy cartoon and then get the sequence wrong like that? It goes Guard-Turn-Parry-Dodge-Spin-Thrust.
Doesn’t really work without hitting yourself in the face at the end of it anyway.
Any one else remember this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBYfZOwKu4k
A lot of us it seems :)
Well, it could always be worse. At least she isn’t Indiana Jonesing him, lol.
That said I wonder if the Stygan culture has contingencies for getting completely schooled in a duel. Does one have to join or start a fan club for the victor?
Is anyone else reminded of Daffy Duck when he tries to duel and the sword goes BOING! right into his face?
buck and a quarter staff
At first, I thought the fight music would be “The Theme From Mortal Kombat”. Now I’m thinking it’s “The Girl From Ipanema”.
Better than “Yakety Sax” though!
That is for when Maxima goes on the offensive.
I thought Max would just pluck the blade out of his hands, break it, toss blade scraps back at young “master’s” feet, take her funnel cake and walk away without a word.
as in Rule of Cool. Because this is about Max not random young master.
Breaking their weapon would be at least rude, and probably dishonorable. Especially since he was thoughtful enough to blunt his weapon when he thought he was just fighting somebody with thick gloves.
This is still massive levels of disrespect, but not the sort that will get his parents angry at you for breaking his birthday present or the witnesses angry at you for breaking the “rules.”
You almost got the “Robin Hood Daffy” (WB Looney Tunes 1958) sequence down.
Daffy Duck: [using his quarterstaff] Ho! Ha ha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Ha! Thrust!
[hits a log with his staff, causing it to recoil and hit him in the bill, bending it upwards. He pulls it down again]
Daffy Duck: Hmm, let’s see now. Something’s amiss here. Hmm… I’ll run through it. “Ho, ha ha, guard, turn, parry, dodge, spin, ha, thrust.”
[Bill bends up of its own accord]
(Courtesy IMDB.)
I didn’t know Maxima was teaching a class in “How to Embarrass Someone 1-0-1.”
She could definitely teach a class in “How to Deal with Annoying People” — probably learned it in the Air Force, definitely learned it at ARCHON.
My biggest concern, besides them getting caught by unknown cultures and customs, is that Max’s primary weakness is getting surprised, and low skill idiots tend to act in erratic and random ways.
Also, Sydney here reminds me of Anya from Spy x Family.
Remember that according to #332 Max is allowed to point a loaded gun at people – because she can catch the bullet.
He would need to speed up a lot before he becomes a danger.
And despite how she looks, I think is actually very ready for any suprises. She is just doing that to humiliate him for annoying her.
Max is ready to catch the bullet. She wasn’t ready for Sydney fear vomit, among other things. Yeah one hopes but don’t take it for granted, especially in an environment with vastly different tech, abilities, and cultures.
Because with the fear vomit, she wasn’t fighting at all, she was just sitting around having a discussion. So naturally she’d be easier to surprise.
Right now she is fighting, so there is no reason for her to be surprised.
RuneQuest (I’m old) has rules for training skills. It’s a percentile-based skill system. It takes a number of hours equal to your skill (so if your Hide skill is 60%, it would take 60 hours, or seven and a half days), at the end of which time you had (I think) 1d6 to your skill. That’s with a qualified teacher, of course. If you’re researching on your own, after you spend the hours you have to roll *over* your current skill or you don’t get anything. Regardless, you can’t train or research a skill that’s at or above 75%. So, it’s time-consuming, and either expensive or unreliable.
Is the kicker going to be that by winning the duel Max also wins that woman assistant of the guy?
Looks like this is the start of a harem anime.
He’s Daffy Ducking her, so it’s permissable for her to Neo him.
There is a huge difference between a Warrior and a (Show) Fighter.
This guy is a show fighter. He duels for irrelevant stuff like “honor”, “prestige” or “showing off”. I doubt even other people of his species consider that a worthwhile pursuit.
Max is a warrior in the most literal sense – she was in a war. In war you don’t fight for honor or looking good. You either win or you die. Everything else is secondary.
Ho! Hah Hah! Guard Turn Parry, dodge, spin, Hah! Thrust! (Thwump!)
OK so I’m not the only one who had that old Looney Tunes Daffy skit play in their head when reading this XD
Good thing there aren’t health bars in this universe. Fight probably wouldn’t even occur because of the skull next to Max’s. Most people are under-leveled and over-screwed
Max should let this go on long enough to let him get really wound up and then hold his blade perfectly immobile by pinching it between her thumb and forefinger while he thrashes about ala the oft mentioned cartoon.
Panel 2b: “Blunt Glowey Dueling SHIELD Activate!” – is that meant to be dueling Sword? Had to really zoom in to read the text.
Shield around the sword? He seems the type to care more about not getting nicks and stains on his cool sword than fighting effectively with it.
It’s so he doesn’t actually cut up her “gloves” or her arms (it doesn’t matter, but he doesn’t know that.).
Presumably duels aren’t supposed to cause serious injury.
There are a couple of brands of sauerkraut that use red cabbage and apple, ambrosia !!
Oh, now I’m musing about an RPG mechanic that allows for two kinds of experience – sparring vs. mortal combat, and you need at least a minimum amount of the latter to cross the threshold to a new level. I think I like it. The optimizers would spar until they were bumping against the next level, then look for the least dangerous encounter that still counted, but it’d still be something.
confident young master of a clan
gets his ass handed by “random girl”
either he will swear to remove this mockery with blood or he will fall deeply in love with maxima
no in between
DAVE! Training is for learning the skills or character class. You want your character to be a fighter/whatev? Training (may be part of the character creation). You want your character to learn swordsmanship? Training. AFTER learning the class/skill can the character earn EXP for it. In some games character may earn EXP through training too.
The local grocery store had cans of apple pie filling on sale for 89 cents. I’ve been using them as pancake topping
well he would have to win to get any xp.
untrue. You get xp by trying and failing, too. You get MORE xp if you win.
Depends on the system. Actually, I think vaguely I recall a system in which the amount of XP you get depended on how narrowly you succeeded or failed (on the principle that you don’t learn much from either an effortless victory or an absolute failure)… not even sure if this actually existed or if I’m unintentionally making something up.
One example I do know, though: Fallen London bases XP gain both on how challenging the task is for you (easier gives less) and whether you succeed or fail (success gives more) — but failing an “almost impossible” task gives more than succeeding at anything easier than “tough”.
Since it’s basically a competitive game, might be more appropriate to refer to MMR, in which case you can observe just how much you were outclassed by how much your rating drops (on a loss) or increases (on a win). Of course, the problem here is that Max is currently unrated (and also smurfing, but it’s not like she’d be rated even if she weren’t disguised).