Grrl Power #1399 – When offers of pampered luxury raised its ugly head…
I probably could have left this page to the imagination, but uh… I didn’t.
Max hasn’t been in a lot of situations where she has to run away from a situation. I mean, she doesn’t have to run away, but it would be pretty ridiculous for her to beat up a mob of overly enthusiastic munchkin mole-wolf things. Of course, Max understands a tactical retreat. Though like this time, nearly all of her retreats are diplomatic retreats. You know, the kind that don’t escalate a situation. Womping a bunch of shorties would definitely be off-mission.
It would make tomorrow’s Fracture Station Gazette. Probably not the front page. It’s largely a trade publication, featuring big shipments coming in and going for sale in the many, many bazaars on the station. Also there’s a section for Station politics, galactic politics, sports… like a huge sports section, because there are so many sports across all the races. Also the comic strip section is humongous and 90% of them make no sense to 90% of the population because a lot of humor is pretty culturally dependent. Slapstick and fart jokes are the closest things to universal humor there is, even if a lot of races are super verklempt about bodily functions.
Then there’s the culture section. There’s a lot of cultural festivals. There’s a “New Year’s” celebration almost every day somewhere on the station, because there’s so many races there and everyone’s homeworld orbits are not synchronized.
And don’t forget the personal’s section. “Hey, saw you looking weird at the Zimblim New Year’s party with too many orifices in your head, but I was into it. I was the tall cyclops at the psychic’s table foretelling everyone’s death. Hit me up on FractureNet.”
Stuff like that. What I’m saying is that The Fracture Station Gazette is like eight inches thick and is physically impossible to neatly fold. Or it would be if it wasn’t distributed electronically, because printing 80 million of those every week would be a ridiculous waste of paper.
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.
Congrats, Sid: you’re a status symbol.
There’s a difference between symbol and idol. She falls squarely into the second… possibly with short terms attached before it. More so when you read the last bubble.
She can also be a status symbol. Having a Sapphire Star Princess in residence would definitely boost the status of the den
Up to this panel, there was no need for the three other members of the away team to join Maxima and Sydney on the dead run.
The three others were still undercover and the crowd had not connected all five as “being together”.
Agreed. And why didn’t Harem and Sid just sneak around a building out of sight and teleport out? Sidney’s way within Daphne’s weight limit…
Short and skinny as she is, Sydney weighs considerably more than 25-50 pounds (Dabbler’s Science Corner #2).
I think this one’s more on Max honestly. She’s the one who drew the crowd by flexing on a scrub and then trouncing an entire group of trained warriors. Sydney just brushed her hair aside. What happened to keeping a low profile?
It’s actually more on Sydney. Max explained why she had to fight, it would actually be weird if her species did not fight. And people are gonna show up to a fight in public that’s just how things are. However for Sydney, she designed her disguise to be problematic. And the thing is based on her reaction she KNOWS this. She knew what the gem on her forehead meant. Maybe she didn’t know what the reaction was going to be, but it’d be like if on earth having to have a disguise and not be suspicious, and intentionally going “Make me as physically pretty as possible, and give me all the designer clothes” and then just going to a normal random mall, not in a place where celebrities visit. You know you’re gonna draw attention.
I’m guessing she thought the reaction would be “occasional squeeing recognition by one or two of her supposed species” rather than “beset by a flash mob of her supposed species”. That said, yeah, she really should have forgone the squeeing recognition in order to keep a low profile.
I disagree. Max never explained why she had to take the fight, she created justification for why she could take the fight, which was entertainment for her, without arousing suspicion. Totally different. Just because the Stygan’s have a warrior culture doesn’t mean fights are mandatory for any flimsy reason. And even if you believe that refusing the fight would draw more attention like Max claimed she also had an opportunity to back off.
I think Max only gets away with this because she outranks Sydney, but to me continuing to actively enable an attention grabbing exhibition greatly outweighs purposefully choosing some flashy jewelry. Mistakes were made by both but Max is more at fault which as a commanding officer she should probably know a bit better in the first place.
There’s also the fact that she surely could have ended the fight and disengaged before it turned into a crowd-drawing four-on-one exhibition.
She did explain why declining the fight would have brought more, and detailed, attention
Everything was fine and candy until Sydney atomic-wedgied the Gods of Misfortune and “Fuckyoumortal!” (everyone knows of those, even if they deny it) by proclaiming that she, out of the whole crew, was the one to attract the least attention, and then flashed the shiny beacon to the entire station
The reason she couldn’t decline the fight is explicitly because of the disguise she chose. Her decisions led to that fight that drew the crowd, not Sydney’s. There are probably 1000 other species she could have picked from that don’t have a “must fight if challenged” culture, but she chose that one, and even implied that she was hopeful that it would happen.
She chose a race that could draw a crowd when she knows one of her subordinates has a habit of manifesting extreme luck (good and bad) at random. Yes Sydney is at fault as well for her choice, but Max drew the attention, and Frix shouldn’t have allowed that specific customization, and if he did, at least run it by Max first. There is a ton of blame to spread for this situation.
The part I think where Max is at fault is that, as the ranking officer in charge of the group, she should have reviewed their costumes. She implicitly approved Sydney’s outfit by allowing her to go out in public with it, including all of the potential trouble. She had access to the same information archives Sydney had for outfit reviews.
In Max’s defense, Frix was personally in charge of setting up Sydney’s costume. She likely rightly assumed Frix and the rest of Cora’s crew understood how important it was to stay as under the radar as possible, as well as expecting them to have been much more well and deeply versed in the cultural quirks of the various species to help ensure the costumes didn’t draw unnecessary attention. Especially given it’s been long established that Cora’s crew do more than their share of off-the-books/”extra-legal” jobs for a wide variety of intergalactic groups.
Supporting the Flix should have been more careful when he decided to make his girlfriend a little princess.
To be fair, to him she is.
They simply both suffered a moment of genre-blindness and thought ‘nah … what are the odds?’
And in all honestly even had Maxima had studied her disguise in more detail she, too, would likely have dismissed the cultural significance of the jewel as too unlikely to make a fuss over. Especially because Sydney showed an unusual amount of foresight to pick a disguise that let her use some of her orbs without raising too much suspicion.
Max may be at fault, but so is FRIX who knows more about aliens than all 8 billion Earther-humans together, but didn’t tell Sydney to be more careful with her outfit choices.
I noticed that Altus and Cora had not objected to the disguise either, not even made a remark.
When ‘reviewing outfits’, please put some trousers on Tsraratal. =_=
And I don’rmt care if that turns out to be culturally insensitive.
The concern would be less about if it’s culturally insensitive as if it’s culturally suspicious. If the Tchimaru are the type who wouldn’t be caught dead in trousers, her being a relative prude would raise more eyebrows than her being a few millimeters away from indecent exposure.
She can lie and say it’s a new fashion trend.
She can tell the truth and say pockets are the height of convenience.
Whatever she does, she can
bloojolly well stop panty-flashing the whole damn’ Fracture Station.She *is* wearing pants.
They just have ridiculously short legs …
Sydney’s breaking so many hearts today, so many corsages and dance cards going to waste, et cetera et cetera.
It’s hard to be this popular, isn’t it?
One thing is for sure: these guys are NOT in the middle of their equivalent of the French revolution. In fact, the monarchy appears to be very popular with the commoners!
I have a hunch that the pursuers are interpreting her running away as an expected display of playing hard to get…
Maybe her running over dirt and topsoil is even seen as encouragement.
After all, she =knows= they can catch up really quickly now…
“It’s the only time in her life that Sydney has advocated for more running.”
OBJECTION!
The Doctor Who series(s) is known to Sydney, and so she would know that “running” and indeed “more running” are indeed a trope.
‘Hello I’m the Doctor, basically, Run!”
If she’s read Terry Pratchett, she might also be familiar with the creed of Rincewind: “It doesn’t matter so much where you’re running TO, as what you’re running AWAY FROM.”
Maxima will also be familiar with the precept that the normal military chain of command changes in the context of running. “An ordnance technician at a dead run outranks everybody.”
That’s from Schlock Mercenary. No less valid though.
And a Sargent in motion out ranks everyone.
Technically, it’s “a sergeant in motion outranks a lieutenant who doesn’t know what’s going on”.
And never look back. It only slow you down.
“Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” -Satchel Page’s Sixth Rule For Living a Long Life
Of course, the Fifth Rule is “Avoid running at all times.”
Well said, @Sebastian!
If she’s read Jim Butcher’s Dresden, she’ll also remember why Harry gets in the habit of running every day.
Parkour!
Well, yes, but it’s still probably the first time she’s advocated more running *for herself*…
TIL the meaning of sybartic
Darnit. Now I really want to read fanfic about a star sapphire princess who said nope to all the mollycoddling and ran away to become a freelancer in space. The bounty hunters who inevitably follow would be wildly uncomfortable with the requirements of the job.
“I am not being paid enough to hug you into submission and read you bedtime stories on the way to pickup… or am I? Am I?”
If the Fracture Gazette was a thing, would the front page of it be totally filled with adverts, like an old newspaper or some news sites I could name?
Yes but your device’s ad filter omits stuff you can’t use or afford.
Flourine flavored soft drinks as an example.
In a place that big, with that many different types of sophonts, I would expect that the Gazette would have a tiered organization so that it would sort for whatever type of being that happens to be looking. You would probably get species and or regionally specific competitors. That would just mean that all the advertisements could be more effectively directed.
I’m guessing that the cut and color not only indicate Tzerki is royalty, but also that she’s unattached to any den/warren and is “available”. That sounds exactly like something a polyamorous space boyfriend would code into a holo disguise as a joke, but not smart for keeping a low profile.
I think that is mostly indicated by the lack of an army accompanying her.
In a world where super advanced disguise technology exists (also a knockoff blue crystal thing could be enough), why would everyone immediately assume she is the actual princess? It’s like seeing an hold guy with a crown and assuming he is the king of England.
Maybe princesses are really THAT much of a status symbol — and most people aren’t crazy enough to risk the wrath of a deceived warren. Not after the last time…
I think these gems are PART of their body and so would likely not be easy to fake, and once the disguise falters, I don’t think those guys would see the humor in the joke, hence the incessant request to LEAVE.
Cora’s crew has “advanced infiltration gear” maybe these holobods are comparably or less accessible a real star-princess-cut gem.
This was my question on the previous page. Even if it weren’t a disguise, even if it were genuine, they would have no way of knowing she wasn’t from another species that just happens to look similar to their own, but which is NOT their own. Or at the very least, are of the same species but does not belong to the dominant culture.
Frankly, this isn’t “Sydney screwed up by wearing a pretty disguise,” this is “an entire ethnic group is projecting their cultural customs onto others, and for some reason the authorities aren’t doing anything to stop them.” Why aren’t the local authorities doing something about the large mob chasing after a smaller group who clearly do not wish to be accosted?
They probably haven’t had time yet. It’s a BIG station.
They were late to the scene of Cora butchering those muggers, too.
Because the smaller group includes someone who just took down 4 stygians, *and* one of Cora’s crew. So security knows that if they really did want to stop them, they could.
Remember, Cora only got in trouble for causing a cleanup bill when she gooified some muggers.
Of course rather than ‘Queen of England’ it may be more of a situation where ‘Your every whim will be catered for while you give birth to a couple of hundred Mantelans for my den’.
Sydney clearly knows a lot more about her assumed species than she let on so far. Including that everybody would want *something* from her, and that that something was not necessarily a good thing, beyond blowing their secret mission.
A graboïd reference ! My day is done !
Take the long way home
For some reason I see a big pupper out there laughing his ass off right now.
Did you just make a Tenchi Muyo GXP reference in the comments, of is that just a coincidence?
For those that don’t know in Tenchi Muyo GXP there is a Space Police academy on a ring world and in one episode it is pointed out that there are so many species there with so many cultures that there is always some holiday or festival going on somewhere.
When I saw todays strip, my first reaction was Zaphod & Ford fleeing from the flock of angry birds on Brontitall.
it’d be a crime to cover up that beautiful alien forest background, but a big cartoony dustcloud representing the excited mole aliens with claws and excited expressions poking through the motes and edges would have looked hilarious. lol
Why is Altus carrying that big heavy load? Doesn’t this station have anti-grav? Or wheels?
They were using an anti-grav sled, but it didn’t seem to be very fast from what I could tell.
So I gotta give mad PROPS to DaveB on this page, because I can’t remember the last time I saw a Word I didn’t either know the meaning of, or was immediately able to understand from the context.
sybaritic
fond of sensuous luxury or pleasure; self-indulgent
adding this to the Lexicon!!