Grrl Power #1435 – Exakshually I’m succusplaining it
This was supposed to be the second half of the prior page, but in addition to having a lot of books shamelessly throw themselves at me last week, I underestimated how much time it would take to draw a “watch party,” since each character adds to the pencil, ink and color time. Can’t have a proper watch party with just 2 or 3 people. Really Tom’s watch party should have a much larger crowd, but there’s only so much time.
Crap, I went looking through the archive to see if I ever named “The Mahogany Forklift” (which I don’t seem to have) and wound up reading like a hundred pages and now it’s 1 am. :/
Here is Gaxgy’s painting Maxima promised him. Weird how he draws almost exactly like me.
I did try and do an oil painting version of this, by actually re-painting over the whole thing with brush-strokey brushes, but what I figured out is that most brushy oil paintings are kind of low detail. Sure, a skilled painter like Bob Ross or whoever can dab a brush down a canvas and make a great looking tree or a shed with shingles, but in trying to preserve the detail of my picture (eyelashes, reflections, etc) was that I had to keep making the brush smaller and smaller, and the end result was that honestly, it didn’t really look all that oil-painted. I’ll post that version over at Patreon, just for fun, but I kind of quit on it after getting mostly done with re-painting Max.
Patreon has a no-dragon-bikini version of of the picture as well, naturally.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
New demon girl: No collar, no body proportions awareness.
Not another succubus then? (And I’m envious I can’t pull off that outfit)
New demon girl isn’t even credited despite having speaking lines. Clearly not unionised.
(Don’t feel too bad, I also couldn’t pull off that outfit except in the sense that it doesn’t look very securely attached)
She hasn’t been named in-world yet… because… Spoilers, Sweetie!
I suspect that succubi use a lot of double sided tape.
I suspect that they invented self adhering clothing either because they got tired of the double sided tape, or they never invented it.
Extra strong boob glue maybe.
Succubi have naturally sucky skin.
Someone from a rival house at school, so doesn’t like Parfait. Tom is having “tryouts” for another succubus; he’s obviously able to have more than one. So she doesn’t have a collar yet.
Which would also explain the obsequiousness. Tom is helping her train willpower but the matriarchs haven’t let him bind her yet. It’s an ongoing project I guess.
For that matter, we’ve seen succubuses (succubi?) have different reactions to each other when they meet.
Not sure about the lack of “body proportions awareness” (remote proprioception?). Maybe that’s a class in demon school and she wasn’t all that good at it?
How nice of Tom to take in a succubus intern. I like to think of him as reasonable and generous infernal overlord.
would be suitably hilarious if Tom actually prefers a more plain spoken companion (like Parfait) and that’s why she doesn’t have a collar yet. he doesn’t seem the type to need to surround himself with yes-demons professionally, and i suspect that he’d want them in his personal life even less.
and it is possible that the new girl isn’t a succubus. could be she had training in recognizing things like body shapes, but doesn’t have the innate talent that make Succubi so good at it. (i’d imagine that recognizing body shapes would be part of the basic training for how to use shapeshifting, but that much like math classes IRL most demons would only retain enough of the basics to get by day to day, and few have the talent or inclination to really develop it as a skillset.)
“would be suitably hilarious if Tom actually prefers a more plain spoken companion (like Parfait)”
I’m reminded of the Babylon 5 episode where Londo got the Emperor’s permission to divorce two of his three wives. He ended up ditching the two who shamelessly sucked up to him and keeping the one who made no effort to conceal her disdain for him (“With you I always know where I stand”).
Also, she was the only one not trying to betray and assassinate him. They just had horribly clashing personalities and they both knew it.
Personally, I think Londo was a good enough schemer by that point to know that she’d saved his life.
“would be suitably hilarious if Tom actually prefers a more plain spoken companion (like Parfait)”
Considering young Xuri was a complete and total dork of a succubus, I think we can take it as given that he prefers his girls more down-to-earth.
Half vampire, half succubus, all lack of control over the seduction. He is very obviously training her to reign it in.
Given that new girl hasn’t seen Max that isn’t an issue.
I don’t think it’s clear that she has no “body proportions sense”, she’s just never met Maxima, whereas Parfait has. Though Parfait wasn’t present for the incident in which Max threw Thothogoth. She could be a different kind of demon, but she certainly reads as a succubus, and I’d be inclined to chalk the lack of a collar up to DaveB forgetting.
Parfait seems to be responding to Thothogoth, and I read her leaning on the other lady as a kind of an expression of camaraderie, a “we’re both succubi, and that’s awesome”, but admittedly the lady’s negative response seems uncharacteristic for a succubi!
Course, it’s also possible she’s just another type of female demon. Could be a Cambion or something.
From memory, Maxima’s ability to swing oversized, heavy things like this, without simply tearing off the portion she’s holding, is because her power has zero range telekenesis, effectively giving her the option of a psychic strength hold over the entirety of what she’s touching.
Probably some extention of her flight ability going beyond her body.
I love the one with a popsicle. Specifically, the holding of a popsicle. Ice lolly. Creamsicle. Frozen treat. Why do we have that many names for the same things
Headcanon insists that popsicle in panel two is a nod to the Foglios’ Buck Godot: Gallimaufrey comic, where it’s firmly established that the thing that makes humanity stand out among all of galactic civilization is that we were the first culture to have the bright idea of putting frozen sweet stuff on a stick.
We’re also incapable of taking the Winslow seriously, but that’s almost spoiler territory.
Spoiler? Wasn’t that the whole premise? Also, there’s really nothing strange in that: the Winslow is stupid, annoying and it really doesn’t do anything useful. The real mistery is why everyone else is so obsessed with it…
I think there was another story setting where humans were magically “null”, so nothing magic worked around them, or even if a human could witness it.
So we think “What’s the big deal with the Winslow” because we’re immune to whatever it’s giving off.
is Digit an homage to “Girl Genius”? and more importantly do you recommend either?
Digit and Agatha both have some Gadget Hackwrench vibes, especially Digit.
Both Girl Genius and Buck Godot are great stories.
Digit is a hyu-mon Gadget
And yes, “Girl Genius” is a good read
The colour choices aren’t great.
It’s the national colours of the Czech Republic , on the popsicle but not the flag.
Russia would have been WBR, France is BWR, Netherlands is RWB, Luxembourg would apparently also have been RWB, but like a lighter blue. And that’s not even counting the countries with those colors but in different configurations (Like USA)
For France it’s Vertical stripes unlike Russia ,Netherlands and Luxembourg who have horizontal stripes
The most iconic flag with those colors is the Union Jack of United Kingdom.
And for French flag, I know, I’m a french citizen ..
To my knowledge the French flag is the only one with the 3 colours blue white red in vertical arrangement.
Vous êtes correct avec les drapeaux:
Blanc-bleu-rouge horizontal Russie
Rouge-Blanc-Bleu horizontal Pays-bas
Rouge-blanc- bleu clair horizontal Grand-Duché de Luxembourg
It looks like a “Bomb Pop”. The color on those were usually red, white and blue from top to bottom. The flavors were nominally strawberry, citrus (maybe lemon?) and blueberry. The shape was different though. More of a bullet shape with hexagonal ridges. The tombstone shaped pops were usually a knock off.
Yeah, this is all kinds of not good.
Tom now knows Maxima isn’t available to kick him out if he goes over to America.
He should be smart enough to be able to piece together “Harem + Halo = Max can get home in seconds if she needs to”
Which means his window is the duration of a round, at most.
Windows can be widened.
They can also be slammed shut… on fingers (and other body parts)
> Windows can be widened.
Depends on the version. Vista had some basic widening capacity but modern systems tend to crash if you try to do that. Don’t even get me started about WinCE from back in the day.
WinCE? You sure of that? Still have a lappie with WinME (Millennial Edition), don’t remember WinCE (heck, still have a desktop with Netscape Navigator and Communicator, with whatever OS was around at that time, probably WIN95)
He could be smart enough to make a big bet on Maxima.
Actually that could be a really bad idea, the US is usually sanction happy but being allied with the extraterrestrial army that just invaded (and when you’re sending soldiers to fight beside them you’re allies even if those soldiers don’t fight on the front involving the US) it’s easy to justify retaliation against the rogue nation that has already used it’s own superhuman soldiers against its neighbours. And if said rogue nation happens to have dangerous manufacturing technology that would be safer held under US control then that’s what’s likely to happen.
If Tom takes the whole Earth, none of those sanctions – or old X-face’s displeasure – will matter.
Do you really want to take over the world without knowing that Max won’t be gatewayed back to hit you so hard you lose existence privileges? He might think it’s an opportunity but it really isn’t a good idea.
Or he thinking of rearranging his bets for this fighter and calling up Deus.(assuming Deus didn’t just take quick bathroom break)
I’m gonna guess that Deus has him on a short leash
Unless Tom’s interest is due to him having Big V entered in the tourney in disguise like Maxima is. There had been talk about letting him go with Tom on work release. https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-999-seven-thousand-generations-a-sex-slave/
Oh. Oh that’d be one hell of a rematch.
I wonder how long it would take them to recognize each other? I’m guessing just a few exchanges before they both started going “Wait a minute…”
A rematch between Max and Tom could be fun too.
That’s called “Max not breaking a sweat, again…”
I got the impression that Tom never had the intention to take Earth by force.
Not by force (unless you count forcing the leaders to watch an infernal PowerPointPresentation :P )
I just HAD to mention Tom, now the question is: will he report this? Or will he engage in a little blackmail? Dabbler might need to have another “conversation” with him and soul-eater…
If Tom is smart, he’ll bet a ton of money on Max (or more accurately her cover) and keep his mouth shut about his suspicions.
Yeah, poor guy. I mean on the one hand…I can take that country and then the world. Quite a nice acquisition for the portfolio. OR, I spread various small bets “just as joke y’know?” with some bookies who are always good for it on long shots, because it is good data for their actuarial tables. Had a boss when I started out who’d do that. Ended up making good book doing that. Heck way better than most of our heists. Ah well, good times. Until he got caught ‘helping’.
Tom seems like the kind of guy who play the long game. Kind of like a infernal version of Deus.
Consider who two of those with him are, and what (NOT ‘who’) they work for, Tommy Tucker doesn’t need to say shit
Seeing as how he is smart, place a bet.
Rulers always need more money.
He already has a bet on his own ringer, I’d wager. There’s no other reason why:
Thoth would be randomly watching this particular bracket
Any plan involving the group survives without a hiccup
We now know another party with the means, motive, and awareness to play the exact same con and cause said hiccup
The Grey Anatomy alone got a character tag.
Being able to identify someone from their fighting style is an old martial arts trope.
Max being potentially undone by that is brilliant
Eye spy Orcus, with a very different wand…
Ohhhh. Suck-Up-Girl has that two color thing that’s super rare in lobsters.
I wonder why they didn’t just have Maxima wear Ultronium plate armor? It could’ve disguised her better and it’s supposed to be indestructible.
Of course you got sucked into reading a hundred pages while trying to find The Mahogany Forklift’s name. You made a good comic, so it makes sense.
Not even The Creator is immune to The Power :)
Speaking of… just spent 2 hours rereading from page 1031 until the time Maxi went clubbing in disguise
Tom’s doing his overcompensation thing, in his overcompensation chair, so the proportions of the watch party are all out of whack. There could easily be four to ten more people out of frame and the room still be reasonably arranged for a watch party given his status and wealth. Not everypony gets to hang on the prince’s elbow, after all.
Yay!!An appearance by Dabbler’s Sister!!
a demon annoyed by a succubus touch? thats new! well, Parfait is a total airhead, i can see it
Isn’t his name Kito?
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-1042-a-pelvic-victory/
Indeed it is. Good find!
Yup, got caught up in the archives, found it, jumped back aaaand beat me to it!
> Crap, I went looking through the archive to see if I ever named “The Mahogany Forklift” (which I don’t seem to have)…
You did in #1042! (Kito)
Wasn’t Zebra-girl also named? And she has a speaking part…
Oh right, she is Character’d (Terre)
Probably not a good thing to tell a Succubus to get off. unless you have a lot of free time.
I dunno how Tom can enjoy stuff like this. That much cow-towing and praise over incredibly minor things would just make every interaction feel so fake.
She thinks she’s talking to Trump.
Spoilers:
That’s why Tom fires her.
Succubi would make incredible tailors! Dibs on the Succubi Tailors Guild.
Parfait’s friend from uni’s family have already got that.
Just avoid the rivals Succubi Tailors Institute or Succubi Tailors Division (they still haven’t figured out why they don’t get as many repeat clients :P )
About the Tentacle Box, is the loser being forced to watch the winner while all the tantric energy is blocked by a barrier and/or absorbed by the winner? (forced to watch without being able to benefit in any measure has to be some kind of torture to a creature that feeds on lust).
Guys I sometimes have great ideas from my dreams, and I just woke up with one. Any businessmen open your eyes to a multi-million dollar idea. A pet bowl that automatically refills the water.
First and most important a base that weighs 10 Lbs. We all know how big dogs will knock over the water bowl.
2. a hose to a water source. 3. a way to gauge the level of the water. There are a lot of ways to do this. you choose wich one is cheapest. 4.Attach that to a leaver that will gauge the height of the water and it will automatically refill.
Simple but will sell all over. Always recommend that the water spigget be set to a slow setting for safety.
I had a stroke and am stuck in a home. Plus I will probably forget this by next week, so fill free to use this idea.
Was rereading to check for mistakes and caught fill free.
Fill Free, make a good name for the product.
Umm, believe you are too late: it’s already been thought of, built, and sold through KickStarter
OK. it was something I saw in a dream, and thought it was a great idea.
Wasn’t the first, won’t be the last.
It is a great idea
DaveB is the two color daemon missing a wing or did you just forget to draw one in? Because I see two wings on panel 2 but only one in panel 3 and 4.
Second wing is her left wing, and in panel three it is off-panel and in panel four Parfait is blocking it (she is behind 2Tone {‘Toni’ to her friends} between her wings)
It’s there. Most of it is blocked by her head or Parfait, respectively, but the little wing-thumb is still visible peeking out at the top.
For those fairly new to GP, since his first appearance. I pointed out lo these many years past, that the pronunciation of his name is not necessarily “Thoth O Goth” but “Tho Tho Goth”, without a lisp being “So So Goth”. If he decides to gamble, that could really upset the margins for our brave crew. Of course, that would be just like him.
So, Maxima isn’t in the contest yet, right? Someone else with same body and power set?
Well, that can’t be good.
“Get off” are two words you shouldn’t say to a Succubus.
I love that the INFANTRY MERCS that Tom contracted are hanging out with him. That strongly indicates that, regardless of his physical appearances, Tom is actually a pretty cool dude and a great boss. This is NOT a guy who will stand on ceremony and demand performative rules of etiquette to flatter his ego.
You actually did name him on Page 1042, you named him Kito. At least that was the reply he gave to Kenya after their bout, when she introduced herself to him.
It was also the name Terre shouted during the fight (she placed a bet on him out of loyalty, not brains :P )
Time for Tom to call his bookie and make some bets on the fight…though the odds won’t be as good as they would have been before the fight started.
“The loser has to sit in the tentacle box; the winner gets to sit in the tentacle box.” ;-)
Succsplenations are the best explanations. Unless you’re jealous.
Don’t forget to add Terre to the “Who’s Who”: she is not only named, but also has a speaking role :)