Grrl Power #831 – (Not a) Date night
Clearly, Maxima’s idea of evening gowns is influenced by the last time she wore a fancy dress, which was probably her high school prom. My original pencils for panel 5 included something on the back of her waist which was either going to be a giant bow or a big ruffly flower. I ditched it because, well, I didn’t want to spend time drawing all the ruffles, but also because Maxima may not be able to conjure the image of a sleek elegant evening gown off the top of her head, but she knows the difference between that and a quinceanera dress. Honestly I don’t know how manga artists deal with drawing all those ruffle trimmed French Maid outfits. It’s so tedious.
Do hispanic Jewish girls get a bat mitzvah and a quinceanera? That seems like a decent scam, or it would be if you got to chose your gender, race and religion when you’re filling out your player sheet. You know, the one you fill out before you’re born? I assume that’s how it works.
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If Max wants it to be abundantly clear that she is there for business and not a date, then her military dress uniform is the way to go.
Brilliant. That’s just what she should do. Of course I’m sure Dave will have other ideas.
Kenya certainly has other ideas.
I absolutely support this, and implore Dave to make it so.
Well, of course. She would be a military officer, taking part in an invitation in her official capacity.
Yes, the USAF Service Dress Uniform (3-button coat, with ribbons & tie) is appropriate for everything up to black tie, in which case the Mess Dress (miniature medals) is the equivalent. Strangely, the Air Force doesn’t seem to have anything like the Navy’s Full Dress Uniform (full-size medals) except for their honor guards.
I am thrilled other readers realized the first thing that most officers would do…I’ve been told multiple times that Air force uniforms typically are wrinkle magnets so many Air Force officers prefer not having to wear them versus their BUDs
They are a NIGHTMARE to maintain, and any situation that calls for them would accept nothing less than immaculate appearance.
My first thought too
Would the restaurant management object if she comes in clean field fatigues instead of her dress purples? Would it matter?
Yes, they’d probably be upset about it (it is their rep, after all) and no, it wouldn’t matter: the owner said to let this ragbag in, so in the ragbag comes.
Ask yourself the question though: While Maxima is busy showing her lack of respect for her host and the other patrons by showing up in a room full of of bespoke wardrobes wearing the equivalent of chinos and sneakers, how is she serving as an ambassador for the Air Force and ARC?
Celebrity opens a lot of doors. If Max flew into the restaurant dressed like Ellie May Clampett, complete with a couple of critters, she’d still be welcome. Hell she’d probably start a new fashion craze since she is one of the most famous faces in the world.
Paparazzo: Maxima! Maxima! Who are you wearing tonight?
Maxima: Uncle Sam.
I actually have this joke in the can, but I was planning on saving it for a more public red carpet event of some sort. Haven’t decided what she’s going to wear to dinner yet though.
Max wearing her dress uniform to all public social events should discourage the paparazzi. It worked for Daniel Radcliffe.
http://astonishingtop10.blogspot.com/2013/06/daniel-radcliffe-annoys-paparazzi-wears.html
To summarize:
A Military officer can wear Dress Uniform to any function upto and including a State Dinner and Ball for the Queen of England.
Max looks great in her Dress Purples, but not inviting. All business, including her doubtless impresssive collection of Campain Ribbons and Medals to show what the penalty for inappropriate behavior is likely to be.
The paparazzi will probably still bother her the first time or two, but if she keeps it up they’ll get bored and go bother someone else.
An elegant and complete solution to her problem for the evening!
I loke Lorlara.
Not in a “I want to meet her” way. But she is fun to read in this comic.
I like her too. She is spunky in an intimidating way.
Sydney MUST meet Lorlara. Preferably in Sydney’s comic shop browsing through Conquest Guides and quaint media mind manipulation formats in historical fiction. I would LOVE to see Sydney include her for RolePlaying night… Remember RolePlaying? That thing that Sudney does with people.
Teach me to type in near darkness –the home desk is in my bedroom and wife is late sleeper. “Sydney”
back-lit keyboard with dimming controls. or just move the desk.I shudder to think how lorlara might say that.
It is a few months onward now so maybe Sydney will be able to have that group organised around her soon? Sydney hasn’t even saved the world once yet.
She would probably there trying to learn more about Klingons
I think Romulans are more her style
Lorlara definitely has the heart of a Sontaran, (which she keeps in a jar on her trophy shelf).
Which is conveniently her night stand?
Heh, in SWG, had a heart placed on a nightstand next to a bed :D
Enjoyed that about SWG: you could literally put anything you found in the game inside your house :D
I think she’s starting to intimidate Deus, which is quite an accomplishment…
I think her level of over competence is throwing Deus off his game.
Deus (preparing to go on a long winded dramatic reveal of his plan): So Maxima…
Lorlala (instantly appearing): Your anti-matter sphere has been successfully deployed and shall strike it’s target in three of your earth seconds!
Enthusiastic, over-zealous over-competence.
Spunky and not one whit of reconsideration.
So some titanic space squids took exception to the Alari way of doing things and decided to exterminate them.
It’s not like there are other powers out there, or closer to hand, more than happy to correct their attitude, where correct = disassociate their atoms from each other.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwYdZ70yIxA
I like her.
She makes an excellent minion for the Evil Overlord-type…Of which Deus sees himself AS the Evil Overlord-type. I would almost think that it would be a match made in Heave…er, Hell…Except I think the Evil Overlord’s Handbook proscribes against marriage with one’s minions.
Besides, Deus has his sights set on bigger targets.
I think she scares him far more than Sciona ever did.
s/loke/like/
I hope you all still understood what I wanted to write.
I like Lorlara too, but in a “so… where can I get one?” way.
They remind me of the golden people from Guardians of the Galaxy.
You’re going to have some fun with them.
Ugh. The one unforgivable sin of James Gunn’s contribution to the MCU, the utter destruction of the decades of backstory and complex character development of Adam Warlock just to shoehorn him in as a ‘super space baby’. Sure, Carol Danvers (who wasnt even in int) can get a whole movie set in the past, but the guy who basically resolved the Infinity Gauntlet saga? Nah. Blecch.
Annoyingly, they even included hints he’d be involved, before writing him out. And he was as central to the plot as Thanos, the whole thing was just a fight between the two of them, with everybody else as pawns.
Yup, I waited in anticipation for my all time favorite comic book character to finally get his big screen appearance, and nada. I think I’m likely to give up on Marvel movies now.
I already have. After Endgame, I was done. (Especially since, when you think about it, they ruined Cap’s character by making him go back in time to live his life with Peggy instead of accepting his loss and moving on… and also despite the fact that it would mean deliberately NOT doing anything to help with regards to HYDRA taking over S.H.I.E.L.D., or any of the numerous, numerous conflicts and crisis that took place over the decades)
It doesn’t help that Disney was oh so eager to kiss China’s rear, and so unflinchingly adhered to all of the Chinese government’s demands. Which is why they didn’t use time travel to fix everything like in the source material, and instead did a “five year time skip” (while ignoring all the many, many, many, many problems that would bring up)
And of course there’s the fact that they’re retiring Cap, Iron Man, and Thor, to force down on us a character that… nobody really likes. Played by an actress who a lot of people detest.
While I share your opinion about Cap’s going back in time and not acting against HYDRA, and while I don’t know anything about the “Chinese governement’s demands” (what?!), I completely disagree about the five year time skip.
First, the problems have not been ignored, as one can see in Spiderman: Far from home.
Second, going completely back in time is the same thing as “This was all a dream”. And, frankly, I’m sick and tired of this trope. That and the empty sacrifices of heroic characters by making them come back to life. So, yes, I regretted the deaths of Stark, Loki, Black Widow and the Vision, but I’m glad they did not use the gauntlet to reverse them.
If, whatever happens, the situation goes back to the previous state (and I include those situations where, superficially, it appears to be different, but, if you scratch the surface, you realise that everything is “business as usual”), then the story is meaningless. This is, unfortunately, something that comics have made us used to by refusing to have characters die or retire permanently, in particular, and which explains why I abandoned all on-going universes in my reading preferences.
This is what leads to “Reed Richards is useless” and those kinds of inconsistencies, and, while I’m not sure I will follow the rest of the MCU, because I have yet to see if they find a really new story to tell, I definitely enjoyed the fact that (so far) they made some true sacrifices and some real changes in their universe. And from a comic company owned by Disney, the fact that the previous deaths have not yet be cancelled is already amazing, in my opinion.
Companies twist themselves in knots to capitulate to insane Chinese authoritarian censorship so they can keep sucking on the money hose of China’s wealthy consumer base. South park did an episode on this called “Band in China” (and they were subsequently banned in china). Relevant search terms: “blitzchung banned” Or just “china banned” since that hole is dark and deep.
See the Youtube channel ‘China Uncensored’.
He seems kinda agendaed and not well sourced. Listening to him I thought “This feels like Fox News” and then I search his name and this comes up:
https://www.reddit.com/r/thedavidpakmanshow/comments/a6bg7j/be_very_mindful_of_some_youtube_journalist/
I know about China’s censorship and pressure on companies, but I meant specifically about Endgame… What could they want to block in an MCU movie that had nothing to do with China? Or did Archone mean in a general “Disney pandered to China’s censor whims” way?
And now we see the second reason why she does not like to go on the dating scene… Really hard to find something good to wear with her golden shine condition. That and the “not a date, business talk date” with someone who is really good and making her join him at specific locations to talk business and just business.
Oooo I know! Black and gold is a classic combination! So a black dress, possibly with a few gold trim points. Now a pencil style cut isn’t going to work with her frame. Ball Gown it is! At least a 4 or 5 petticoat look. And open shoulder is soooo overdone. Open diamond cut sleeves. Let the gold shine through in a dark setting. Rest of the blouse… no ruffles, that would not look right… Folds. Coming together at a button on the lower sternum. Hair…. My opinion… oh yes girl, we keep it simple. Light perm with a bottom curl. Can’t envision the hat yet so we skip that… Purse, well for her a normal purse would be nearly a clutch purse size, basic cut, black, gold and with purple to tie in with the hair. Shoes… no I do not have a death wish.. we stick with military boots. Nobody else can possibly carry off this look but she can. Deep black polished to an inch of their lives with a tracery of gold around the soles. There all ready for a ‘business meeting’!
Something like This Dress on Maxima would make eyes pop, not to mention the effect of flash photography.
Gold body sock w/cut outs in specific slots/areas.
Borrows Sydney’s Lightwings for effect.
Thus showing up the dark faerie who will of course be watching.
And leaving Deus speechless for a few minutes.
You want her to wear a flesh-colored dress?
Yes. I want her to wear what for her would be a flesh-colored dress. Metallic Lycra, Partywear, Clubwear, Tank Top, Western Mini Dress – Gold.
Personally feel the Silver would look betterer on Maxi
I love Lorlara ridiculously. She’s great fun.
People who are over the top serious can be highly amusing. Think Colonel Flagg from the M*A*S*H television series.
He can find ANYTHING! Including Deus’ virginity!
Lorlara is coming across as an evil mix of Colonel Flagg and Radar O’Rielly with just a smidge of Klinger.
Don’t forget to throw some Frau Farbissina into the mix.
She sealed the deal with me at “mewling capitulation”.
RIGHT?
… Deus may want to educate his new hire on subtlety before she gets him into some real trouble.
It’s going to turn out that she is perfectly normal when actually talking to other people, but just translates what she’s doing to supervillain tyrant speak with him.
She’s speaking Alari, so it’s not likely to come up for a while. Presumably the only ones who can understand her (without a universal translator) are his inner circle and the other refugees, all of whom would be familiar with her attitude.
I’ve been thinking something along those lines myself, since she’s been introduced as part of her… crew‹?›.
For those wondering, Macallan 25 (yr old single malt whiskey) runs over $2,000 a bottle. Admittedly, that’s less than a drop in the Olympic swimming pool for someone like Deus, but I’d think it’s pretty good stuff.
Doesn’t matter how expensive something is if it tastes like crap (and the expense is based on rarity, not taste)
Just look at that Cristof ‘champagne’ all the crappers drank (drink? do they still drink that stuff?), it only became ‘expensive’ and ‘fashionable to be seen ordering’ because of the huge crapper scene at the time
This is true. Diamonds are expensive because of a monopoly and decades-long marketing schemes. Remember when ‘chocolate’ (read, common industrial-grade) diamonds were the fad all the jewelers were advertising?
Just cos you don’t like rappers doesn’t mean they they are “crap: and also it’s “Cristal” not cristof, so you should probably check yourself, before talking a bunch of “shit”
Cristof was still fucking close enough for you to know the sludge (bet ya drank a few crates of the shit in your day, thinking it was ‘cool’)
And they are are crap, how many of them are still around? And by ‘around’, am including ‘alive and breathing’
Majority of the ‘music’ from 00’s onwards are just as crap
You must be new, am always talking POO
Truth be told a majority of Pop music turns to poop with age and is best buried in the midden heap of time and forgotten.
Very few top 100 hits stand the test of time yet a larger percentage of the less mainstream last much longer and span generations.
There are exceptions mind – like Beethoven or The Beetles
Well the way you speak has the unfortunate ring of someone who wouldn’t like me for my complexion, so I’m not too bothered by your opinion
You have no idea anything about me
One thing: don’t judge people by their colour (not even if they are orange)
You do know there was more than one colour of rapper, don’t you?
Yes, Macallan 25 is good…but cask strength let’s them know how sorry or how much you appreciate them. Also, once again a certain fool is wrong. Macallan is in fact a quiet good single malt whisky. I just prefer ‘fidich. Those who don’t like single malts generally fall in the category of “unwashed jack Daniel’s or crown swilling bums”. But that’s just my old fart opinion.
You forgot the my category: those who avoid drinking alcohol. Is the Crown you refer to Crown Royal?
no matter the alchohol all I taste is horrible bitter bite. I’ve given up on the stuff.
@[David Nuttall]:
I’m usually in the “avoid”-camp myself.
I’m more likely to reach for Royal Crown (a cola), instead of Crown Royal.
Em, isn’t Scotch whisky just for people who haven’t discovered Irish whiskey? They have to blend it because they make it badly.
They say the Irish taught the Scots three things – the bagpipes, the kilt and whiskey. They were only joking about the first two. And the Scots weren’t listening when they explained the third.
/ Releases grenade and runs off /
Whiskey is only for those who can’t handle Grappa.
Sounds like th kinda stuff my (almost ^entirely^
》ARRGH ‼️《
»bleep«ing lack of preview option‼️
Sounds like th kinda stuff my (almost ^entirely^ Irish) grandmother used t’say t’me in the years I lived with her before she died.
The blended stuff is what you get when some company decides they value consistency of flavour over character of the specific batch. A good malt can easily stand on its own.
{Lobs grenade in general direction of where Mike disappeared to, pours a dram of Talisker}
Loli is fun, just don’t see her lasting too long: either SmugD will tire of her screaming in his ear… from two inches away (literally), or Valeur will tire of her ‘efficiency’
As soon as she learns the English phrase “Muhahahaha” (with 4 ‘ha’s) she’s out.
A $1700 bottle of whiskey seems like a good apology…
Do you have any idea how much faked ‘Old Whiskey’ is on the market?
It’s big business and when anything becomes big business it tends to attract scammers.
A GOOD, recent product he might not be familiar with would be worth more to someone who appreciates alcohol. And if they don’t, a gift card is just as good.
A guy like him would have a direct and reputable connection to a high-end distributor. With the added incentive that if someone defrauds him over something so small, they’d be out of business or dead within a week.
I recently learned of the new test for old wine and whiskey. Basically since the 1950s the entire planet has been dosed with the leftovers of dozens of nuclear bomb tests. There are some specific isotopes not found in nature before that time. A sample from the disputed bottle is tested for these, and if the supposedly 100 year old bottle comes up positive, it is a fake.
But it just doesn’t taste as good without the Caesium-137.
Anvil’s face in panel four frightens me.
She’s been wanting to play Maxima Dress-up for waaaaay toooo long.
A certain PR agent hears “MAXIMA DRESS UP” and immediately thinks of all the outfits for the superhero doll. Especially those that Maxima would never be seen in and skips off chortling and rubbing her hands in anticipation.
The money! The embarrassment for MAX…
I’d imagine Max (and other Archon personnel) has enough control of her own brand to veto anything too far off base. Arianna would also want to maintain a genre, not just pump out infinite variety and devalue the product. I can’t really see a “Pink Ballerina Maxima” or “50s housewife” on the shelf next to ones with BDUs and leather jackets.
The opportunities to tick off the bingo card!
It just occurred to me Lorlara is former alari military. The refugee mentioned the military people took all they had then abandoned them. So that ship should be the one Lorlara was on. So is she acting the way the military does on her world?
Or is this something someone commented on last time that I missed?
The jerks who took their stuff and abandined them weren’t Alari.
Well, hold on. They MIGHT be Alari. They were a Space Empire-level species, so they had ships – many of the refugee ships fleeing the destruction of their world would have been Alari-crewed. If a particularly amoral crew got caught up in the evac, they might take their refugees somewhere technically safe, strip them of their valuables at gunpoint, and make off with them, leaving the refugees stranded for Cora to rescue.
Indeed, if the crew were amoral enough, a certain wealthy businessbeing might have contracted them while on the Fracture to come to Earth, announce ‘engine problems’, and land in Galtyn, where they can sell their stolen goods, and possibly make more money working for said businessbeing.
This actually seems pretty plausible. A link between the refugees and Deus’s bunch would be interesting; we’ll have to see more of the Galytn Alari (Galari?) to have a better idea.
I think Lorlara needs a Who’s Who now.
The panel of unhappy Max in the blue evening gown needs to be made into a desktop or wallpaper. And Lorlara is best experienced at a distance.
Or vicariously through an agent of chaos, by it Sydney or Captain Fang.
I definitely love Lorlara, she has only had two appearances and yet I see so much potential for her in this story. Every evil genius needs one over the top minion who is even more dedicated to crushing their enemies than they are.
Oh yes the over-enthusiastic militant assistant a Trope I never knew I need it so bad
What would Vale make of this???
So far she looks amused.
Who here wants to see Anvil make Maxima a Black Deep V-Neck, Backless Dress
You mean, other than Anvil and SmugD? o_O
The real question here is: What has anvil on Maxima to make her wear this?
Friendship
That only extends to Maxi looking at it though
Maxima: “I said I’d wear it. I never said what I’d wear under it.”
Who here wants to see Anvil make Maxima wear a Black shortcut Deep V-Neck, Backless Dress
Vrepit sa!
Do you have any idea what I would give for 5 minutes with my character sheet and a pencil?
You and me both. Change physical sex. Set age. Add random abilities. Max out stats. Net worth: 9,999,999,999. Erase mental and physical issues.
I’d run mine through the shredder, burn the shreds and then mix it in with the compost.
Then probably go play a different game.
Transcribe mine to a different RPG system.
Is it just me or is Anvil’s face kinda scary on the 4th panel?
Is Humanoid Resources going to have to have a talk with Deus new secretary about “not making a hostile work environment”?
They are all part of the same World Conquest organisation. There is no need to throw threats around.
No threats were thrown. They were precisely placed… And besides, they were promises, not mewling jabber.
Is it wrong that I’m shipping Lorlana and Strax?
If I were in Max’s place, I’d wear my full mess dress, complete with fruit salad and appropriate medals. That pretty much shoots the “sexy date” out of the sky, and is considered “appropriate dress” in fine restaurants.
With the maximum starch and military creases the law allows. XD
↑^This^‼️↑
Whatever uniform type/style is most appropriate for what Deus says is appropriate for the setting.
I think I like Lorlara. She clearly understands the true spirit of that quote from Conan.
I love how even the Megalomaniac bent on World Domination thinks Lorlara’s methods are over the top.
I can see him pulling her aside for a little talk: “Look, Lorlara, you don’t need to threaten my minions to get their cooperation, they’re already my minions. Point the threats out, not in.”
“How do you ensure they stay your minions?”
Normally employees are asked for 110%.
In her case, around 80%
The remaining 30% comes out of their pay…
Love him or hate him, Deus is a true leader. Piss poor leaders only know how to force people to do the things the leader wants them to. A true leader convinces people that they want to do the things the leader wants them to do. Deus tried to convince the previous king of Galytn to cooperate, and only “retired” him when it became obvious that there was no other way to gain control. The citizen’s of Galytn follow Deus not through fear or intimidation, but out of respect for how he has improved their lives. That is how a true leader does it.
It’s been a long time since this comic made me laugh. Lorlara is now the best.
@DaveB , ” Honestly I don’t know how manga artists deal with drawing all those ruffle trimmed French Maid outfits.” . Slaves… I mean, Interns.
》eyeroll《
I thought “intern” is the Amerenglish for “slave”?
Oh man, that little tag line at the bottom had me in stitches. Old Fantastic Four cartoons. Hahahaha
Anyone else kinda loving how old-fashioned all of Max’s daydreams are? Like how Max’s image of police in the part where they were talking about Sydney’s previous law interaction (“Oh the humanity”).
I’m sorry, but the wood behind Deus in panel 8 makes him look like he’s got a mullet, and it’s all I can see when I look at him now.
I forsee many mor Lorlara n’yah!s.
And now the Mexican Jewish Cultural Festival song from Phineas and Ferb is stuck in my head.
I did not know that was a thing… *Thanks for that*
So, the Alari are basically space drow…
Are there any upscale restaurants in our world where the dress code requires revealing outfits? Or is that not the case in grrlverse either and Maxima thought about panel 5 because of Deus specifically, as she can likely imagine that he owns a couple of restaurants?
I mean, any restaurant in our world that wants to make the claim to be “upscale” should at the very least allow for the option of dressing up decently, right?
If Max knows that the place is owned by Deus and she wants to let him know how much she ‘appreciates’ the invitation she should arrive at the front entrance and walk past all the customers while wearing a Hazmat suit.
I’m sure she’d ^want^ to. But her better judgement (not to mention Arianna) would not let her give in to any temptation to ^do^ something like that.
Something I read in a Masamune Shirow Intron Depot artbook, he actually uses a digital brush (I think in Photoshop, but memory is fallible) made from manipulated text of some kind to make lace patterns. Have also read of using colored foil wrapped around an orange or other fruit to get textures and color gradients. Just as something to consider when you see those manga artists and their ruffles and frills.
I like Lorlara as a character. She’s “cutely evil” or “evilly cute” or something.
You can be both, or either! :)
Visually, she kind of reminds me of a Jetsons character.
Everyone is pushing for an evening dress.
Me?
I suggest a crisp formal well fitted business suit assembled by our resident textile wizard.
Something that speaks business and looks better than what SmugD would be wearing.
Would Max’s suit be ‘double breasted’? :)
Well, I can at least be pretty confident that Orthodox/Hasidic/etc. Jewish hispanic girls don’t. Bat mitzvahs are only a thing on the more liberal side of Judaism.
Y’know, it’s possible that Deus is providing the only kind of effective psychotherapy – on the job training, even – for people like Lolara who aren’t ready to deal with normal Earth culture yet.
I’d like to add my voice to those calling for Maxima to show up in her formal dress uniform. She’s going to be there on business, and her dress uniform – with all her “fruit salad,” i.e. her medals, commendations, and citations – is considered appropriate for any formal occasions up to, and including, attendance at presidential functions, as well as diplomatic engagements such as attending royal weddings.
Don’t forget funerals for Heads of State :D
Although, that might be one occasion she would wear a dress, just to rub in what he can never have :D (after doing the full paranoia freakout ensuring that he really is dead, for good: no clones, bodydoubles, cyborgs or time travel involved {or anything missed})
I can just picture it, an open casket… and then they play his favorite song… and then he sits up and starts singing the lyrics…
These, I assume?