Line #142 Webcomic/AGirlAndHerFed


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AGirlandHerFed_4574.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: Yes, that is a green clownfish. ItMakesSenseInContext.]]
3
4	A journalism intern haunted by the ghost of Creator/BenjaminFranklin finds she is on a terrorist watchlist. When she confronts the unnamed Fed who is set to watch her, things get seriously, fantastically weird. There's [[GovernmentConspiracy government conspiracies]], a talking super-genius koala, and, oh yeah, forty billion undead pixies.
5
6	[[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/ Read. Enjoy. Conspire.]]
7
8	Several prose short stories and novels have also been produced. The novels are:
9
10	'''Literature/RachelPengNovels:'''
11	* [[http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Divide-Rachel-Peng-Book-ebook/dp/B00C5QP5V6 Digital Divide]]
12	* [[http://www.amazon.com/Maker-Space-Rachel-Peng-Book-ebook/dp/B00IQILU4S Maker Space]]
13	* [[http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XB7ITSE State Machine]]
14	* [[https://www.amazon.com.au/Brute-Force-Rachel-Peng-Book-ebook/dp/B01MXRMY34 Brute Force]]
15
16	'''Josh Glassman Novels:'''
17	* [[http://www.amazon.com/Russians-Came-Knocking-Glassman-ebook/dp/B00E6F1WDY The Russians Came Knocking]]
18
19	'''Hope Blackwell Novels:'''
20	* [[http://www.amazon.com/Greek-Key-ebook/dp/B0176JYLXO Greek Key]]
21
22	----
23	!!Tropes present in A Girl and Her Fed:
24
25	%%* ABoyAndHisX: Referenced in the title.
26	* ActionGirl: The Girl. She's one of the best in the world at judo.
27	* AGodAmI: Clarice's eventual goal.
28	* AltText: The author started including it roughly around when the first fight with Clarice happened. Frequently used for a further joke, and at least once as a BrickJoke about how "Sparky" sounds like a dog's name.
29	* {{Angrish}}: Hope is [[https://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.2042.html reduced to this]] after Bishop Bouldin {{hand wave}}s his ignorance of the more powerful ghosts and spirits then simply asking Hope "what do I need to know?"
30	* ArbitrarySkepticism:
31	** Agent 146/Clarice deals with ghosts on a near-daily basis, but refuses to believe that [[spoiler:the Girl is an [[{{The Empath}} empath]]]].
32	** Also [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.593.html averted]], sort of.
33	** Bishoup Bouldin verges on SelectiveObliviousness: He is the Vatican's point man on dealing with ghosts. Yet he is caught completely flatfooted when meeting Lincoln (thinking he was merely an actor) and treated Coyote like he was just another one of Hope's minions.
34	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: The Fed asks the ghost of UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington - who had made his disapproval about the Agents' ongoing plans clear - what he would've done in his place. When Washington tries to duck the question, the Fed asks him point blank [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.1093.html "Would you have run?"]] Washington, to his credit, answers honestly: "Outflanked, outnumbered, and your enemies hiding in plain sight? Of course I would have run."
35	* ArousedByTheirVoice: The Girl apparently [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.183.html enjoys the sound of Vin Diesel]].
36	* ArtEvolution: Downright noddy at the start, until the occasional {{artshift}} shows the artist's potential. The comic is getting redrawn in colour and a brand new style.
37	** Notably, the first dramatic art shift happened after a significant meditation event undertaken by the Girl. She opened her eyes and from that point on, the world is drawn in full color and with more details (including characters having visible eyes whereas before, it was a case of EyesAlwaysShut). [[BrokenBase Slightly undermined]] by the art style reboot...
38	** The 'EyesAlwaysShut' bit was broken at various different points - the meeting with Mike, the flashbacks with the Fed and [[spoiler: Dixon's wife]], et cetera. The real art style change happened when the artist decided to do so for one reason or another... and the fact that she's bringing the whole strip into a more realistic style makes one wonder what it'll look like regarding those flashbacks.
39	* ArtificialLimbs: [[spoiler: Clarice]] has a [[SuperStrength super strong]] cybernetic arm and has apparently similar reinforcements planted to [[spoiler: her]] spine to supports its weight and lift capability. [[spoiler: However, apparently it's not designed to resist being ripped apart from her shoulder socket.]]
40	* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: The Girl, in spades.
41	* BackFromTheDead: Ben gives a pretty good and short MotiveRant about it too.
42	-->'''Ben''': ''I came back from the dead for this Country. I will not sit passively by while what I fought to forge is CORRUPTED and DESTROYED!''
43	* BadassBureaucrat: [[spoiler: After the Pocket President is revealed to the world, the surviving members of the program eventually become this.]]
44	* BatmanGambit: When Hope decides that she needs to travel more to find experienced psychics, she initially proposes to Pat that she go to China, knowing that he'll quickly suggest Japan (where she actually wants to go) instead. He just as quickly picks up that she was doing this and seems remarkably calm about the ploy.
45	* BattleAura: Simulated in page [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.604.html 604]].
46	* BattleCouple: [[spoiler: The Girl and the Fed, once they hook up and get married.]]
47	* BilingualBackfire: Not only does UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.1456.html speak Japanese]], he speaks ''ancient'' [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.1462.html Japanese.]]
48	* BothSidesHaveAPoint: The Girl and the Fed in their first argument. The Girl is justifiably angry that her life has been invaded by bureaucrats who don't even particularly seem to care that they're walking all over her civil rights. However, the Fed argues that no, the system isn't perfect and sometimes produces bad results, but it needs to exist, it improves over time, and it would be really great if the Girl's generation stopped declaring it broken beyond repair every time ''they'' are personally inconvenienced by it.
49	* BrickJoke: [[http://agirlandherfed.com/1.426.html Sparky and the group use Ben as a relay to record a meeting.]] [[http://agirlandherfed.com/1.447.html Sparky meets his ghostly security detail and realizes they've watched him have sex with the Girl. Several times.]] [[http://agirlandherfed.com/1.467.html The Fed and the Girl have sex in an elevator with no ghosts watching.]] Whoops.
50	** [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.937.html The Girl discovers that Ben was involved with Abraham Lincoln]] and says they'll start a club and make matching hats. [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.1146.html 150 or so strips later, he seems awfully disappointed the Girl didn't come.]] [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.1259.html Another 100 strips later, he finally gives it to her.]]
51	* CentipedesDilemma: Smithback apparently tried to teach Hope how to use psychic healing, but her traditional medical training interfered with her grasp of Smithback's techniques, and they eventually abandon the lessons.
52	* CharacterBlog: Speedy's Twitter.
53	* ChekhovsGunman: The Fed fairly early on asserts that he doesn't dream, but during the Vegas excursion, he mumbles in his sleep about someone named Frederick. [[spoiler: It's revealed that, as a coping mechanism, he was somehow visiting the afterlife and receiving support from Frederick Douglass.]]
54	* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: The Fed's punishment for allowing [[spoiler: Lincoln to teach Mako's daughter's aikido lesson?]] He needs to help explain slavery and Jim Crow when Avery's old enough.
55	-->'''The Fed:''' Oh '''God!''' Can't I give her the sex talk instead?
56	* CoolOldLady: Grandmother Ishi is the living keeper of several ''centuries'' of texts on the management of Japan's rather infamous ghost problems. She also greatly likes ''Anime/KimbaTheWhiteLion'', plays ''VideoGame/NekoAtsume'' and others, and when it comes down to Lincoln's concerns about taking over the situation, is in her own words 'out of fucks to give.'
57	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Several agents in the Pocket President community made the mistake of thinking that the Girl was just a spoiled rich girl working an internship for a tiny newspaper. They were ''wrong.''
58	* CurbstompBattle: Planning an all-out assault really does make a difference, doesn't it?
59	** From ''Greek Key''; Picking a fight with Hope = Bad Idea. Picking a fight with Hope and Mike = Worse Idea. Picking a fight with Hope, Mike and ''Speedy'' = Worst. Idea. Ever.
60	* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Among the problems faced in the first major plot arc is [[spoiler:the Bitty Bush, which was ''designed'' to have this effect on the Agents]].
61	* DigitalAvatar: The Agents can go out of body with an avatar that looks exactly like themselves, but sometimes also use non-human avatars. The Fed has a clownfish named Bubbles; although it hasn't appeared in the webcomic yet, Rachel has an owl named Madeline.
62	* DontExplainTheJoke: During a showdown with Clarice, the Girl makes a joke about juggling [[MacGuffin Mac Guffins]], and how they are high calorie. She then explains "muffin? macguffin? geddit?"
63	* EatTheBomb: Ben does this with one of Speedy's grenades.
64	* EmbarrassingTattoo: The Fed has one - a barbed wire/Celtic knot combination on his upper arm. His excuse was "college."
65	* EmotionSuppression: At the beginning, almost all of the people in the Pocket President program have some level of this to deal with it. [[spoiler: This was intentional by the people behind the program, to make them easier to control.]] Pat is still able to enter this mindset if he feels he needs to, although he even admits how damaging it can be.
66	* EmpoweredBadassNormal: The Fed upgraded from BadassNormal once he [[spoiler: gains control of the chip]]
67	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Fed, whom the Girl [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname refers to as "Sparky"]]
68	** [[spoiler: His real name is eventually revealed to be Patrick Mulcahy.]]
69	** [[spoiler: And the Girl's name is revealed to be Hope Blackwell.]]
70	* EveryoneKnewAlready: When Ben thought Speedy told everyone about [[spoiler: how his research into the nature of ghost energy was stolen and used to start the Pocket President program.]], Hope tells them they'd figured it out long ago (thanks mostly to Ben acting guilty and changing the subject any time one of them brought it up). They let Speedy blackmail him to keep his tendency to [[DidNotThinkThisThrough go off follow his own whims]] in check.
71	* EverythingIsOnline: Averted [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.547.html here]].
72	* FairyCompanion: Benjamin Franklin and the Bitty Bush both qualify, but Ben goes a step further by having actual fairy wings.
73	* FanDisservice: The Fed walks in at just the right time to overhear the Girl saying that she wants him so badly that she's "sloshing when she walks." He declares this to be at once the most and least erotic thing he's ever heard.
74	* FeministFantasy: It's at least half about a female protagonist with progressive values, supernatural abilities and exceptional fighting skills.
75	* FictionFiveHundred: The Girl has a ''lot'' of money from Ben going into the future and picking high-yield stocks. He believes his charges are able to focus better when they don't have to worry about feeding or sheltering themselves.
76	* FriendToAllLivingThings: Hope is pretty thrilled to have a pretty bird land on her finger... [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.1102.html until Mike is shown with a whole flock attracted to him]]. This a BrickJoke, as he previously mentioned that his partner collects birds, who then complains that it's cheating to use powers to attract birds for bird-watching.
77	* FrustratedOverheadScribble: Thomas has a frustrated squiggly line above him as he listens to his mother enthusiastically telling him and his brothers that most kids would love to go {{Roofhopping}} while the boys ask her to go do the things they actually want to do.
78	* FunWithAcronyms: A rare aversion. The Fed works for [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.49.html OACET]]: the Office of Adaptive and Complementary Enhancement Technologies. It doesn't spell anything, it's nigh-impossible to pronounce, and it isn't even mentioned that often.
79	* GentleGiant: The Fed, once the real him re-emerges.
80	* GeniusBruiser: The eponymous battle couple, who are a doctor and a lawyer, respectively.
81	* GhostlyGoals: Some are more malevolent than others.
82	* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: Ghosts gain power from how well and widely they are remembered.
83	* GovernmentConspiracy: Involving [[spoiler:brain implants and ghosts]].
84	* GrievousHarmWithABody: Hope is excellent at judo, and Pat is very much a CombatPragmatist, so both will calmly throw one foe into another to make their lives easier in a fight.
85	* HasTwoThumbsAnd: [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.468.html Speedy tries this]], but is foiled by [[TalkingAnimal not having thumbs]]. (This is unintentionally hilarious for a completely different reason: real Koalas actually have ''four'' thumbs.)
86	* HealingHands: [[spoiler: Smithback]] has this ability, which turns out to be a huge reveal - [[spoiler: he's Mike's uncle]]. Said character offers to teach Hope as well, but she doesn't take to it - apparently, it doesn't mix well with her medical training.
87	* HeroicBSOD: Ghosts can teleport living people if given enough power, but it has the side effect of making them nigh catatonic for some time. It apparently lasts for around a day, but allies can talk them out of catatonia quicker.
88	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: But the Girl is a Judo master, and can handle him easily.
89	* IGaveMyWord: Why Lincoln allows the rogue ghosts to draw on his strength, even though he knows they're trying to start a civil war and it causes him actual pain.
90	* ImTakingHerHomeWithMe: The Girl says this about one of the ''[[{{Mooks}} henchmen]]''. The Fed [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.638.html vetoes the idea]], though. After all, [[DeadpanSnarker raising a villain is a big responsibility]].
91	* ISeeDeadPeople: Used to be just psychics like Hope. Then along came the implant, and now all the Agents can see them if they know what to look for.
92	* ISeeThemToo: Originally [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/2.747.html twice simultaneously]], since {{RetCon}}ned to once, nonverbally, [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.748.html when the Girl meets the Fed.]]
93	* InsufferableGenius[=/=]IntellectualAnimal: Speedy
94	* InVinoVeritas: The Girl gets a lot less cynical after a fair amount of vodka.
95	* ISeeDeadPeople: But only if they want you to for the most part. Those born with the ability to see them without being explicitly revealed are said to be extremely rare - Hope is one of them.
96	* ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime: [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.459.html Verbatim.]]
97	* IWasQuiteALooker: [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.585.html Rose]]
98	* KryptoniteFactor: [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.639.html Lampshaded here.]] See {{Weaksauce Weakness}} below.
99	* TheLancer: Mare plays this role within OACET after the TimeSkip; she's the one most public with disagreements with Pat's leadership style. That said, outsiders frequently underestimate just how loyal she is overall.
100	** Interestingly, George Washington sees Pat in this light - because of his stature, almost nobody amongst the ghosts are willing to stand up to him. He begrudgingly admits that he enjoys that Pat is willing to fight back (both with words and with fists).
101	* LandDownunder: An ad for holidaying in Australia has a warning about the claws and teeth of anything not poisonous.
102	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: One of the more potent applications of the ghosts' ability to mess with surveillance is the ability to apply this on an individual. [[spoiler: Clarice]] attempts to weaponize this, although it turns out that there are limitations to it - [[spoiler: psychically aware people like Hope]] can potentially get around it.
103	* LastSecondChance: [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.643.html No]].
104	** Then four pages later, [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.647.html yes]].
105	* LateArrivalSpoiler: The real names of the title couple have been known for years now, but anyone starting from the beginning won't see them for quite a while.
106	* ILetYouWin The Fed revealed that he held back in his sparring matches with the Girl. However, he states outright that he knows its stupid, because she is still much, much better than him.
107	* LivingWeapon: [[spoiler:The entire point of the program. The chip is an unspeakably powerful digital weapon, being a gamechanger on the level of nuclear power. But it requires a biological component that cannot be removed. Obviously, no one wanted to put that much power into the hands of the few who happened to have the chips. So they created an extremely annoying interface designed to pop up whenever the agents got too emotional, and when they went to government-provided psychiatrists for their problems, they were given piles of drugs. All this was in an effort to turn the agents into human robots, thereby oblivating the problems of the biological component]].
108	* LongHairIsFeminine: Mary Murphy's long red hair works both to emphasize her femininity and as a reminder that if you genuinely piss her off, she will destroy you.
109	* {{MacGuffin}}: {{Lampshaded}} though here's to hoping that they're not what we'd traditionally call a [=MacGuffin=], as they had better explain some things. [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.657.html Unless this is a hint from the writer that they won't...]]
110	-->'''The Girl''': ''Damn, we're juggling a load of [=MacGuffins=]. And I've heard [=MacGuffins=] are insanely high in calories... Get it? Muffin? MacGuffin?''
111	* MagikarpPower: The chips were considered abject failures until Ben unlocked the Fed's. Turns out they were crippled on purpose, but the trope still stands.
112	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Zig-zagged all to hell. The Girl seems like a shoe-in for this, being spunky, violent, and spontaneous. But it ends up that she has to spend a lot more effort getting used to Sparky's convoluted conspiracy/spy shenanigans than any effort he'd have to take to get used to her being merely eccentric.
113	* {{Masquerade}}: At least until [[spoiler:the chips are revealed to the public]] between parts one and two. The ghosts are probably going to remain hidden for a while, though.
114	* MightyWhitey: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Lincoln with Grandmother Ishi when Lincoln offers his services in dealing with her ghost problem.
115	* NapInducingSpeak: Josh deliberately fakes a "[[HeadDesk Sixth-Grade Geography]]" in order to interrupt someone who's {{holding the floor}}. Unfortunately for him, he misjudged the hardness of the [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.720.html solid oak table]].
116	* NoNameGiven: Both title characters, initially. WordOfGod had this was intentional. Their real names are eventually revealed as [[spoiler: Hope Blackwell and Patrick Mulcahy]] respectively.
117	* NoodleIncident: The first time she made a serial killer cry.
118	** Also, whatever happened in the Fed's college days with a walrus. It eventually turned into a BrickJoke.
119	* NotActuallyTheUltimateQuestion:
120	** A variation, when [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.675.html the Fed asks the Girl whether the robotic limb she's holding is a human arm.]]
121	** A completely straight example, when [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.1187.html Coolidge asks Mare, "Do you think it will be enough?"]] -- "it" being their security measures, not [[DoomedMoralVictor continuing to fight even in the face of possible failure]].
122	* NotSoImaginaryFriend: The Girl initially assumes Ben isn't real, but is just a leftover hallucination from a bad LSD trip in college. When she finds out that he really does exist and really is the ghost of Benjamin Franklin, she has a minor BSOD moment.
123	* OhCrap:
124	** Hope's reaction when a ghost pops in next to her but it isn't Benjamin Franklin like she was expecting, but [[spoiler: Abraham Lincoln]].
125	** Early on, Hope's reaction when she realizes that Pat can see Ben - which means he's a NotSoImaginaryFriend after all.
126	* OldMaster: Rose Myers, the woman who taught the Fed everything he knows about espionage. Though officially retired, she hasn't forgotten how to hand out a bit of pain when the occasion calls for it.
127	* OurGhostsAreDifferent: For one, they can travel in time, and bring back alcohol.
128	* OurSloganIsTerrible: [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.19.html Captain Tony's: "We Will Get You Drunk"]].
129	* PaintingTheMedium: [[spoiler: Abraham Lincoln]] is repeatedly said to be both extremely powerful and unstable by everyone who has met [[spoiler: someone who was both an incredibly powerful innate psychic as well as one of the most famous people in American history]]. This is reflected in their speech bubbles: the strokes are thicker (even moreso when bold is used to show emphasis), the kerning is uneven, and the alignment of the letters on the same line is ''just'' uneven enough that it's noticeably unsettling without being impossible to read clearly. Best shown [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.1154.html here]], where a standard character's regular and bolded-for-emphasis text can be compared immediately after to the text in question.
130	* PopularityPower: InUniverse, the power an individual ghost can exert without borrowing from or teaming up with another is largely dependent on how much fame they've acquired in the living world. Presidents with less lasting impact like Calvin Coolidge can do little more than light lifting, while a Founding Father like Benjamin Franklin is capable of [[TheProphecy limited views of the future]]. [[spoiler: Having psychic powers also can affect this - there's some cause for concern when one agent commits suicide, and Abraham Lincoln combines both incredible psychic potential and this to be a full-on RealityWarper.]]
131	* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: So, so much. A Girl, her Fed, the ghost of Ben Franklin, a talking koala....
132	* RansackedRoom: [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.41.html Here.]]
133	* RealityWarper: [[spoiler: Abraham Lincoln]] is revealed to have the power to create objects ''ex nihilo'' in the real world. [[spoiler: George Washington]], who by all accounts is one of the few who potentially could come close (not even equal) to that level of power, is shocked by this and recognizes that, for all intents and purposes, there is no limit to what that power could potentially do.
134	* RedRightHand: Clarice Finch with her robot arm.
135	* RestrainingBolt: The real purpose of the Bitty Bush program.
136	* SenseFreak:
137	** What happens when Benjamin Franklin is given temporary control over Mulcahy's body - while Ben did promise that he wouldn't do anything Pat wouldn't do, that does mean that Ben spent nine straight hours seeing just what an incredibly in-shape body could do exercise-wise and enjoying all the endorphin rush from that level of exercise.
138	** Earlier, what happens when Pat has Ben free all of the agents trapped in the program. Suddenly, the base desires of everyone in the office come to the fore, and the agents as a whole remember both their appetites and their libidos.
139	-->'''Josh:''' We could remake '''''Film/{{Caligula}}!''''
140	* ShoutOut: Check out the occupant of Suite A4 [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.1116.html in this Brisbane office building]]. Wanna bet the address is [[WesternAnimation/FindingNemo 42 Wallaby Way]]?
141	** Also, the graffiti on one of the office buildings in [[http://agirlandherfed.com/1.1195.html this comic]] will be familiar to fans of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan.''
142	* {{Scandalgate}}: The Fed thinks the Chip could end up as one of these. He's also more eloquent about this than the trope expects.
143	-->'''The Fed''': ''I keep thinking about the Watergate, or Tuskegee... Nightmares that we sum up in '''[[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.555.html one word]].'''''
144	* TheSociopath: The Girl outright calls Clarice one, and she admits that she's not far from one herself.
145	* SpiderSense: Upon seeing how quickly Hope takes to firearm training, she and Pat have a discussion on it. Hope conjectures that developing a sense for where an attack comes from might be the first sign of psychic powers, as she compared notes with Mike and both found that they suddenly jumped in skill in judo [[PubertySuperpower around when puberty first kicked in]].
146	* StrawmanPolitical: Surprisingly averted (most of the time). While the comic is heavily steeped in the politics surrounding government surveillance, especially electronic surveillance, it generally tries to present all sides fairly. The major exception is the Bitty Bush, which is one long TakeThat at UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush.
147	* SunglassesAtNight: [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/comic/?177 They even wear them in their sleep.]] See WeaksauceWeakness below.
148	* TakeThat: To the Franchise/StarWars prequels, when the Fed [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.346.html mentions that he wants to finally see them]], as he loved the original trilogy.
149	** Rachel Peng obviously has not forgiven Smithback for his role in the suppression of the Pocket President users, as he discovers when she sees his ghost for the first time.
150	* TalkAboutThatThing: [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.878.html Here.]]
151	--> '''Girl''': ''We're gonna... go to the restroom and check on our drinks.''\
152	'''Mako''': ''Great! Get me a for god's sake, separate your sentences. [[DeadpanSnarker With a twist of lime]].''
153	* TalkToTheFist: "[[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.620.html Probably not what they mean when they say good manners make good opportunities...]]"
154	* TechnicalPacifist: Mike is a Buddhist monk who advocates non-violence. He is also a judo master with twelve years of experience on the Girl, and has ''no'' problem using his skills against the people who threaten his friends.
155	** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Mike himself, who makes certain to teach the difference between "non-violent" and "pacifist."
156	* {{Technopath}}: [[spoiler: The default abilities of the unlocked chip, once the agents learn to take control of it. It's said that each person develops their own specialty, but all of them have a strong degree of control over pretty much any networked device.]]
157	* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted. The Girl went to one and "blew twenty grand" when Ben first popped up. Also played straight and subverted with Abraham Lincoln. In the afterlife he has completely lost his mind due to stress from the Civil War, but no one has been able to help him--largely because he seals himself off from almost everyone, Frederick Douglass being one known exception.
158	** Most of the Agents are in therapy, and are pretty open about it. At one point, the Fed points out he's probably going to be in therapy the rest of his life after the brainwashing business.
159	* ToiletHumor: None of the major characters are afraid to get raunchy or rude, but the best of it has to be Mike, in part because nobody expects it out of the non-violent Zen practitioner.
160	-->'''Mike:''' I have become one with the dick joke.
161	* TheUnReveal: The identity of the ghost who [[spoiler: set the Pocket President program in motion]]. Further plot developments suggest that 99% of the audience wouldn't have recognized him by name anyway.
162	* TimeSkip: After [[spoiler: stopping the Pocket President program and revealing its existence to the public.]]
163	* TookALevelInBadass: Lampshaded [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.894.html here]].
164	* UnwantedAssistance: The Bitty Bush is universally seen as an annoyance that makes it impossible to do anything productive. [[spoiler: Which was its whole purpose, making this an InvokedTrope.]] Mulcahy is shown taking what is called an unhealthy quantity of psychiatric drugs just to get it to shut up (with strong implications that he's not an outlier on that count), and Dixon is shown in flashback to have used massive amounts of alcohol for the same purpose.
165	* VerbalBackspace: [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.671.html Smithback talks about his nephew Mike.]]
166	* VitriolicBestBuds: Much to the former's surprise, [[spoiler: Pat Mulcahy and George Washington]] develop into this, despite the fact that the latter point-blank admits that he actively dislikes the former. The former is incredulous that the latter would describe their relationship as anything resembling "friendship." The heart of it is that the two do recognize that each of them want what's best for everyone... and disagree on just how to accomplish that to the point of room-destroying violence.
167	* WeaksauceWeakness: Agents in the program get instant, debilitating migraines when exposed to bright light. Ironically, this makes it very hard for them to blend in, since they look like stereotypical federal agents.
168	* WhiteMansBurden: {{Invoked}} when [[http://agirlandherfed.com/1.1464.html Lincoln offers his aid to Grandmother Ishi in Japan]], as he's concerned that he's playing into the trope with good intentions.
169	-->'''Grandmother Ishi''': <Kid, you seem to spend a lot of time online. I bet you've heard the phrase, "''[[MemeticMutation Out of fucks to give]]''".
170	* WorldOfWeirdness:
171	** After [[spoiler:the chips are revealed to the public.]] In the earlier comics it's the {{Masquerade}} (see above).
172	** After? How about this quote from the beggining of the strip.
173	--->'''The Fed''': ''Oh good, the ghost of Benjamin Franklin has arrived. Now things can get back to normal. That's the sound of a mutant conservative koala bear in a screaming fight with an EXTREMELY pissed-off Liberal wanna-be journalist. To the best of my knowledge, it's a first for the record books.''
174	* YaoiFangirl: "I'LL GIVE YOU BOTH A MILLION DOLLARS IF YOU MAKE OUT!" "I'm just gonna say...she's good for it."
175	** And "Sparky, he's got six inches and fifty pounds on you, so..." "Yeah?" "Make sure clothing gets torn. ''Strategic'' clothing."
176	* YearsTooEarly: George Washington's most frequent go-to insult for Mulcahy is "boy," showing that he doesn't think Mulcahy has the years or the maturity to be in the position he's in.

Context Webcomic / AGirlAndHerFed