Grrl Power

Does she even know how to ride? She seems very much a city girl to me.

Is Maiden Pony Lust a trope? It's probably a DSM category.

Well... best to just refer to the trope page All Girls Like Ponies for how it's evolved over time.

I suppose Sydney could also have held up the green orb, but that's only marginally better than the PPO. Good to see that she has a modicum of sense in her daydreams, too.

We'll wait to see if she caught on to the fact that one of his recommended investments was collectables. I just know Sydney is going to run with that.

Oh, I guess we'll learn if the comic book shop owns or leases. Probably leases, from my experience with geek stores.

EDIT: Ah, so it is. I forgot that not everyone was as horse-crazy as my cousins were.

edited 28th Aug '15 1:30:09 PM by 32_Footsteps

It's more platonic than love.

I suppose we should be grateful that she doesn't want a genetically engineered pegicorn.

Yet.

edited 28th Aug '15 2:31:25 PM by tricksterson

Sound financial decisions and genre savvy

It's been a nice look at wage mechanics, but I'm ready for her to get back to action, even if it's just training action.

Your wish may be granted.

Meanwhile, (1) Read the small print before you start enjoying the benefits, (2) There probably ought to be a trope for the localised gravity thing.

Well, there kind of is - Magic Skirt talks about when gravity seems to selectively turn off for certain items. Like how, and maybe this is just the art style, how Max's shirt only slid down a tiny bit despite not being all that tight.

Flying lessons begin. And we have a new passive ability confirmed.

Immunity to vertigo? I think that's the power of the orbs I'm most jealous of.

Hmm... along the lines of Maxima's thought, I wonder just how much control Sydney has over the orbs - could she mentally command them to "catch" her if she started falling? And just how well could that work?

Also, if she got more control, could she make them just hover in place? She can only move so far from the orbs; they might literally hold her aloft by just being too high up. Of course, that's all conjecture; possible, but just an educated guess based on how they've behaved before.

That's actually stupidly helpful, and a really interesting case of Required Secondary Powers. After all, flight's useless if you can't handle the altitude.

Comic! Heh, I've never really thought about the logistics of if people were able to fly pretty much at will. Props for going into details like this!

Edit: Also, gotta love the margin gag. Oh Sydney, why you so silly?

edited 10th Sep '15 3:06:55 AM by tryrar

Yeah, the flying lessons have turned out to be remarkably sensible.

To be fair, I have seen authors take the airspace considerations into their works before... that said, usually only for sci-fi stories where flying cars are discussed, either as to the logistics needed to make ready access to them work or an explanation as to why people don't have them even if the tech is available.

This actually does beg the question though, does Max submit flight plans with the FAA so that she minimizes the potential hazards? She strikes me as the type who would when it's feasible.

Do microlight pilots have to file flight plans? (Honest question...)

Well, I did some quick research on the topic, since I brought it up.

In general, those who don't fly with instruments (like light and superlight aircraft, though presumably with supers in this setting) in the US are not required to file flight paths. That said, there's a few caveats. One, that only applies for flights in certain weather conditions. Two, there are certain levels of airspace that such flight is restricted to (both in terms of upper and lower bounds). Three, while not required, flight plans are always an option.

If I were to guess, I'd say, first and foremost, that personal flight like Maxima and Sydney is its own class of flying with its own rules separate from the real world's visual flight rules or instrument flight rules. There will be some allowances for supers' flight powers that aircraft don't get (like the ability to fly close to structures or people), but they probably would have to file flight plans for anything that crosses over into various restricted spaces (such as airports or situations where, by law, instruments would ordinarily be required). Also, for the areas that require instrument flight in current rules (like really high altitudes), I imagine they'd probably want some certification that the super could navigate in those conditions - it wouldn't matter if Maxima could survive those conditions; if she couldn't navigate that high up, she'd be a danger to other fliers. Also, I imagine a super would be able to handle the "emergency landing" portion of a flight plan much easier than an aircraft would ("Descend into a field").

And, of course, Max does tend to obey rules if they're not onerous. I could easily see her filing a flight path for a planned milk run even if she otherwise wouldn't be required to do so.

New strip. Basically just things moving along.

I wouldn't say just moving things along. I think the fact that the orbs apparently have read outs is important. Also, this might be a clue to Sydney's top speed. If mach 1 is two-fifths of her top speed (if the wedges in her "speedometer" represent equal amounts), then that would obviously put Syd's max speed at mach 2.5, or over 1900 mph.

Also, relatedly, if Maxima is Nigh-Invulnerable, has that ridiculous level of Super-Strength, and can go over mach 1, I would really hope that she does file a flight plan whenever she's really letting loose with flying - it'd be bad if she were in a low-visibility area and accidentally plowed through an airplane.

Isn't that dangerous? Sound can pass through the shield, right?

Sound can, but pressure can't. She should be safe within the shield.

That said, there is an issue that I was reminded of when skimming Required Secondary Powers. Namely, human beings are not built to be able to easily breathe at higher altitudes. We can Hand Wave Max just chilling out for hours at a time up in the air as part of her mysterious suite of ridiculous powers. However, Sydney has no excuse. About the best I could manage is that she could scoop up sea-level atmospheric conditions in her shield and thus carry around more easily breathable air while flying, but we've already seen that she can only carry around a limited supply of that.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, remember that air tank she jokingly suggested? She really needs it.

New strip. Sydney keeps trying...

And the rant confirmed that she keeps about 15 minutes' worth of useable air in her shield for the flight, and will probably be getting an air tank or rebreather for flying.

Sydne succeeds but misses her spot check. The guy with the brown hat turns blue and gains pointy ears.

Well spotted, sir! Or madam... Or whatever.

And, Double-Post, Flying is Fun with some speculation on how the "What superpower would you want?" question really kind of shows where you stand in terms of demographics.