Grrl Power #997 - Dedlock (Patreon)

Thanks so much for your support! Like, seriously, you guys.

Panel 1: It checks out because now he knows an appreciative succubus.

It's going to vary from fantasy-verse to fantasy-verse, but putting someone under a geas to "Deliver this to the king" versus "See that the king receives this"  may or may not be the same thing.  In the Grrl-verse, magically compelling particular behaviors has roughly the same rules as dealing with a grumpy genie. Wishing to "make me one with everything" is far more likely to result in a violent explosion than achieving enlightenment.

There are a few ways around this. One is to make the underpinnings of the spell far more complex. A "spirit of the law" clause, as it were, but as some people pointed out last page, even the most thoroughly worded "Don't kill me" command doesn't prevent two succubuses from Strangers on a Train-ing the others' master.

Another way is to make the subject want to obey. This presents an escalating challenge the more of a dick you are to them, and again, writing a spell to make them find any sort of mistreatment acceptable or even deserved quickly becomes as challenging as airtight obedience spells. It's easier to just train them from the get-go that they've done something to deserve their fate, like telling them that in a previous life they were a witch that caused plagues or a demon footsoldier that ate babies or whatever.

So this is the solution they came up with. Tie the succubus's life to her master and hope she doesn't hate you so much that she accepts her own demise as a reasonable price to pay. And as Dabbler pointed out, there are considerable benefits to the bond, mostly for the master, and there's more stuff that she didn't get a chance to get into, like hooks in the bond to make it easy for the arch-mage to also make the succubus his familiar, which grants sense-sharing and other bonuses.

So... not to completely spoil any notable story events I have planned for page 1000, I was wondering what you guys think Sydney's bling might look like once she's officially graduated to private. I know most privates aren't going to have a massive ribbon rack (is that what it's called?) but most boots don't get to participate in the first official action of a new branch of the military, be a key player in the defeat of Vehemence, fight mannequin bots while defending foreign (The Twilight Council's legal status is complicated) dignitaries, get stranded in space, rescue refugees, return to Earth, fight alien mercenaries. You know, stuff like that.

Really, I just need an idea of how many ribbons she might have accrued so her uniform doesn't look like she stole it off a master sergeant or something. There was also a page a long way back where someone brought up the idea of a medals, and I've no idea where that discussion is buried. I think non-military people like myself are kind of out of the loop when it comes to medals, because the only time we hear about them (short of having an enlisted family member or friend) is when the really big ones get handed out, so I really couldn't guess if anything she's done is worth a bronze cross or an orange star? No, wait, that's a Lucky Charm.

Tamer: Enhancer 2 – Progress Update:

Just have to finish up the missing sex scene, then it's off to the proofers.