A Few Favors 2013-06-17

[shadowinthelight]

Uh-oh, fecal matter is about to hit the spinning air circulator.

[Fairportfan]

Yep. Bud and Jin need to talk about their nightmares...

[pcj70]

Uh-oh, fecal matter is about to hit the spinning air circulator.

and hit it hard - a angry Bud is terrifying - a calm determined Bud may be more so (in a good way)

[MerchManDan]

Ah. Bud has a nice big wrench to drop in SD Oduya's machinery; let's just hope the Senior Director hasn't accounted for such a thing.

[Dave]

... and, another couple of pieces fall into place in the big Lanthian back-story jigsaw puzzle.

I'm reminded in a way of something that happens from time to time, among mathematicians and physicists. Two lines of research, which seem to be in fundamentally different directions and to be entirely unconnected, suddenly go THUD... and you find out that one mathematical theory can be applied to give you a powerful new tool for solving a whole other class of problems that have stumped researchers for years. Deep connections can appear in the most unexpected of ways..

Who would have thought that "Who's the little girl that Bud has been seeing in her visions?" and "What's the true nature of Brandi's 'chessmaster' persona?" would have the same answer? These two threads have been winding through the story for years... and the fact that they're tied together has just become visible.

Wow. Plot-meister Paul has presented a particularly potent piece of planning!

and, yeah, seeing Bud with her glyph calmly alight.... brrrr. I hope the "favors" she can call in, can allow her to resolve the situation in ways which leave the continental crust un-broken!

[KnightDelight]

A "kernel" of truth? A KERNEL of truth!? In Wapsi world it's more like a freaken massive giant redwood of truth. Sphinxes are real, Gorgons are real, golems are real and more powerful than ever imagined. Then there are gods and demi-gods, Titans, demons, Sirens, on and on. I'd say we are waaaay past the itty bitty kernel of truth stage. Now, Nu Gui's are real and even worse than in the usual legends. Understate much?

[DilyV]

Atsali: "You mean like your super manipulative partner?"

Survey says? DING DING DING DING DING!!!!!

Okay, let me see if I got this straight...

Brandi wouldn't hurt a fly... by choice, due to her memories of being part of the Chimera and all the destruction and death it wrought. Check.

Brandi made a deal with what we'd presumed was the demon realm to have her will be done, but not remember anything about it or know that she was doing it. Now, we know it was a Nu Gui. Check.

This is where I get a bit... not confused, just uneasy about what we know. Brandi knows about the deal. She knows that her alter ego does these things... isn't that kind of defeating the whole idea of a deal with the Nu Gui?

Another thing... evil is a learned trait. An infant isn't capable of evil... is it? I mean it hasn't been on earth long enough to learn evil traits. Of course if someone busted me like a bag of glass tubes with a pole, I guess I'd have a case of the ass too... Which means that somewhere along the way, Brandi imparted this sense of vengeance on this child's ghost... The question is... do we know when the deal was struck? Before Brandi became part of the Chimera, or after they'd (Brandi, Bud and Jin) been separated from it?

I would think that it would have had to have been after... wouldn't Bud and Jin have noticed the hint of another entity when they were a part of the Chimera?

EDIT: I looked back into the Chronology. It was after the Golem Girls had been separated from the Chimera... just prior to 5200 BC and prior to the vimanna cells being installed. The Chronology also states that the deal Brandi made was with the demon realm. If the deal was indeed made with the Nu Gui of the busted up glass tube baby, then Brandi would have had to track down the spirit of that child and nurtured the evil within it...

My question is... why would brandi attempt to save Lanthian society, only to have her alter ego destroy it (and anyone else who gets caught up in collateral damage)?

[Stigmartyr762]

Uh-oh, fecal matter is about to hit the spinning air circulator.

and hit it hard - a angry Bud is terrifying - a calm determined Bud may be more so (in a good way)

Oh I can hear the shrieks and screams already. This is gonna be ugly.

[Atomic]

Ah. Bud has a nice big wrench to drop in SD Oduya's machinery; let's just hope the Senior Director hasn't accounted for such a thing.

Or, perhaps Brandi has, and this is her plan to rid herself of the Nu Gui!

- Set a thief to catch a thief...

[shadowinthelight]

Wow. Plot-meister Paul has presented a particularly potent piece of planning!

I don't know why but it makes me giggle to imagine an alternate reality where instead of being a master plot weaver, Paul saw a couple of dangling threads and said to himself, "How can I tie this %&^@ together?".

Also, I appreciate the appeal of your application of alliteration.

[zachariah]

Okay, let me see if I got this straight...

Brandi wouldn't hurt a fly... by choice, due to her memories of being part of the Chimera and all the destruction and death it wrought. Check.

Brandi made a deal with what we'd presumed was the demon realm to have her will be done, but not remember anything about it or know that she was doing it. Now, we know it was a Nu Gui. Check.

This is where I get a bit... not confused, just uneasy about what we know. Brandi knows about the deal. She knows that her alter ego does these things... isn't that kind of defeating the whole idea of a deal with the Nu Gui?

Another thing... evil is a learned trait. An infant isn't capable of evil... is it? I mean it hasn't been on earth long enough to learn evil traits. Of course if someone busted me like a bag of glass tubes with a pole, I guess I'd have a case of the ass too... Which means that somewhere along the way, Brandi imparted this sense of vengeance on this child's ghost... The question is... do we know when the deal was struck? Before Brandi became part of the Chimera, or after they'd (Brandi, Bud and Jin) been separated from it?

I would think that it would have had to have been after... wouldn't Bud and Jin have noticed the hint of another entity when they were a part of the Chimera?

I wouldn't so much call the Nu Gui evil but rather vengeful. Created by a wrong done to an innocent it strikes back at those who harmed it, or anyone else it feels like. So it is manipulation Brandi into self destructive actions and actions against others. That implies that most of SDO is the Nu Gui pulling the strings.
The next question is how does Bud intend to exorcise the Nu Gui? That has to be what is planned. With the Nu Gui gone they get the real Brandi back. The demons should know how to do that.

[DilyV]

Okay, let me see if I got this straight...

Brandi wouldn't hurt a fly... by choice, due to her memories of being part of the Chimera and all the destruction and death it wrought. Check.

Brandi made a deal with what we'd presumed was the demon realm to have her will be done, but not remember anything about it or know that she was doing it. Now, we know it was a Nu Gui. Check.

This is where I get a bit... not confused, just uneasy about what we know. Brandi knows about the deal. She knows that her alter ego does these things... isn't that kind of defeating the whole idea of a deal with the Nu Gui?

Another thing... evil is a learned trait. An infant isn't capable of evil... is it? I mean it hasn't been on earth long enough to learn evil traits. Of course if someone busted me like a bag of glass tubes with a pole, I guess I'd have a case of the ass too... Which means that somewhere along the way, Brandi imparted this sense of vengeance on this child's ghost... The question is... do we know when the deal was struck? Before Brandi became part of the Chimera, or after they'd (Brandi, Bud and Jin) been separated from it?

I would think that it would have had to have been after... wouldn't Bud and Jin have noticed the hint of another entity when they were a part of the Chimera?

I wouldn't so much call the Nu Gui evil but rather vengeful. Created by a wrong done to an innocent it strikes back at those who harmed it, or anyone else it feels like. So it is manipulation Brandi into self destructive actions and actions against others. That implies that most of SDO is the Nu Gui pulling the strings.
The next question is how does Bud intend to exorcise the Nu Gui? That has to be what is planned. With the Nu Gui gone they get the real Brandi back. The demons should know how to do that.

Why not just drag Brandi to the library... she can be Phixed there... Like Tina was Phixed. No pun intended. *eyes the pun jar*

[Mark N]

This reminds me of a saying that I was told by my great grandmother; "No good can ever come from harming an innocent". In this case it is more like "a great evil is harvested from killing an Innocent" It just chills you to the bone.

[Timotheus]

Here's the relevant panel, Brandi doesn't say it was with the demon realm, only that the demon realm noticed and that it was while she was under Tepoz's supervision. She doesn't say who the deal was made with. The demon part is only supposition.

http://wapsisquare.com/comic/empty-space/

[scantrontb]

Why not just drag Brandi to the library... she can be Phixed there... Like Tina was Phixed. No pun intended. *eyes the pun jar*

Probably because Nudge is a Titan?/ demi god (whatever) and a Nu Gui is but a mortal spirit and thus would either A) not be affected by whatever technique Phix used on Tina2.0 to evict Nudge, and/or B) if it did work, we'd end up with something far worse than a BOUND spirit, we would have no control over it any longer as it would be free of Brandi or C) Bud is still a bit pissed at Phix's "come-out-smelling-like-a-rose" reputation and doesn't WANT to get her involved.

[jwhouk]

There is only one person who could "exorcize" a ghost from a person (or a golem).

Someone who can communicate with the dead.

(Looks at calendar) You know, we haven't seen the so-called main character of this comic strip since January 25th...

[Jay-Em]

Wow. Plot-meister Paul has presented a particularly potent piece of planning!

I don't know why but it makes me giggle to imagine an alternate reality where instead of being a master plot weaver, Paul saw a couple of dangling threads and said to himself, "How can I tie this %&^@ together?".

Also, I appreciate the appeal of your application of alliteration.

I dunno too. But..

Paul once said, in an interview, something like "the characters take me where I go" So, I guess he knows the Macro-line of the story, where he wants it to go, and fills in the blanks "on the fly"

And maybe ,just maybe, he reads the comments and goes "ooh..I like that..lessee if I can incorporate that" Or "Ohkay.. thát I should stay away from...hmmm..how to tie all of it then.'

[Timotheus]

I have no idea if it's relevant, but Bud's ghostly girl image and Bia as a girl are wearing similar tiaras.
http://wapsisquare.com/comics/2006-06-0 ... member.jpg
http://wapsisquare.com/comics/2012-06-01-lost-girl.jpg


As for masters of long term planning, Kosuke Fujishima of Oh/Ah My Goddess is just now linking up plot points he initiated at the start of his series in 1988.

[davids4250]

I have no idea if it's relevant, but Bud's ghostly girl image and Bia as a girl are wearing similar tiaras.
http://wapsisquare.com/comics/2006-06-0 ... member.jpg
http://wapsisquare.com/comics/2012-06-01-lost-girl.jpg

I was thinking that Bia was the girl they were dreaming about too. Is it possible that Brandi's deal was made with Bia?

I'm glad I have a nice comfy seat in the confusion corner with a hot chocolate and Lemon-Blueberry muffin.

[Fairportfan]

I have no idea if it's relevant, but Bud's ghostly girl image and Bia as a girl are wearing similar tiaras.
http://wapsisquare.com/comics/2006-06-0 ... member.jpg
http://wapsisquare.com/comics/2012-06-01-lost-girl.jpg.

Yeah, in the Brandilyn-and-Acacia bit that Katharine and Atsali saw before Atsali stuck a fork in the socket, Brandilyn sometimes has that glyph on her forehead and sometimes not...

I wonder if it has something to do with the nü gui manifesting control or simply subtly manipulating Brandilyn's actions?

=================

A "nü gui". Brandi made a deal with an evil "nü gui".

Is Brandi responsible for Windows 8?