Better Than Me 2013-08-14

[Jabberwonky]

Looks like the message is getting through to Monica better than Shelly...

[Atomic]

"With great power comes great responsibility."

And not making an ass of yourself just because you feel like it.

P.S. - Humility is not about hating yourself, it's about knowing and recognizing your limitations.

[chicgeek]

'And don't you know there are children starving in (fill in the blank) who would love what you've turned your nose up at!'
Ah, now comes the guilt. Phix is so a mom!

[zachariah]

'And don't you know there are children starving in (fill in the blank) who would love what you've turned your nose up at!'
Ah, now comes the guilt. Phix is so a mom!

Not a mom, a Grandmother! When they lay a guilt trip on you they do it right. Lot's of practice you know. After all Grandma doesn't have to play by mom rules.

[Dave]

Looks like the message is getting through to Monica better than Shelly...

I dunno. I can't tell for sure, but it looks to me as if Shelly is teary-eyed.

"With great power comes great responsibility."

And not making an ass of yourself just because you feel like it..

And not unnecessarily making life tougher for other (innocent) parties.

[Opus the Poet]

I can think of one "thorny" girl that would love to be able to join society if she knew about it. Maybe she does already...

[davids4250]

I think this will fit in with the end of the previous story with little Castela, I think our two mega-supes will see what the average supe has to go through. She is a delightful little girl, but she is purple, with horns and strange eyes. Whoever suggested thet they might become her babysitters may have been right.

[Jay-Em]

Is Shelly teary-eyed from the slap she got? Or is Phix' apparently soft-spoken explanation and admitting of her own failings, hitting home?

It dóes look like the way Pablo tends to draw tears. Aaaand.. Shelly ìs the type that tries too hard to keep a stiff upper-lip, but is actually véry sensitive..

[The Old Wolf]

It's almost as though Phix were saying "Do as I say, not as I do," but I'm hoping it's not quite as shallow as that. She's asking the two of them to go beyond what she's been able to do herself. Interesting indeed.

[shadowinthelight]

It's definitely sinking in with Monica shrinking away like a little girl.

It's almost as though Phix were saying "Do as I say, not as I do," but I'm hoping it's not quite as shallow as that. She's asking the two of them to go beyond what she's been able to do herself. Interesting indeed.

Do as I say, not as I did.

[Boxilar]

Looks like the message is getting through to Monica better than Shelly...

I'm with Dave. I think Shelly is tearing up.

And I get where Phix's anger came from here. She's ashamed to say she's their teacher because she sees herself in thier actions. Both Monica and Shelly were exibiting the Arrogant Cluelessness of apex predators, something Phix has tried to live down after Millenia of being an "arogant murderous bitch". I think her dissapointment comes from her own comparison to the people M and Shelly were before their assention and who they are now. I think she hoped her influence would make them better than they seem to have become.

I think the problem with this reasoning is that Phix is working with knowledge and direct experience the girls just don't have.

Shelly is 80,000 years old, but almost ALL that time was spent sequestered away from...well everything. She may have read about lower level supernaturals, but her experiance with the lower end of the scale would be limited.

And Monica would be even more isolated. Before her power as a Glyph Reader manifested, M would have been vunerable even to "shitty mosquitos" like Pratt and McBride. Even after aquiring control of the GGGs and learning to POIT, M mostly rubbed shoulders with the Apex level supernaturals, enjoying thier protection and tutalage. She's suddenly been handed Apex level power through no desire or active actions of her own and is trying to adjust to being able to keep up with biengs who before could have folded her up like a dinner napkin.

I'm not saying this little guilt trip isn't nessesary for both of them.

It is, unless Phix want's to let them become arrogant entitled @$$holes like Bia.

It's just I feel Phix is being as hard on herself here as she is on Monica and Shelly because she feels she could have done better.

EDIT; Along those lines, a good measure of a person is how they treat those who can do nothing for them.

And who you are is what you do when you're alone in the dark where no one can see.

M and Shelly are learning how to act in the dark.

[txmystic]

The evidence of her cockiness and bigotry seems to be lining the wall behind them in the last panel...nice visual. I like how the wall of skulls continues to imbue snippets of Phix's character development.

[KnightDelight]

Yes, it is sinking in for Monica. She also realizes the coddling Phix used to do where she was concerned is over. No more "Princess" or "Pumpkin" terms of affection. Monica's an equal now and way too dangerous to walk on eggshells around any longer.

Shelly might go either way. She could be building up to a breakup with grandma for hitting her, or she may just be hurt that Phix would lash out at her physically. I think that's what Phix meant by still trying to get over being such a creature. One who hits before thinking. Apparently it's how she was brought up and lived her early life. I believe right now she is trying to, in her own way, apologize for just punching Shelly. Letting her know what she did was not out of hatred, but conditioning over countless ages. It's how she deals with the world. She realizes it's not the way to go, but also realizes how hard it is to change. She wants to change. Especially now that she has a grand-daughter.

Wonder if Phix has raised any children of her own in past millennia? For that matter, you'd kinda think she would want to make contact with her son now that Shelly is deep into the fold. After all, just the thought of him and giving him up brought a tear to her eye (and a blind rage that could only be quelled by the spilling of blood). It clearly still hurts her deeply. Seems like it's time for Shelly's dad to meet his mother. Or does he already know and wants nothing to do with her?

[Timotheus]

Phix reconnecting with Shelly's dad would be a huge can of worms to deal with on all sorts of levels. He has no idea that she exists or what she looks like I'm sure. We're not even sure he knows he was adopted, he may have been a case of being a "changeling". And Phix is in no way Comanche, physically or culturally, and normally looks in human form of an age to date him.

The easiest situation would be to just introduce her as Shell's "friend" and leave at that if Phix can handle it.

[elanora]

As a quick question: Why don't paranormals in the wapsiverse enter society more openly? The masquerade doesn't seem to be benefiting anyone when the supernatural beings are often more powerful than entire armies. Ending up hunted down by mods is hardly a legitimate concern when any one of the GGGs could single-handedly defeat the combined armies of the earth.

[Sidhekin]

The implication I get is that Phix is concerned, not about the more-powerful-than-entire-armies, but the less powerful supernatural being.

But not if it's a vampire or werewolf. They're like shitty mosquitos.

[elanora]

As long as even one of the strong Supernaturals was willing to stand up for the weaker ones it would be more than enough to keep the peace (at least as much as it's kept in general anyway.) There might be individual bigots, but government persecution, or organized pushback would be impossible.

[Timotheus]

This is akin to the oft asked question, "If there are superior intelligent beings in outer space haven't they come here to make contact with us?" The usual answer is, 'Because they ARE superior intelligent beings."

The supernatural beings of the Wapsiverse as they have been depicted are just as uncoordinated and subject to the iron rule of Mr. Murphy and Mr, Finagle. Why would they want the hassles of being in charge or having to dodge the responsibilities and consequences?

[Boxilar]

As a quick question: Why don't paranormals in the wapsiverse enter society more openly? The masquerade doesn't seem to be benefiting anyone when the supernatural beings are often more powerful than entire armies. Ending up hunted down by mods is hardly a legitimate concern when any one of the GGGs could single-handedly defeat the combined armies of the earth.

I think it's because most supernaturals living on Earth aren't at Phix, Shelly or Monica's level. Most Apex Supernaturals move outside the enviorns of Earth only occasionally visiting, like Bia and Phix, or move cautiously to avoid causing damage, Like Brandi, Bud and Jin. The MiB is mostly about protecting supernaturals like Atsalli and Pickle from "normals" who would do them harm. Atsalli is a Siren, a shapeshifter who can fly and heal rapidly, but she can be hurt and presumably killed. She is mortal. There must be thousands of supernaturals living in the world, and the MiB runs interference for them. Shelly and Monica just made life for the lower level supernaturals a little bit harder. M and Shell are in no danger, both of them have the power to take on whole armies. But people will be looking for things out of the ordinary now. Supernaturals without the power of a titan will have to be even more careful about who they trust and what they do where the public can see.

To Phix's point; human fear and ignorance will prevent someone like Castela from ever fully joining or participating in human society. At least Atsali can fake being human. Pickle will always have ot live in the shadows. And Monica and Shelly just assured that humanity will be staring at those shadows extra hard for awhile.

This is what Phix is pissed about. M and Shells "youthful exuberance" just put untold thousands in danger.

And Phix is acknowldging her own prejudices. After all, it wasn't too long ago that she ripped Monica's face off because some "shitty mosquitos" were in her Library.

[elanora]

The Masquerade is being enforced, and according to today's strip, living openly is something that many supernaturals wish to do. The question that I'm getting at is: Why bother?

For the eponymous example, take "Vampire: The Masquerade" Vampires keep their existence a secret because otherwise mortals would organize themselves and destroy them. The Masquerade is strictly enforced by vampires, for the protection of vampires.

In "Men in Black" a treaty requires that the existence of aliens be kept secret, or else said aliens will destroy the earth (for... reasons?). Furthermore, individual aliens tend not to be much stronger than humans when it comes down to a fight. At any rate, the primary reason the MiBs enforce the Masquerade is to prevent aliens from destroying the Earth... for reasons.

Here Phix is censuring Monica and Shelly for breaking The Masquerade; but who is being served by it? The supernaturals have insurmountable advantages in literally every possible way. If humanity united rose up as one, humanity united would be smacked down as one. If some people accepted them, and others didn't, they'd be no worse off than any minority group (plus they'd still have magic powers).

The fact that at least some high-level government officials are in on the secret anyway means that there seems to be even less reason to worry.

I don't have a problem with "The Masquerade" as a trope, quite the contrary, I like it a lot; but there has to be a good justification. Supernaturals as a whole have nothing to fear from mortals; the government is in collusion with them; perpetuating ignorance amongst the population at large seems to serve no purpose other than to create artificial narrative tension.

"There are supernaturals who would give everything to join society so openly as flying through the city!"

Why don't they?

Who's stopping them?

Why are they being stopped?

Frankly, why bother?

*Edit: to acknowledge Boxilar: It seems like we have enough rule of law to prevent torch-and-pitchfork mobs from coming after weaker supernaturals any more than they come after other minorities. Supernaturals are also far more able to defend themselves than unpopular mortal minorities. Even Atsali can effortlessly lift an adult human, and the existence of heavy-hitters would give self-styled Van Helsings quite a bit of pause.