She Said No 2013-09-13

[Atomic]

Not sure what the blob rape monster is, but I'm betting that the person coming to save her is the real Jet. She might be hot for Monica, but I'm pretty sure she would still want it to be a mutual thing.

Maybe Georgette instinctively feels that Monica can more or less control her demons, and wants something of that, but has no idea how to attain that. I feel that Georgette is used to getting everything on a silver platter, being a famous model and all, and has no idea how to go about réally getting things done for herself.

Perhaps the blob is Jets desire to be like, that is, to become, Monica, and so is "invading" her, as seen through Jaguar Vision. Offstage, we here Tina coaching via her demons, also audible to the Jaguar.

Meanwhile, Jet is still out cold, and her demons (at least one, anyway) are making themselves known to the Demon Shepard, M. Given the various back stories, this would be the first episode of the Shepard/Jaguar doing her thing we've seen.

All of this is very primal. Dreams of the Id.

Demons, you say? So, is that Jet's Libido?

Likely -- or something like it.

[Julie]

WTF????

Holy crap!!!! What the heck is going on here? I know this is a dream sequence, but what kind of creature is Jet?

I get the feeling that Tina is the other person talking here... and somehow she feels she might have some control over whatever Jet is... in the end, She's gonna have some splainin' to do!

Interesting...my first thought was that the other person speaking was Jet (like some of the others here apparently)...and that we're seeing two sides of Jet in this dream sequence. But yeah...seriouly full of WTF today.

Oh...and I also don't think that Jet is another being like Tina. The only thing that got the demons up and moving out of the morgue was Nudge. We don't know this for sure, but it's possible that the demons would have moved on to another host without that impetus...and for Jet to have the rats running the ship, she'd have needed a similar push. I doubt that Nudge was jumping back and forth between folks in all of this. After all, she was partially using Tina's covey of demons as a way to hide from Phix.

Either way, the most interesting takeaway from today's edition is the fact that Monica clearly seems to be the one controlling the activity while believing something else is control.

Maybe she's still not fully aware of her own power...maybe this experience will eventually lead to a catharsis, both for Monica and for Jet. I just hope nobody gets too terribly hurt in the process.

Hmmm...I didn't get that impression at all. It feels to me like neither Jet nor Monica is truly "in control" here. After all, Tina is the one who sent M into unconsciousness. It could be argued that M's ability to read others is the reason Jet is in the shared dream-sequence, but it could also be argued that M's ability to read others allowed her to be pulled into Jet's dream...which makes Monica (yet again) an unwilling participant and even less in control of the situation.

I have to say, I've been a reader for many years now but I've never felt the need to register until today.

The way this story arc is going is frankly disturbing. We're seeing repeated incidents of what I can only describe as a mental sexual predator facing no repercussions, and that's not what I expect from a webcomic described by it's author as "a blend of humor and macabre undertones". I'm not seeing much if any humor lately and the macabre undertones have taken over.

I fully realise that this strip does not exist to cater to my personal viewpoint and statements like "I will no longer read your webcomic" are laughable at best, and that's not what I'm trying to say here. I just wanted to state that while all good webcomics evolve, I'm not comfortable with the direction this one is going. I also freely admit that I may be totally misinterpreting what's been happening recently, and I'm more than happy to be shown otherwise if there's evidence thereof.

We now return you to your regular viewing and discussion!

For what it's worth, Paul apparently agrees that the sexual predator act is disturbing and is glad to see that we've picked up on that and have started a discussion about whether or not this kind of stuff is appropriate or acceptable (based on what I saw him post on his Facebook yesterday). Because I saw that, and because of other things I've seen Paul post regarding his opinions on inappropriate sexual behavior, I'm pretty confident that there will be resolution here that addresses how all of this isn't okay. I don't know that there will truly be "reprecussions" in the sense of punishment, but I think that we'll see Monica and Jet addressing the not-so-pleasant stuff living in Jet's mind. Just look at the off-camera statement. Someone (and like I already said, I think that someone will be Jet's other, more rational persona) is upset about what's happening to Monica and points out that she said, "No," which seems to have value to this person.

If you consider that Monica has been reading/experiencing the hidden desires of Jet, the sexual aggression becomes less something that requires reprecussions (because it's not like Jet has willingly and knowingly violated M) and more something that needs to be addressed to prevent those emotions and wishes from turning into something even more toxic. If you think of the "blob" as "Jet's selfish wants" and then remember that there is (hopefully) more to her than that, then the needed "reprecussion" turns out to be more of an emotional healing thing...because if Jet is a halfway decent human being, she probably hates that she has such a selfish and uncaring side to herself. It probably makes her sick to see that self acting out its desires on the woman Jet may respect and actually care about.

Yes, non-consent is disturbing and should never be portrayed as okay or appealing...and I'm glad that so many of us readers have been reacting that way to these pages...but Paul's sense of right and wrong is so clear that I trust him to make this storyline right.

[Dave]

Interesting... It takes approximately 12 years for a web-cartoonist to go completely loony...



TlalocW

Pfft, hardly. As grimdark as this is, Paul's been drawing mind-bending stuff for quite a long time.

True... he's taken the strip into occasional excursions in grimdark on several very notable occasions before.

Remember Bud's retelling of her torture and death, when Monica first Glyph-commanded her to "remember" and first learned what the Lanthian priests had done to the GG's? Remember Brandi's whispered "My job was to protect them" moment that so horrified Monica? Shelly-1's death? Phix's slaughter of Medeia?

Yes, non-consent is disturbing and should never be portrayed as okay or appealing...and I'm glad that so many of us readers have been reacting that way to these pages...but Paul's sense of right and wrong is so clear that I trust him to make this storyline right.

I'm in the same camp, Julie.

The cases I cited, and the current sequence are all instances in which Paul portrayed his characters going through hellish experiences. I've seen posted criticisms from people who turned away from Wapsi Square because "the author treats his characters badly". I don't blame people for doing so, if what they're looking for or are comfortable with is just the humorous or light side of a story.

In each case in the past, though, the dark stuff wasn't gratuitous - it was very important to the evolution of the story, it was clearly portrayed as it was (a terrible thing), it wasn't shrugged off lightly. I expect that the same will be true of the weirdness taking place this week.

Seeing Monica being assaulted in this way... brrrgh... very creepy indeed. Not something I enjoy seeing. She, and we, are going to need some time to come to terms with whatever is happening here.

And, based on Paul's past handling of similarly dark passages, I trust that he'll work it out in a good way, and that there's an important reason we're seeing this happen.

[kingklash]

Oh, no! Monica is going to turn into Venom!

[jeffepp]

OK, just had a thought that riffs on the posts above.

The Marvel Comics Universe has a number of non-corporal, evil psychic entities that hop from physical host to host. Could this be something like that, a psychic predator using, compelling, and harming to feed? A demon of sorts that needs to be exercised, and this is a step in the process to do it?

The sphinx hunt down rogue demons, and destroy them by destroying the host. M can be killed, and returns to life almost instantly. This makes her the perfect demon trap. This could be what's happening now.

[txmystic]

Either way, the most interesting takeaway from today's edition is the fact that Monica clearly seems to be the one controlling the activity while believing something else is control.

Maybe she's still not fully aware of her own power...maybe this experience will eventually lead to a catharsis, both for Monica and for Jet. I just hope nobody gets too terribly hurt in the process.

Hmmm...I didn't get that impression at all. It feels to me like neither Jet nor Monica is truly "in control" here. After all, Tina is the one who sent M into unconsciousness. It could be argued that M's ability to read others is the reason Jet is in the shared dream-sequence, but it could also be argued that M's ability to read others allowed her to be pulled into Jet's dream...which makes Monica (yet again) an unwilling participant and even less in control of the situation.

Yeah, I put that badly, I should not have stated that Monica is "in control", that part was influenced by the offstage voice in the last panel. I just wish I knew who it is that is speaking.

[ActionKermit]

OK, just had a thought that riffs on the posts above.

The Marvel Comics Universe has a number of non-corporal, evil psychic entities that hop from physical host to host. Could this be something like that, a psychic predator using, compelling, and harming to feed? A demon of sorts that needs to be exercised, and this is a step in the process to do it?

The sphinx hunt down rogue demons, and destroy them by destroying the host. M can be killed, and returns to life almost instantly. This makes her the perfect demon trap. This could be what's happening now.

I was strongly reminded of SCP-1204 myself. Phix said that all the rogue demons who messed with people other than their own hosts had been dealt with, but it's possible they may have missed a few. Recall when Jin's doubt was talking about the things they were up to, she used reality television as a prime example of their work. Presumably that implies they were targeting famous people, of which Jet is definitely one. So the goo might be a leftover from that.

[NOTDilbert]

Georgette is merging with Monica.

A new entity is going to arise.

Jet Jaguar Girl is born!

I recall the MST3K 'review'. Wish I had their 'song lyrics' to the JJ song.

[NOTDilbert]

Here's his theme song... translated.



TlalocW

I might have knwn it was somewhere on YouTube. Thanks!

[Wapsi]

I felt very VERY shitty doing this comic, there is a reason, though.

[Prester Fred]

...I don't have the words.

I've heard it said that great art should be disturbing, but...did it have to be this great?

(Okay, yes, I suppose it did...otherwise Mr. Taylor wouldn't have done it...but damn).

Edit: Don't mistake me...this really is good stuff. The disturbingness (is that a word? Well WTH, it is now) caught me off guard...but when I call it "art," I'm not talking about the noise a seal makes.

[DilyV]

I said it earlier... Mr. Taylor has always had a reason for the disturbing things he's drawn into the strip. I cried when Shelly died in the time forest of Plutonium poisoning. I almost was shocked to tears when Monica and Phix had their little game of 'face off' and again when Jin put the flintlock in her mouth and tried to commit suicide (where the hell did she get a flintlock anyway?). Nothing is done for sheer gratuitousness and everything advances the story. Even Monica's backyard spray down in a skimpy bikini was to set up her talking about accepting herself for who and what she is.

The world we live in isn't all rainbows and unicorns and to be honest, I rather like my stories with realistic warts... not all sugar-coated. Even the old radio serials knew this... *insert creepy voice here* Who knows what evil lurks in the minds of men? The SHADOW knows!

I'm not at all sure what this goo is... but it reminded me of the alien black goo from the X files. I get the feeling that this is the toxic, raw emotion that Jet lives with within herself on a daily basis... similar to Thup in sentience, yet distinctly separate from the rest of what makes Jet, Jet. One thing is for sure... It takes one hell of a writer and story teller to invoke such feeling and thought processes in his fans.

[Fairportfan]

The Marvel Comics Universe has a number of non-corporal, evil psychic entities that hop from physical host to host. Could this be something like that, a psychic predator using, compelling, and harming to feed? A demon of sorts that needs to be exercised, and this is a step in the process to do it?

Like Malice. When Malice is controlling someone, you can tell, because a choker ... appears ... around their neck ...

ummm.jpg (11.78 KiB) Viewed 9851 times

Ummm...

[jwhouk]

There's a reason why this looks disturbing: we're too used to how demons look nowadays.

Remember when they were first introduced... (starting with that comic)

[illiad]

Wow. I guess nobody reads my posts.

well, you haven't actually mentioned him by name... :E and I am from a Scottish background with a lot of European mainly Portuguese influence, so a lot more relaxed about that stuff than most USA....

Huh?

Jet Jaguar

I'm old.

huh, well you certainly did not properly read MY last post!

[KnightDelight]

It never ceases to amaze me how upset people get when something with bad sexual overtones comes up, yet let gore and death, graphic and otherwise, slide right on by. Reminds me of an event which occurred when I was at a friends house and they were watching some gore filled movie, with their young kids. As if it were all fine family entertainment. A scene came up in which there was some soft core sex and nudity and they jumped into action to stop the tape and get past that scene. They congratulated themselves on their quick thinking so their kids would not be exposed to that awful nudity, then went back to the gore, death and blood of the rest of the movie. I pointed out to them what a strange standard they had. They had no idea what I was talking about. It's the same here. All this complaining about maybe being raped by some ooze and some are so upset they might leave the strip. I still think it's a strange standard that this (which you can't even see as such) is so much worse than all the blood and guts and eating of people (be they human or otherwise, they are all still "people"). In fact there were a host of jokes and parodies about the eating and blood and guts. I don't know, maybe I'm the strange one.

That being said, I too think Paul will pull this off just as he has all the other disturbing scenes. I don't think he should have to feel bad about drawing it, nor does he need to be made to feel bad or "dirty" by his fans for it either. I'm not saying love it or leave it, but let's wait before jumping on his back and stop the knee-jerk reactions.

[TheDOCTOR]

Well since someone already mentioned the 'soft-core porn-type' look of todays comic, I would mention how this appears similar to say the "Gnosis College" Sci-Fi comics. This looks a little bit risque' for Wapsi but then I'm sure this is tame in comparison to what is probably out there on Deviant Art or the 'net. Still. Way to "Push the envelope". Can't wait for Monday to see Whats what.

[Atomic]

There's a reason why this looks disturbing: we're too used to how demons look nowadays.

Remember when they were first introduced... (starting with that comic)

And This is where I fell in love with Monica.

Yes, PW will take us to the edge, but has always had a reason to go there -- and not just the view. As DillyV pointed out, these are significant plot elements, not irrelevant gore or fan service.

[DilyV]

Well since someone already mentioned the 'soft-core porn-type' look of todays comic, I would mention how this appears similar to say the "Gnosis College" Sci-Fi comics. This looks a little bit risque' for Wapsi but then I'm sure this is tame in comparison to what is probably out there on Deviant Art or the 'net. Still. Way to "Push the envelope". Can't wait for Monday to see Whats what.

this IS quite tame in comparison to say, OGLAF comics... ( www.oglaf.com ) that show explicit sex death and dismemberment. It's paul's comic... let's just wait and see how this all plays out. Like I've said, he never does stuff like this without a good reason

[DilyV]

There's a reason why this looks disturbing: we're too used to how demons look nowadays.

Remember when they were first introduced... (starting with that comic)

And This is where I fell in love with Monica.

Yes, PW will take us to the edge, but has always had a reason to go there -- and not just the view. As DillyV pointed out, these are significant plot elements, not irrelevant gore or fan service.

Actually I would rather have thought THIS: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/01242005/ is where you fell in love with Monica... I laughed so hard at this one...