Forum rules
When two threads are posted for a day's comic, the thread posted first becomes the starting post. Please delete the second thread and add your post to the first thread. When naming the thread: Comic Name YYYY-MM-DD
Thanks guys! This keeps the forum nice and neat.
Bathorys Daughter wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't being a sociopath a bad thing?
It is a matter of degrees. She said that she is "just enough of a sociopath" ...
I would agree with that, but in the very next panel she says she has the mind of a sociopath. That's more than just a bit of a sociopath. That's saying her mindset is that of a sociopath. To me, that's far more than being just a little sociopathological like many people have to be to function in bad situations.
Julie wrote:Excellent point! I think we've seen enough of M in the past to know that she's capable of remorse and concern for others, which would automatically discredit the idea that she's a total sociopath (I'd think). It's nice to know that she can turn it on when it's needed, such as in situations like these...
Again, she says she has the mind of a sociopath. She didn't say she has that mindset only when she is Jaguar Girl. That seems to indicate she has undergone fundamental changes in her outlook. One change, as you point out, she has modified her view of demons from opponent to champion. As I see it, another (major) change is to the mind of a sociopath. To think this would not spill over into the real world would be unrealistic. Of course Paul can show her as being just the same "sunshine" she has always been, but I think that would be totally unrealistic to what would actually happen. Just as it would have been unrealistic to have shown Katherine as being outgoing and social given the massacre at the dig. Instead, Paul showed her as being withdrawn. Also, her actions with Shelly in the race showed some of that mindset spilling over already. "Lets do this and the hell with anyone else." Basically, all this indicates, to me anyway, that past behavior is no longer a useful metric to predict future actions.
A society should not be judged on how it treats its outstanding citizens but by how it treats its criminals... ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Yamara wrote:Fairpointfan's correction that feral is more than just wild is also very significant. It means that demons aren't just wild beasts, but are former, or are descendants of, domestic or civilized beings. No wonder Phix is so smug over Tina: it's a redomestication. She'll have her decorating her house with tasteful family portraits and mementos in no time.
"Martha Stewart isn't a demon, she's a witch. Nobody could do that much decoupage without calling on the forces of darkness." (Anya, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer")
To paraphrase the misquote:
"Our demons sleep peaceably in our heads at night only because the Jaguar girl stands ready to do violence on their behalf."
It is an eternal truth that "Those who ‘abjure’ violence can do so only because others are committing violence on their behalf."
In other words, someone has to be willing and able to stand up and fight. All the rules, covenants, laws, etc are worthless if they cannot be physically enforced.
And for all those that would condemn Monica's violence, Jack Nicholson said it best:
"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it."
Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?
DilyV wrote:The wording in Monica's bubble in the first panel sounds a little off... just the way she says "I facilitated that it was Tar's worst fear"... It might sound a little better if she said "I just facilitated that which was he Tar's worst fear..." making it sound that she actually reflected that fear back in on itself. The first way sounds like she "figured it out" the second, like she actually did something with the knowledge by reflecting it back at the Tar and building on it... basically scaring the Tar to death with it's own fears.
Actually, all that's missing is a period at the end of the first line. With it, it becomes:
"No, I just facilitated that.
It was Tar's worst fear."
Then it works just fine.
Yeah... funny thing punctuation... a simple dot can completely change the meaning or perception of a statement. The way it was initially posted it just didn't flow in a manner that made sense but with the period it sounds completely different.
On reflection it seems to me that the reason Monica "has the mind of a sociopath" with regard to her decisiveness is precisely because she is the "Demon Shepherdess".
With all her demon ducks-in-a-row she has no impediment to decisive action like most of us.
As a JCO, I get training on how to deal with unruly youth on a regular basis. I don't think; I react. Thinking is what you do afterwards when you're writing a report.
The biggest problem with Georgette's demons right now is what their response to Monica's Tar-ectomy will be.
"Character is what you are in the dark." - D.L. Moody
"You should never run from the voices in your head. That's how you give them power." - Jin
jwhouk wrote:The biggest problem with Georgette's demons right now is what their response to Monica's Tar-ectomy will be.
Hard to predict what demons will do - some seem rambunctious, other rather responsible.
Based on Guidance's words to date, and on how we know that Monica was just able to eliminate an interloper that the demons had barely been able to contain, I suspect that "gratitude, moderately flavored with fear" may be on the plate.
meisdadoo wrote:It is an eternal truth that "Those who ‘abjure’ violence can do so only because others are committing violence on their behalf."
In other words, someone has to be willing and able to stand up and fight. All the rules, covenants, laws, etc are worthless if they cannot be physically enforced.
And for all those that would condemn Monica's violence, Jack Nicholson said it best:
"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it."
-Aaron Sorkin, screenplay to A Few Good Men (1993)
based on his 1989 stage play
And all the armies of the world would be worse than worthless if there wasn't something greater than violence for which to stand.
"Best of all, is to win. But if you can't win, then you should fight for a noble cause, because then you'll be remembered. Consider the Spartans. They won innumerable victories, but no one remembers what they are because they were all fought for selfish ends. The one battle that the Spartans fought that everybody remembers is the battle of Thermopylae, where they were butchered to a man, but fought for the freedom of Greece."
-Hyperides before the Athenian law courts
4th Century BC
meisdadoo wrote:And for all those that would condemn Monica's violence, Jack Nicholson said it best:
"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it."
I don't know about that. One should always be able to questions the methods used by anyone, including those putting their butts on the line to fight a war. There are many ways to wage a war. One method is scorched earth. Destroy everyone and everything in your path, regardless of whether you have to or not. Would you not question the methods of someone who conducted a war like that? How about the relatively recent Serb war in which hundreds (perhaps thousands) of men and boys were rounded up and massacred wholesale? Or the methods the Japanese used in China? They felt fully justified in doing what they did, both there and other places. When a commander of a military force feels above being questioned or taken to task on how he does things, it's time to worry about that commander. Not to mention your own safety.
DANGEROUSLY UNDER-MEDICATED If we are what we eat, then I'm easy, fast, and cheap
TheSkulker wrote:I think I have to disagree with the crowd here. Monica did not just " let the tar suffer from its own worst fears" but took the initiative to bring those fears into play. Specifically she said, "I know how much you like shoving things inside others. Let me return the favor!"
What purpose did that serve? What was the benefit of Tar dying painfully vs just dying? If none that sociopathic behavior label sticks (as she admitted herself). BTW, before someone shouts "touchy feely", I am not suggesting that Monica should have spared Tar, only asking what was gained by the method. Other than a setting possible example for the other demons, I don't see any.
Let's just say that there may be a lesson for the covey here, that there are worse things in the Wapsiverse - in Real World or Demon Space - than being raped by the Tar. Personally, when the creator of my pain is handled in a manner that applies pain as we've seen here, I am not going to feel sympathy for that being, but only exultation that the pain has been dealt with. In other words, if I must choose between Inflictor or Protector, the Protector can do what she wants to the Inflictor.
"No matter where you go, there you are." Buckaroo Banzai
lake_wrangler wrote:Actually, all that's missing is a period at the end of the first line. With it, it becomes:
"No, I just facilitated that.
It was Tar's worst fear."
Then it works just fine.
Yeah... funny thing punctuation... a simple dot can completely change the meaning or perception of a statement. The way it was initially posted it just didn't flow in a manner that made sense but with the period it sounds completely different.
Wow! Upon reading that statement, I went back and noticed that the period had been added too the speech bubble! I actually made a contribution!
lake_wrangler wrote:Does that mean I can now die happy and fulfilled?
Sure - you're in the queue. Might not be for a few decades, though (the dying part, at least). The Federal government is on partial shutdown, and it may take them a while to get to you
lake_wrangler wrote:Does that mean I can now die happy and fulfilled?
Sure - you're in the queue. Might not be for a few decades, though (the dying part, at least). The Federal government is on partial shutdown, and it may take them a while to get to you
Now you can die full of happy! Just not soon, please.
Don't let other peoples limitations become your constraints!
Bathorys Daughter wrote:she says she has the mind of a sociopath
.. or is that similar to 'to catch a thief, you have to think like a thief' ?? as in, have the mind of a thief???
That's exactly what I'm thinking. She has to be able to think (and in certain cases, act) like a sociopath. She doesn't have to actually become one 100%. As so many people have pointed out already, the world (unfortunately) needs people who can turn off the empathy and act violently to protect others. M has just learned that she can and will be one of those people.
"Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful."
