What Happened 2014-01-13

[Tenjen]

have they spoken like this in the past? i think they have, though my memory is sketchy.

still though, bad going ons! Tina needs to get the help of her friends!

[Fairportfan]

Okay, I'm going to address the Bia hate. We first met Bia when she was little and everything was wiped out utterly and completely... even souls were out of reach of Charon. Sure Bia has done some really hinky things (by mortal standards), but she's trying to prevent something horrible from happening.

Not so sure Bia was "little" - in the sense of "young". She's a shape-shifter, apparently.

[Fairportfan]

So would that be Bia's symbol in her eyes or is it a symbol that Bia happens to have? Bia is much like her daughter except her age hasn't fixed any of the bahavior issues that I can see.

We've seen it in the Library, independent of Bia, i believe.

[Sidhekin]

And Brandi sported it: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/my-location/ and http://wapsisquare.com/comic/working-perfectly/

I'm getting the impression it's not a personal glyph.

On the other hand, Bia could well be the personification of what it represents ... in which case it'd be force, right?

[NOTDilbert]

At least there wasn't a lampshade on her head this morning.

[Mark N]

At least there wasn't a lampshade on her head this morning.

Yes, but she is still a little white around the wings.

[jeffepp]

"... And why is my head cold? When did I get that tattoo? I don't remember owning a dress like this! Why do I smell like PineSol? Am I wearing an engagement ring?!?!"

"Oh, wait. I was at that party in Denver..."

[My2Cents]

And Brandi sported it: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/my-location/ and http://wapsisquare.com/comic/working-perfectly/

I'm getting the impression it's not a personal glyph.

On the other hand, Bia could well be the personification of what it represents ... in which case it'd be force, right?

Bia has it on her headband here http://wapsisquare.com/comic/no-way-to-behave/
Brandy has it painted on her forehead here http://wapsisquare.com/comic/my-location/
Atsali has it replacing her pupils here http://wapsisquare.com/comic/set-adrift/

I suspect it means massive knowledge, physical power, or a combination of both. It may as such be a symbol of demi-god status.

It should be noted that Bia and Brandy wore it as a symbol, which may denote external power / force or strength. For Atsali and Tina it is the pupil in the eye, which would indicate internal power / knowledge.

[Fairportfan]

I'll buy "knowledge".

[Boxilar]

have they spoken like this in the past? i think they have, though my memory is sketchy.

still though, bad going ons! Tina needs to get the help of her friends!

Previously, when the covey conversed, Paul drew it as multiple word balloons emanating from various parts of Tina's body and her facial expression made it fairly clear the voices weren't coming from her mouth.

Now, all th conversation is coming from her mouth, her voice. Her lips are moving as she speaks.

I'm laying bets that the demons can't leave the host anymore.

If so,they have become the host.

Tina 3.0 indeed.

[Catawampus]

I think we're seeing the pre-release alpha-test version of Tina 3.0 here.

That's why you should wait until the early adopters iron out the kinks before you upgrade your system.

You callin' Tina kinky now?

have they spoken like this in the past? i think they have, though my memory is sketchy.

Hard to say. We've often seen the different individual demons each getting their own separate speech bubble when conversing amongst themselves. But then we have somewhat ambiguous cases, such as when either the collective as a whole or else individual demons were arguing with Nudge, or when one demon speaks a line by itself in the middle of what is apparently dialogue by the whole group. But I don't think that we've ever had them speaking separately to each other in the same speech bubble before. So this could be indicative of some new change. . .or else it just happens to be the way that the dialogue was written for today.

On the other hand, Bia could well be the personification of what it represents ... in which case it'd be force, right?

"Force" in the sense of "coercion" or "to compel", going by the Classical Greek ideas. Which, given that this all has happened shortly after TIna stated that she felt compelled to help Georgette and Monica, might be significant. Or maybe not.

Bia has it on her headband here http://wapsisquare.com/comic/no-way-to-behave/
Brandy has it painted on her forehead here http://wapsisquare.com/comic/my-location/
Atsali has it replacing her pupils here http://wapsisquare.com/comic/set-adrift/

It was also all over the place in the underground complex that Katherine and Atsali crashed into.

[ActionKermit]

The symbol resembles the ancient Greek letter tau, which could stand for Titan. Tau is also a well-known bully in certain ancient sources, which would be consistent with Bia's character.

[txmystic]

A couple of observations…

First…YAAAAY! TINA!!

This is different in that quite often when one demon is speaking, the text is grayed out. Not so the case here. All the demons seem quite disoriented as well, as if their world view has been somehow altered since Tina became whiteWing. And there is much more individual awareness in what each one is saying, as if some of their cohesion has been lost…much more reference to "me" and no knowledge of how the others are reacting to whatever went on. Are they now still a collective but now somehow more free to express themselves as individuals?

In any event, I very much look forward to watching her character develop further. I just hope that the glyph eyes do not portend anything bad for Tina...

[Sgt. Howard]

Pinochia has made the transition- she has become a creature of flesh and blood. As to the 'Bia' signature in her eyes... well, that might mean something other than Bia. Of course she is confused... as we are... but her wings are now white, her voices are now 'monominded' and her form is a different equation from before...
and maybe she can now 'has bonk-bonk'. Phix hinted at this... I am glad to see it happen.
the Old Sgt.
BTW- her 'do' is what it was when she tapped Monica to help Georgette deal with 'tar'... she was wearing this for a bit already. Not something to catch my attention, but then I will be sixty this year so my tastes will be different from the 'twenty to thirty something' crowd.

[Bathorys Daughter]

I wonder if the "Visions" are just dreams. Maybe the demons actually slept. Something they haven't done for uncounted ages, if ever. Another step toward soulification.

And it seems more like they've just become close enough to one vaguely-human entity to be able to have dreams, which I gather they've never experienced before. I'd imagine the whole concept of dreaming would be pretty bizarre and unsettling to anybody who's never experienced it (e.g., http://xkcd.com/203/).

I wonder that too. That xkcd comic put it well. It would seem like visions to the uninitiated. Whatever, she seems to be recalling her past now, or at least some dream-state odd version of it. That must be a good sign, but I'll miss the old Tina. I feel like there was still a lot to explore with the whole demons running the ship thing. Not to mention them being lethal to non humans. Though she did seem a tad too anxious to die, given her suicidal freak out when she brought Georgette and Monica somewhat too close together.

[jwhouk]

Allright, a Regeneration scene!

Why did I know that YOU would say that?

[Sidhekin]

And Brandi sported it: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/my-location/ and http://wapsisquare.com/comic/working-perfectly/

I'm getting the impression it's not a personal glyph.

On the other hand, Bia could well be the personification of what it represents ... in which case it'd be force, right?

Bia has it on her headband here http://wapsisquare.com/comic/no-way-to-behave/
Brandy has it painted on her forehead here http://wapsisquare.com/comic/my-location/
Atsali has it replacing her pupils here http://wapsisquare.com/comic/set-adrift/

I suspect it means massive knowledge, physical power, or a combination of both. It may as such be a symbol of demi-god status.

It should be noted that Bia and Brandy wore it as a symbol, which may denote external power / force or strength. For Atsali and Tina it is the pupil in the eye, which would indicate internal power / knowledge.

Oh my. I just found it. It has to be it. Unicode’s "EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH F045" / "EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH F045A".

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hieroglyphs/F - tells us of the F45 Egyptian hieroglyph:
* Phone: jdt
* Depiction: uterus
* Description: vulva, womb, cow

"Internal power", right?

This forum doesn't accept those Unicode characters, it seems. The Wikipedia page shows the F045, but the variation F045A is even closer to how Paul's drawing this glyph. I haven't found a plain online image, but http://codepoints.net/U+13131 shows it in two versions (one using JavaScript of some kind, and one using a data URL ... data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAQAAAC1+jfqAAAAV0lEQVQoz2NgQIAOhgIw3ciQx4AFaDFEAyVMGPQYwhkyGcQxFXgzGDD4MsQyBDHoMjgyWKBLqzK0AEkmhlYGdzA9hYGfAStoAZqDF4wqIFJBPUMYA2kAAHHzECpM8tXuAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC ... copy-paste-able and, yes, bookmark-able).

Even better, there's a neat PDF of all the Unicode Egyptian hieroglyphs: http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U13000.pdf

Oh, and http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Categ ... roglyph%29 shows us some Egyptian usage of this hieroglyph.

[GlytchMeister]

Nah, I'm not so sure about that, Sidhekin. The one in Wikipedia has 450 degree curlicues (270 too many), are much more tightly wound and much smaller in relation to the central stalk than the Symbol in Tina's eyes. Also, the symbol in Tina's eyes are... bolder? That's the best way I know how to put it. Your hieroglyph is only similar in the vaguest sense. I'm pretty sure Paul would have put these details in when he drew the symbol on Brandi's face, at least. We got a clear, full-frontal view of that.
I apologize if I sounded like a know-it-all bastard there, I meant no disrespect. I may be completely wrong.
That said, my ADHD brain made a connection... "knowledge is power"?
Brandi is canonically known to be extraordinarily smart, even for an ancient Golem who lived in times where magic and science were one and the same. She had this symbol painted on her forehead.
Atsali had a whole civilization (albeit a twisted one) downloaded into her head. Her eyes had this symbol.
This would indicate a relation to intelligence, memory, knowledge, genius, that sort of thing.
...
But Bia, the Greek personification deity of force, has it on her crown thingy. This suggests a connection to force, power, coercion, and compelling things (compellment?)
...
However, I don't think we've ever seen Bia display any force (ie power, telekinetic or Jedi-style) related power. We've only seen her being a manipulative, uncaring, thoughtless bitch (ie, the coercion and compel part of "force"). And being this manipulative, and coming out more or less successful, requires a certain level of intellect.
...
Perhaps this symbol is some really old way of saying "Knowledge is Power". Weird, because that saying is usually sourced to Francis Bacon or Thomas Hobbes, back in the 16th century. Or Ralph Waldo Emerson, but he was late to the party by almost 3 centuries.

[jwhouk]

It's Glyph Language, kids. Don't overthink it.

[GlytchMeister]

It's Glyph Language, kids. Don't overthink it.

If it is, it has yet to be confirmed. I don't remember it being associated with the Glyph language, and it isn't anywhere on the wiki page. I will archive binge to make sure.
*shoulders a backpack and some spelunking gear*
If I'm not back in a few days, call Search and Rescue.