Perfect For You 2014-10-22

[Skruddgemire]

Lund's is still there? Wow.

Used to live near the Uptown area back in the late 80s. Lund's was the only place I could get some of my favorite foods. Was the only place to get a real Virginia baked ham.

[eee]

No ones commenting on the fact that Atsali's wearing glasses here? Where did that come from? Why's she wearing glasses all of a sudden?

Yes, I was thinking that myself. I don't believe we've seen her in glasses before, which would suggest contacts are her normal wear; and raises the question of why she doesn't have them in, now. Or maybe she only needs glasses when using a computer. We have no idea what the normal visual range of a Siren is; perhaps her perceptions of the world, like Tina's, aren't the same as humans and she needs corrective lenses to be able to see electronic images. Which would be odd, and a bit troublesome. But, you know: Magic...

[zachariah]

That is not a wing boner! As much fun as it is to call it that, it is not. This is a panic reaction to a sudden spike of fear/shock running through her body. The thought of actually sitting in the room with him and maybe talking to him is what triggered the reaction. While it is what she wants to to, she is afraid to do it! All teenagers feel this fear. They don't want to be embarrassed, hurt, rejected, etc. It is a lot easier to talk about it but a whole different thing to actually take that first step. Thus the wing reaction. We could call it the basic fight or flight reaction to sudden surprise and stress.

[Sidhekin]

Wings as a fight-or-flight reaction?

Flight, obviously.

[AmriloJim]

No ones commenting on the fact that Atsali's wearing glasses here? Where did that come from? Why's she wearing glasses all of a sudden?

'Sali is talking with Nadette via videochat. It is possible that close computer work has prompted her to use readers, assuming her vision is otherwise not impaired.
New observation: dreamcatcher and Native American art behind Nadette. We've touched on her and Berdine's possible lineage in the past... this looks like Pablo is substantiating our ursamorphs have pride in their tribal heritage. (Of course, we have no way to know if Nadette's terminal is in her room or in a shared living area, but I think it's fairly safe to assume she's at home.)

[AmriloJim]

Aha! It's a Navajo wedding plate basket.

Website: http://www.aztradingpost.com/indian_baskets1.html
Full res image: http://aztradingpost.com/images/IS-b1300.jpg

[Sphinx-Napped]

nice wing boner there astial, lol

[Wdot]

Wings as a fight-or-flight reaction?

Flight, obviously.

Not necessarily: Fa'Lina*

zachariah maybe it wasn't a "wing-boner," but yeah it was what came to my mind first, I'm ashamed to say, and it fits with the rule of funny.

*Caution large archive and exhibits art evolution

[Catawampus]

And now we have a name for the mystery boy. A name that doesn't seem to be terribly indicative of anything much.

I wonder what the child labour laws regarding age are in Minneapolis.

No ones commenting on the fact that Atsali's wearing glasses here? Where did that come from? Why's she wearing glasses all of a sudden?

Yes, I was thinking that myself. I don't believe we've seen her in glasses before, which would suggest contacts are her normal wear; and raises the question of why she doesn't have them in, now. Or maybe she only needs glasses when using a computer. We have no idea what the normal visual range of a Siren is; perhaps her perceptions of the world, like Tina's, aren't the same as humans and she needs corrective lenses to be able to see electronic images. Which would be odd, and a bit troublesome. But, you know: Magic...

The getting-ready-for-bed routine of the one girl I had much to do with who wore contacts was that she would take out the contacts, take a shower, and then wear glasses until she got into bed (or even in bed if she felt like doing some reading). Whenever she wasn't getting into or getting out of bed, she'd wear the contacts. With Atsali's crest looking as though it has been freshly doused with water (or flattened down with copious quantities of shellac), I'd just assumed that she'd done something similar.

I've never worn contacts myself, so I have no first-hand experience with them. Perhaps it's common for people to take them out before washing their hair, due to issues with soap in the eyes or something similar?

[zachariah]

Wings as a fight-or-flight reaction?

Flight, obviously.

Not necessarily: Fa'Lina*

zachariah maybe it wasn't a "wing-boner," but yeah it was what came to my mind first, I'm ashamed to say, and it fits with the rule of funny.

*Caution large archive and exhibits art evolution

I'll give you the rule of funny. But sometimes remarks like that take a life of their own in being used. Just thought it needed to put in perspective before someone erected a logical argument for it. I am sure someone would have come up with the french tickler connected to the wings and called it the siren tickler response. Maybe "The Saint" Sali?

Drops a feather boa in the jar. I really reached on that one.

[DilyV]

No ones commenting on the fact that Atsali's wearing glasses here? Where did that come from? Why's she wearing glasses all of a sudden?

That was the first thing I noticed too... followed by her hair not in it's usual flip. She's looking much more human here though parts of her still defy gravity... but then that's not so unusual in reality. Last panel elicited a "Wingboner FTW" response from me so I'm glad I read all the way through the remarks here before posting it straight out. Great people think alike and all that.

I agree, the wang thang is going to be a real problem if she can't control it. If her school is a paranormal school, the boy seeing them won't be so much of an issue, but having that happen in public would. Maybe they could meet at Tina's... Have we ever seen a non paranormal there (with the possible exception of Jette who is in the know now anyway)?

[jwhouk]

I suspect it's reading glasses. I understand that one of the many mythos about sirens is poor eyesight?

[Dave]

Wings as a fight-or-flight reaction?

Flight, obviously.

Not necessarily.

Regarding this question, and also Zachariah's question about whether this is a "wingboner" - I think we might be safe in concluding that involuntary appearance of a siren's wings may be a sign of arousal, in the general sense. It can mean sexual arousal, or anger/rage/combat arousal, or perhaps (in this case?) nervous anticipation (possibly mixed with some sexual overtones) or ???. Only Atsali (and Paul of course) knows just what Atsali is feeling right now... I'd guess it's probably not just one feeling, but rather a mixture (teen emotions are as complex as any in adults, and often dreadfully confusing for the emoter).

[AnotherFairportfan]

No ones commenting on the fact that Atsali's wearing glasses here? Where did that come from? Why's she wearing glasses all of a sudden?

Computer work.

[AnotherFairportfan]

Wings as a fight-or-flight reaction?

Flight, obviously.

Not necessarily.

Regarding this question, and also Zachariah's question about whether this is a "wingboner" - I think we might be safe in concluding that involuntary appearance of a siren's wings may be a sign of arousal, in the general sense. It can mean sexual arousal, or anger/rage/combat arousal, or perhaps (in this case?) nervous anticipation (possibly mixed with some sexual overtones) or ???. Only Atsali (and Paul of course) knows just what Atsali is feeling right now... I'd guess it's probably not just one feeling, but rather a mixture (teen emotions are as complex as any in adults, and often dreadfully confusing for the emoter).

Remember - "wing boner" is a brony term.

[loxmyth]

Glasses: Maybe she's been wearing contacts. Or maybe her eyes just drifted far enough to need 'em. Or maybe they're flat glass and she just likes the look.

Wings: Actually, that makes me wonder whether part of the reason sirens tend to be busty is the additional chest muscles needed to drive the wings. Doesn't seem to be the case in the Waspi universe, but...

[lake_wrangler]

The back of her shirt, however, seems to have gone ahead to 4D space, seeing as how her wingeruption has neither deformed nor rent the fabric.

This isn't the first time. She must always buy tops cut low in the back.

Or else her wings phase through.

Shelly's appear to, also.

Hard to say: She had her wings out, in the library, yet in the mine, there were no holes in the back of her (wingless) shirt. And yet, her shirt is definitely torn, from the full-sized wings, as well as the jeans, from the tail feathers, after she flew Katherine out of the hole they were falling in. And this is not due to a difference in the size of the wings, because she had full (or almost full) wings in the Library, when she went to the exit portal that led to the mine. She still had a ripped shirt, before spreading her wings again to go the the helicopter, and again when they met Brandi, and while they were looking at the recording of Brandi from the past. There are several other instances showing the holes in the shirt during that story arc.

And yet...

When we see Atsaly back at the orphanage, she is sporting a pajama top and small wings... And when we see her going to see who is here to talk with her, the wings are gone, but there are no holes in the pajama top.

When she's jumping to stop Castela from shouting, on the night that she got "stung by a bee" ( ), her shirt does not seem to suffer from the wings (although it certainly did suffer in the front...)

We certainly do know thatsome transformations are definitely physical, and not only "phasing through"...

Even Shelly seems to lose out on the clothing, at times, such as when she hugged Euryale on the island. (Ilt looks like she went from having a bathing suit to being at the very least topless, if not completely naked...)
She certainly lost her clothing when she went full sphinx, to stop the two cerberi, but that might also be in part due to them burning partially...
While talking with Phix, she got angry about the thought of having been set up with Justin, sphinxed out, and lost her shirt. Maybe more...


So I don't think there is a definite answer. Sometimes the wings appear without damaging the clothing, sometimes they rip through. Time will tell.

[Dave]

Wings: Actually, that makes me wonder whether part of the reason sirens tend to be busty is the additional chest muscles needed to drive the wings. Doesn't seem to be the case in the Wapsi universe, but...

Paul made a somewhat similar statement about Shelly, in her sphinx form, in a comment he posted about the "Time in the Timeforest" drawing (go here and scroll down a couple of screens to see Paul's comment... there doesn't seem to be a way to get a direct link).

Since the Comments sections of those older strips have been restored to visibility (yay!) I think we can consider this information to be canon... and that suggests that your idea about sirens might very well be correct.

[AmriloJim]

there doesn't seem to be a way to get a direct link).

Workaround: select a unique word from the comment you wish to reference and suggest use of the browser search function. (e.g.: "[Ctrl+F] cow." -- I started to use "huge", but a previous comment contained that word.)

[Sidhekin]

Wings as a fight-or-flight reaction?

Flight, obviously.

Not necessarily: Fa'Lina*

*Caution large archive and exhibits art evolution

Well knock me down with a feather.