Pecking Order 2012-08-14

[Mark N]

Well, now we know for sure what happened and that Sphinx society is brutal (but we knew about the brutality from the Time Forest and what they did to the poor victims of demons).

[themadkansan]

...Yeah, probably a good thing for M to not-be-around right now...

[waldosan]

i stand corrected...

[Dave]

Well, we've heard sphinxes described as the apex predators of the paranormal. I guess we're seeing why they have that reputation. Their group dynamics do seem to have somewhat in common with lions (no surprise there) and wolves, with a strong social dominance ordering enforced by violence at times.

I'm not sure that "pecking order" quite captures it, though. That wasn't a peck, no siree!

Hadn't foreseen cannibalism, either. Grisly, and gristly.

As my father once told me "Son, NEVER, mistake kindness for weakness."

[Opus the Poet]

From the dialog it looks like that Apo is about to be lunch. So I guess sphinxes are cannibalistic as well? Sounds like some cats I know...

[Bathorys Daughter]

Oh good lord, she's cannibalistic too? She eats other sentient beings after she murders them? This has just gone from gory and disgusting to loathsome and sickening. I don't believe it was ever confirmed she actually ate demons, just killed them. The sphinx life may be brutal, but are there no laws governing their conduct towards one another, just as there are towards demons? And what does she mean she just moved up? I thought she was already the top cat in the library by being head librarian. Was the poor guy/girl (what the heck sex IS it anyway? Looked like a breast, but who knows) some being higher than her? Just killing an Apo should not mean all that much advancement.. It would seem to me that the other Apos would gang up on her now and take her out as she is clearly a threat to them individually now. I doubt she could kill them all.

[NOTDilbert]

Oh, come on! NO ONE has made a 'splitting headache' joke yet?

Now aren't you glad Superman pulls his punches whe fighting super-normals? it'd give those Comics Code people coniptions.

[Fairportfan]

More like "food chain" than "pecking order", i'd say.

[Opus the Poet]

Oh, come on! NO ONE has made a 'splitting headache' joke yet?

Too obvious.

[Boxilar]

Well, Phix is a monster. A kindly monster who will go out of the way to help her friends, but a monster none the less. It is well to remember that despite her human intelligence and compassion, she is NOT human. It is an ongoing theme with a large portion of the Wapsi cast. Tina, Bud, Brandi and Jin have at one time or another warned Monica that despite their appearance, the are not human and are dangerous. Shelly is still coming to grips with the fact that she has become a monster and that she really can't go back to being just a human woman living a normal life.

I don't think we've seen the facial markings on Phix before. She's letting her feral side hold sway at the moment.

And the "don't mistake kindness for weakness" quote was nice to see.

As far as the cannibalism, predators are pragmatic. 'Splody Head just volunteered to be lunch. Waste not, want not.

@ Bathorys Daughter. She just killed an apo with a single punch. There better be a bunch of them. Her low status was probably self imposed, given her beliefs and practices. I think finding out that she was used as part of a breeding program without her knowledge pushed her over the edge into killing one of her tormenters. Everyone has been saying for years that the humans in the story need to be cautious around folks like Phix. Paul is showing us why.

Klingon Promotion in full effect.

[shadowinthelight]

I would say the classic "tastes like chicken", but it's probably closer to cabrito.

[Atomic]

Monster -- ermmm, that's a social designation. She's a Sphinx, and is perfectly able to do Sphinx things. Leopards do not change their spots, but with effort, you can have a reasonably polite and well behaved leopard. Just don't entice it to do leopard things!

As a reference point, may I remind everyone of "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex," a logical examination of cross-species intimacy and related problems.

[Dave]

And what does she mean she just moved up? I thought she was already the top cat in the library by being head librarian.

Phix had been assigned the job of being Librarian because she was the low sphinx on the totem pole, or so she told Monica on the day she located Nudge and evicted Nudge from within Tina.

It seems likely that Phix's kindness and mercy towards humans (she opposed the riddle-killing of demon-infested humans) had caused the other sphinxes to consider her weak, and to treat her with contempt.

Apparently, the apo she just killed, was formerly of a higher social rank than she.

[themadkansan]

Well, Phix is a monster. A kindly monster who will go out of the way to help her friends, but a monster none the less. It is well to remember that despite her human intelligence and compassion, she is NOT human. It is an ongoing theme with a large portion of the Wapsi cast. Tina, Bud, Brandi and Jin have at one time or another warned Monica that despite their appearance, the are not human and are dangerous. Shelly is still coming to grips with the fact that she has become a monster and that she really can't go back to being just a human woman living a normal life.

I don't think we've seen the facial markings on Phix before. She's letting her feral side hold sway at the moment.

And the "don't mistake kindness for weakness" quote was nice to see.

As far as the cannibalism, predators are pragmatic. 'Splody Head just volunteered to be lunch. Waste not, want not.

@ Bathorys Daughter. She just killed an apo with a single punch. There better be a bunch of them. Her low status was probably self imposed, given her beliefs and practices. I think finding out that she was used as part of a breeding program without her knowledge pushed her over the edge into killing one of her tormenters. Everyone has been saying for years that the humans in the story need to be cautious around folks like Phix. Paul is showing us why.

Klingon Promotion in full effect.

...I don't know if it's 'Monsters' as much as it is 'Powers' - What Phix did, first and foremost, amounts to =power= unleashed; like the Chimera, but not quite on that kind of scale. Power =is=, it's what is done with it is either monstrous or virtuous.

The cannibalism was likely a mix of expediency and example - would =you= cross someone who just killed and ATE your cow-orker?

[Boxilar]

Monster -- ermmm, that's a social designation. She's a Sphinx, and is perfectly able to do Sphinx things. Leopards do not change their spots, but with effort, you can have a reasonably polite and well behaved leopard. Just don't entice it to do leopard things!

As a reference point, may I remind everyone of "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex," a logical examination of cross-species intimacy and related problems.

I was using the term "monster" in more of a "powerful non human with different social standards who could kill us by sneezing" kind of way. But I take your point. Even well trained Big Cats can have moments that remind you that they are not, and never can be, truly tame. Just ask Sigfried and Roy.

[Bookworm]

Oh good lord, she's cannibalistic too? She eats other sentient beings after she murders them? This has just gone from gory and disgusting to loathsome and sickening. I don't believe it was ever confirmed she actually ate demons, just killed them. The sphinx life may be brutal, but are there no laws governing their conduct towards one another, just as there are towards demons? And what does she mean she just moved up? I thought she was already the top cat in the library by being head librarian. Was the poor guy/girl (what the heck sex IS it anyway? Looked like a breast, but who knows) some being higher than her? Just killing an Apo should not mean all that much advancement.. It would seem to me that the other Apos would gang up on her now and take her out as she is clearly a threat to them individually now. I doubt she could kill them all.

She's in charge of the Library. This doesn't mean that she's on top of the food chain. I suspect it was an Apo, not a Sphinx, because of the horns. Cannibalism is where you eat the -same species- as your self. As an example, cockroaches are enthusiastically cannibalistic. Many other species are as well - it's just protein.

They might _have_ laws - but Paul has already stated that Sphinx have a vicious and brutal society. That, to me, implies that strength establishes your position in the pecking order, which means that males would tend to dominate.

Elizabeth Báthory (Erzsébet Báthory), your namesake, has been labeled the most prolific female serial killer in history (between 80 and 650), so you might want to pause to ponder.

[Bookworm]

I thought that the Apo were _not_ Sphinx. Isn't Nudge an Apo?

[Fairportfan]

Oh good lord, she's cannibalistic too? She eats other sentient beings after she murders them?

It's dead. It's meat. She's basically a cat. I've read reports of cats eating parts of their owners' bodies if they die and aren't discovered immediately.

This has just gone from gory and disgusting to loathsome and sickening. I don't believe it was ever confirmed she actually ate demons, just killed them. The sphinx life may be brutal, but are there no laws governing their conduct towards one another, just as there are towards demons? And what does she mean she just moved up? I thought she was already the top cat in the library by being head librarian.

She just promoted herself to baddest kitty in the cattery.

Was the poor guy/girl (what the heck sex IS it anyway? Looked like a breast, but who knows) some being higher than her?

It was an androsphinx - head of a goat. Male.

I'll repeat the quote i posted the other day: "He's not a tame lion."

[Fairportfan]

Just a quick post before being banned.

As I predicted (it's so easy to predict), when it comes to gory killing taking place in the comic (in the current time period), it would be of males by a female. Actually, come to think of it, the only really gory killings shown before were of males by a female. Apparently Paul has planned this for some time by making the Apos as the guardians (male sphinxes). No doubt further gory killings will follow this pattern. I would not be surprised to see the mass slaughter of males coming along just any time now. This is also typical of the mindset. Yes, I know, the demons who were "taken care of" were females, but you'll notice none of that was shown, as it is here. We don't even know for certain they are dead (and eaten). As usual, that was not made clear.

Greek sphinxes (well, Phix - according to Wikipedia, she was the only Greek sphinx) were female.

Egyptian sphinxes (and Assyrian, i think) were male.

Be awfully hard for the only female sphinx to kill female sphinxes.

Bye Bye.

[themadkansan]

I thought that the Apo were _not_ Sphinx. Isn't Nudge an Apo?

...the full term is Apotropaic Sphinxes. IIRC, Phix is one, or was before becoming the librarian, but I could (easily) be wrong.

Nudge is something else entirely, I think. Possibly something in the realm of a faun or satyr.