Hush 2012-08-17

[MrFireDragon]

Awww poor thing.....I love Euryele.... I agree, What happens next and Monica's reaction and final stand on this will be very important, game changer perhaps? Dunno, let's wait and see.

[as363]

A weekend without disturbing images - I can get behind that thank you very much.

[sonicthunder]

Monica is going to look at all of her friends in a new light from now on.

Primarily Shelly. Shelly's given Monica the same speech of "I'm a monster / I'm a danger" more than once already, and Shelly is now generally the same species as Phix. I wouldn't be surprised to see Monica a bit hesitant around Shelly until the 'shock' wears.

Even outside of just settling Monica, it is best to get her back to normal before letting M go anywhere. Between the already upset Shelly, overprotective Bud, and still traumatized-by-Phix Tina (Monica's 3 usual confidants), you don't want Monica accidentally compounding the situation any further or dragging more parties into it.

[dadman]

Nice little touch: the snakes glaring in Phix's direction.

As noted, glaring, too.

I'm a 5 year lurker who decided to finally poke there head in. Hi!

I think I recognize you from across the cozy confines of Confusion Corner. Nice to be able to put a screen name to an etherial pseudo-presence.

[TheDOCTOR]

Just had to look this over again, PLUS jump back to yesterdays page and look it over in Sequence.
Yes Poor Monica just had the Sh** scared out of her. She looks to be in a severe state of Shock. Monica is sofreaked I don't think she has cried. Maybe once she does ......
Once again Great artwork, Paul.

[lake_wrangler]

Totally unrelated to today's comic topic:

How do you pronounce Bia? Bee-ah, or By-ah?
(While my English is mostly excellent, it does have shortcomings, being as I am French-Canadian...)

[Boxilar]

Monica is going to look at all of her friends in a new light from now on.

Primarily Shelly. Shelly's given Monica the same speech of "I'm a monster / I'm a danger" more than once already, and Shelly is now generally the same species as Phix. I wouldn't be surprised to see Monica a bit hesitant around Shelly until the 'shock' wears.

Even outside of just settling Monica, it is best to get her back to normal before letting M go anywhere. Between the already upset Shelly, overprotective Bud, and still traumatized-by-Phix Tina (Monica's 3 usual confidants), you don't want Monica accidentally compounding the situation any further or dragging more parties into it.

What's all the more horrifying about Phix from Monica's perspective is that has Phix always cultivated an air of sophistication around M. She was rough on Tina, but never bodily threatened Monica. At least Shelly has been telling Monica that she''s afraid that she'll slip up and let her feral side out. She lived 80,000 years as a Sphinx in the time forrest and likely had moments when she was just as savage. Despite warnings from Tina that Phix was a predator with a predator's instincts, Monica has never seen anything more than vieled threats directed at Tina from Phix.

This week was Phix at her most primal with every bit of her civilized veneer stripped away. From Monica's reaction the art from "leave", while it was awsome to behold, only conveyed a fraction of Phix's presense. M's reaction is that of a mere mortal witnessing and ancient power as they truly are. Very Lovecraftian.

Even if Monica and Phix can renew thier relationship after Monica deals with what she's seen, there's going to be something between them that will always be broken. I think Monica always thought of Phix as a regular person who just happened to be a Sphinx. Now some part of her will always see Phix as something out of her deepest nightmares. For Monica, this is the moment Phix became a monster.

It makes today's page a little more heartrending every time I look at it.

[TheDOCTOR]

Hey there dadman, Fairportfan : Nice Avatars. Otis T. Firefly and Phix "at lunch" respectively
Welcome aboard, Ambertronic.

[Julie]

A weekend without disturbing images - I can get behind that thank you very much.

I was just thinking how nice it is that the "Friday cliffhanger" is a comforting image. It's rather like a sigh of relief after a stressful week...

Love the page!!

[meisdadoo]

Soft kitty,
Warm kitty,
Little ball of fur.
Happy kitty,
Sleepy kitty,
Purr, purr, purr.

[kingklash]

Although this has tempered my Phix-ation somewhat, my Spidey-Sense tells me there is a Second Shoe in a holding pattern. When it drops, I'd be willing to stand at the Librarian's side when she gives what-all to the source of the mess: Bia. Momma Cat's nowhere near getting started being scary, she's just gotta regain Control first. hmmmm....., The exact type of lessons she was giving Shelly.

[Bathorys Daughter]

I think this is what some might refer to as "sore afraid." A fear beyond just a fright and a down to the marrow soul shivering fear. Someone who desperately needs a place or person who can absolutely protect her. She wants her old notions of Phix back. The new ones being just too horrible to bear right now. Phix was like a mother figure to her. A shock like this could cause her old self doubts to return with a vengeance. Her demons may find now to be a perfect time to assert themselves, or maybe they already are. She may not be able to sleep well for a while and might need Bud and Brandi to stay over at her house for a bit.

Yes, the snakes seem to be providing a rear guard. Anyone who comes near will be put on ice. Freeze first, ask questions later. Though a bloody-mouthed Phix might be a triffle difficult for Euryale to kiss. And if she has to thaw an Apo, it would be a kiss and poit kind of thing.

Come to think of it, Apos can't be too tough if they can be laid low by a single punch from another sphinx. I would think they would have to evolved to be much tougher than that if they are such top predators.

[shadowinthelight]

Monica is going to look at all of her friends in a new light from now on.

Primarily Shelly. Shelly's given Monica the same speech of "I'm a monster / I'm a danger" more than once already, and Shelly is now generally the same species as Phix. I wouldn't be surprised to see Monica a bit hesitant around Shelly until the 'shock' wears.

Well, you can be sure if they ever have an argument she'll never use the phrase "bite me".

Soft kitty,
Warm kitty,
Little ball of fur.
Happy kitty,
Sleepy kitty,
Purr, purr, purr.

[Mark N]

Come to think of it, Apos can't be too tough if they can be laid low by a single punch from another sphinx. I would think they would have to evolved to be much tougher than that if they are such top predators.

I would agree about sphinx evolution but even a bruiser can have a glass jaw, and Phix had a hormone pumping from hell there. Remember when a 100lb. woman can lift a car off of her injured child thanks to adrenalin surges. (besides, that one extinct Sphinx may have been a pain in her ass for centuries)

[BallBearingMousetrap]

I don't know whether Monica has yet gotten beyond "kill" to realize it can be called "murder", since the victim was sentient.

The former, despite all the gore, is probably easier to adjust to; that's just the nature of the animal. We're part apes, Phyx is part cat, OK, I should have expected that she would sometimes do some things I'd rather not watch. Especially when at her most emotional and hence most primal.

The latter says something about Sphynx society, and about Phyx, that is harder for humans to adjust to... and to accept that how they interact with each other needs to be considered separately from how they interact with others.

Phyx *is* a sophisticated lady. She knows the norms of the other cultures and she respects them when she's interacting with them. But she _lives_ by her own. As we all do.

She's still a good person -- wise and caring and patient. She just also happens to be a deadly enemy.

"Beware the wrath of a patient man." -- Dryden

[BallBearingMousetrap]

Whups. Apologies for misspelling Phix's name. Blame it on transliteration from the Greek. Or the Geek.

[starkruzr]

. . . I really adore Euryale! <3

I basically just came to post this.

[Yamara]

Totally unrelated to today's comic topic:

How do you pronounce Bia? Bee-ah, or By-ah?
(While my English is mostly excellent, it does have shortcomings, being as I am French-Canadian...)

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bia

And she is M's opposite number in shock, so you're not totally off topic.

[BallBearingMousetrap]

I'll also note that Monica is demonstrating one of the advantages of being short: it's much more likely that you can and will be picked up and held. Of course that can also be a disadvantage if people levitate you without warning or at times when you don't want that contact.

[Bookworm]

Again, not murder, but suicide by Sphinx.