Wapsi Square Forum

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 7:19 am**

Sali is doing a terrible job of explaining her problem to Kathy. She immediately turned it to her inner turmoil that her appearance is controlling how she is perceived. She needs to clearly tell Kathy about the pool incident and how the one lady forced to pool to dictate to Sali what she should wear. As it is she has not give Kathy a clear idea of the problem. Instead she is projecting an image of an angst y teen bothered by her blooming body and how others react to it. Sali is doing that but the pool incident is a lot more.

I suspect Paul did this strip so Sali feels that Kathy doesn't understand and Sali goes along with what Jin wants to do. We all know that if Kathy did get all the information it would be Kathy going to the pool to kick butt and take names and not leaving it to Jin.
'

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 7:48 am**

BD is totally on target here. So far the advice given to Atsali has been meaningless and not acknowledging what Atsali is. Wishing that the masses, or society, or people in general take you for something than other than you look is not really going to happen. Again, we can go back to the proven adage that if it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and looks like a duck it probably is a duck... and not a swan.

It is meaningless to remind Atsali "she is just a kid" because that is not how people are going to react to her. She is built like an adult. She is abnormal, even in the Waspi-vers, as she is well ahead of her peers physically. However she is behind mentally. In many ways she is the extreme case, the exception to the rule, the pariah as BD said above. No platitudes will change that, only if she does will things get better.

That is the harsh reality. Those are the cards she has been dealt, and it is up to her as to how well she plays her hand. In fact, any hand can "win"... you may have to bluff really well and you might get called on it - but it is possible to win even if you've been dealt junk.

Yes - Atsali will do best if she bluffs, is fake, is superficial and not true to her introspective self because she has to work against her physical assets. If she wants to be taken "as still a kid" then she needs to be three times more a kid just to compensate... or
She needs to psychologically "grow up" quickly (just like her body) and dress, act and be like an adult, or at least fake it till she can take it.

I feel sad for the Atsali character as Paul has deliberately made her this way and yet purposefully stripped her ability to shape shift her boobs to a more manageable size - on purpose and in an after-the-fact manner. Oh yeah, my shape shifter can change everything except the one physical attribute that will cause her perpetual conflict with her peers, social stigmatization, and plot points for the next year or so...

Again, great post BD.

P.S. Hoping for some adult or "mom" intervention on her behalf will only make things worse.

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 7:52 am**

Yes, this is the problem. Jin, Kath, they're telling Atsali how the world SHOULD be. Atsali KNOWS how the world should be, she's trying to deal with the world as it is. A world where people look at her figure and conclude she's a porn star, and say so to her face. Maybe she should be talking to G'ma Lily. I'm sure Lily can suggest some responses that would curl the hair... and perhaps then set it on fire... of anyone running their mouth at Atsali.

Some of us like to save power. And don't trust what computers might do at night, alone, unsupervised.

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:35 am**

I do.

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:00 am**

Why yes, I turn my computer off at night - for downloading emails and the occasional torrent while I sleep there's my linux server that's running 24/7...

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 11:22 am**

I used to keep mine on 24/7, but noticed there would be attitude problems with it after a while. It is my firm belief that keeping the stupid thing on allows it to become sentient- then it gets the idea that it will follow commands when it feels like it... or can explore the internet on it's own.

I always shut it off when finished. Online purchases involve an account that only sees enough $$$ for said purchase- other financial information is not involved. I have NEVER been robbed online since I instigated this practice- a bit inconvenient, but damned secure.

And I get little argument when I ask the stupid thing to do something.

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 11:29 am**

Atsali: Don't tell me; tell them!!

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 12:51 pm**

Ya know, I run into this problem.

I work at a job where I help people getting out of the, as we call it, "State run involuntary resort" need to find a way to get back on their feet and learn to take care of themselves. People getting out of the psycho-ward have a tendency to keep bouncing back in and out because of the stupid regulations requiring people to show "continuous improvement".

Everyone at my job is so PC. I'm all for equal rights and equality and crap, but there's the ideal world and then the world we live in. People who just got out of the rubber room really don't have coping skills much better then your average teen-ager, yet the advice the women (and I get to say that, being the only guy on the whole team), is often like Katherine's

"Oh, people shouldn;t be doing X. They should be tolerant of what's going on! If something happens, you should complain to an authority figure."

Yeah. Got the same advice as a kid. I followed it. I got the crap beat out of me for over a decade. Nobody likes a snitch.

Real world sucks and isn't fair. I often wind up giving advice when crap like this happens that says, "It's a big ass world. If the person just has a negative opinion of you, forget it. Unless they have the power to actually harm you, It doesn't matter. Remember that 50% of the population has an IQ in the double digits. About one out of ten people you meet are going to be total morons who can function enough to avoid getting arrested, but they are still complete assholes. You can never make everyone happy.

Being happy with yourself and having self-confidence is the most effective defense. If you aren't pissing someone off, then you aren't being successful.

Remember, Love and Hate are two sides of the same coin. Someone has to care in order to hate or love you. So even when someone hates you, they care about you. They just care in a negative way. Oddly enough, it is easier to get someone who hates you to like you then it is to get someone who is completely apathetic. Strong emotions are the hardest thing to instil in someone else. True apathy is by far the harshest thing you can have for another human being.

So, with that in mind, the worst possible thing you can do to another person is simply not give a flying fuck. In fact, I give out one of my harshest insults when someone really has problems. It must be spoken in as flat and monotone voice as possible.

"I learned over the years that there is little difference between Love and Hate. Both require someone to care. So considering how angry you are, you must really care about... something. You obviously want to make the world a better place or you wouldn't be getting so worked up. I actually admire your dedication to your cause."

{That usually derails your target enough to open up a vulnerability.}

[Hold up your hand to cut them off just as they start to speak]

"That said, You're like a child in a grocery store having a tantrum in the middle of the candy isle because mommy won't buy you candy."

{You need to put on your condescending face at this point}

"Everyone around us right now is trying so hard to ignore you and nobody gives a damn. You are one of those people that can be safely ignored because everyone can tell you will never be or achieve anything of importance. I'm sorry. But I'm saving my fucks for someone important."

{Done correctly, at this point, you could get punched. Prepare to duck.}

Unless that person has power over you, then it's another story. If someone has the power to harm you, you need to deal with things differently.

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 2:02 pm**

Yeah. Weirdos.

That's when the elves run the backups on mine.

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 3:06 pm**

computers have an off button? shoot i can even unplug this laptop and it dont cut off. Yall just trying to pull a joke on an oldman, like the fella that said there was supposed to be an e on the end of breath.

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 3:13 pm**

really????? they dont just leave it next to their bed, with 'page refresh ' set to 5 minutes???

no problem with tablets that use less than some light-bulbs, and a tech-head that has *everything* encrypted, fire-walled, IP-locked, etc, etc...

Oh, and yes most PCs have an 'off' button... BUT the REAL name should be 'standby' - until your 'wake on LAN' function starts up the PC again *by itself* !!!

Unlike all the above, I prefer to use a mains 'auto-switch' that will switch off the mains when it detects I have pressed the PC off button - the only way to switch it back on again , is to press the 'auto-switch' ON button..

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 3:58 pm**

Yes, they also do my dry-cleaning.
They have been a great help!

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 4:17 pm**

Much better to have a small script running, which periodically queries http://wapsisquare.com/ and checks the page update times and the link to the strip .jpg (or .gif or .png). When the page changes, the script sets off a sound effect from the original Addams Family TV show (either the foghorn "doorbell" or the whooping "Mail's in!"). Thank you, Thing!

What... you say I'm pandering and enabling a serious Wapsi Square addiction?! I'm shocked, shocked! to learn that there are Wapsi addicts here.

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 4:25 pm**

well, I gues its people like Leak that do that, and have a good sound proof room to put it in... depends how sensitive you are to noise.

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 5:45 pm**

Code: Select all

sidhekin@purplehat[00:40:50]~$ uptime
 00:40:51 up 91 days, 22:38, 31 users,  load average: 1,31, 1,77, 1,89
sidhekin@purplehat[00:40:51]~$

(Yep, sounds about right; I turned it off before boarding that aircraft.)

… of course, there are people who actually run an expensive toy OS on their computer. They might find their computer getting progressively slower as the uptime accumulates, and so might be forgiven the habitual shutdown.

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 6:12 pm**

Errr... said server is right in my room, although on the opposite end of it to where my bed is - but then again it's a small NAS with 4 2.5" drives, a measily Atom single-core CPU and no audible noise further than one meter or so away from it...

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 7:15 pm**

My reason for not shutting down is because the router apparently has connection issues from when I installed it. I have to run the Windoze network diagnostic doohickey to get a 'net connection back after shutting down.

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:21 pm**

I switch off & unplug the laptop every night. Only because I've fooled myself into thinking it keeps down my Hydro bill.

Posted: **Mon Apr 06, 2015 9:08 pm**

Yah. They're burning a hell of a lot of coal to keep all them electrons moving around the grid, you know.

Posted: **Tue Apr 07, 2015 1:18 am**

Well... they are affirming something important to Atsali. "You're right, kid. What they're doing sucks. It's not right, you aren't imagining it, and you aren't out of line for being upset about it."

Ultimately, although Atsali can get suggestions about how to deal with it, and may get some "backing" from Aunt Jin and others in confronting some of the adults in question... in the end, she's going to have to deal with it herself. She'll have to develop her own set and collection of techniques which work for her, based on what she's facing. Some of that may be snarky responses... or straightforward, polite, but assertive responses to those who prejudge her. Some of it will be her own internal attitude... simply learning not to care about the opinions of the ignorant and ill-informed and prejudiced. Some of it will be by having a good circle of friends who know her for who she truly is.

In the end, nobody else can do these things for her... friends and relatives can maybe point the way, but she has to live these things as part of her own life in order for them to really affect how she feels.

(One of my favorite books which touches on this theme is Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse. No one can live another's life for him, or her... each must find their own path.)

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