Her Drama 2012-08-30

[Wdot]

Dave and Atomic thank you for your help! And Dave one thing I've learned reading and watching scores of novels and TV shows is this: [ url=http://d2tq98mqfjyz2l.cloudfront.net/im ... 378540.jpg ] Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-wimey! [ /url]]

You need to remove the spaces between the first "[" of each "URL" tag and the next character (and you might remove the spaces between the tags and the text they enclose, too):

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And [b]Dave[/b] one thing I've learned reading and watching scores of novels and TV shows is this: [url=http://d2tq98mqfjyz2l.cloudfront.net/image_cache/1307090399378540.jpg ]Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-wimey![/url]

And then it will look like this:

And Dave one thing I've learned reading and watching scores of novels and TV shows is this: Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-wimey!

Thanks Fairportfan I hit submit instead of preview! I fixed it, but when I redid it I saw you posted this. Touchy, touchy computer code; spaces are important in some!!!

[sonicthunder]

Oh, I don't know. She is the woman who pins live spiders to her display box. Kills, cleans and eats squirrels.

By that logic though, we can think of entire cultures/subcultures that should have no problem dealing with immortal society (really nerfing the impact of immortal society and making Monica look way more of a "princess" than she really is). We're talking everything from rednecks and 3rd world citizens to just country folk or more culinary-adventurous city dwellers.

[wratgaf]

@ Yarner-

to quote the demon Wiki, but with a real reference...

There was a single sphinx in Greek mythology, a unique demon of destruction and bad luck. According to Hesiod, she was a daughter of Orthus[8] and either Echidna or the Chimera, or perhaps even Ceto;[9] according to others, she was a daughter of Echidna and Typhon. All of these are chthonic figures from the earliest of Greek myths, before the Olympians ruled the Greek pantheon. The Sphinx is called Phix (Φίξ) by Hesiod in line 326 of the Theogony, the proper name for the Sphinx noted by Pierre Grimal's The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology.

As far as I can tell, this is not the same Sphinx that Oedipus dealt with, but a much earlier one.

Running of the Bullfinch...

CLANG!! - gold bar into pun jar, sorry

[Bathorys Daughter]

Oh, I don't know. She is the woman who pins live spiders to her display box. Kills, cleans and eats squirrels.

By that logic though, we can think of entire cultures/subcultures that should have no problem dealing with immortal society (really nerfing the impact of immortal society and making Monica look way more of a "princess" than she really is). We're talking everything from rednecks and 3rd world citizens to just country folk or more culinary-adventurous city dwellers.

Of course. I was just pointing out that Kat is no prude when it comes to killing and associated blood and guts, unlike Monica. I don't picture her gutting and cleaning any tree rodent kills.

It's not entirely far fetched either. One of the reasons kings often drafted men (often boys really) from farms to fight in wars was because it was not as big a leap from slaughtering animals to killing men as it would be for men from cities or engaged in non bloody occupations. Of course another was because so much of the population was engaged in agriculture it was unavoidable. Still, the farm lads tended to adapt to it easier.

[Boxilar]

I had a random thought. Back when Shelly lost her temper and punched the wall 'o skulls behind/next to Phix, it seemed to me Phix was wearing an "oh crap" expression just before she burst into tears. I don't think it was solely because Shelly was reacting badly emotionally to the fact that she and Justin had been set up. I think there was real fear of physical harm there.

Phix is the head Librarian and guardian of the Bibliothiki. As an Apotropaic Sphinx, she is essentially invulnerable in the place she guards.

Except to other Sphinxes.

And Shelly is a Sphinx/Titan hybrid, which means she qualifies as both. Phix made a point of telling Bia, "You may be a Titan, but you're on my turf," implying that out of the Library, Bia would have the advantage. It follows that Shelly's Sphinx heritage (from Phix, no less) makes her capable of challenging or harming an Apo on it's home ground, and Bia's blood gives her the physical power of her mother, the personification of Force.

Given what we just witnessed of Sphinx society, when Shelly became enraged, Phix may have assumed that Shelly was going to do something similar to what she did do to Medeia.

The scary thing is, who's to say if Bia hadn't intervened, she wouldn't have.

Shelly self identifies as the human girl who just happens to be a Sphinx, but the truth is, she has 80,000 years of conditioned behavior and the raw instincts of a predator driving her in her more emotional moments when her guard is down. She may have to accept that she needs to have less contact with breakable mortals in the future.

[Mark N]

I do not think Monica would have a problem with taking care of fresh hunt kill. It was seeing someone she always thought of as safe and civilized, covered in gore, knee deep in another Sphinx's ribcage and (most importantly) growling for you to leave, that is what sent her off the reservation.

[davids4250]

How did the human head species get started? Unlike the Apos, it appears there are only female human-headed sphinxes so how do they, as a species, propagate?. In the story it's been said that her kind retreated from the human world. Yet it's also been said that sphinxes (presumably her kind of sphinx and not all sphinxes) come from humans. Does this mean no new human headed sphinxes, apart from Shelly, have been born for thousands of years?

Have we seen any Sphinx that we KNOW are male? I don't remember if anyone has mentioned a male Sphinx, though the Egyptian Sphinxes were. But they were human-headed. In the Wapsi-verse, they may all be female.

[Dave]

I had a random thought....

And Shelly is a Sphinx/Titan hybrid, which means she qualifies as both. Phix made a point of telling Bia, "You may be a Titan, but you're on my turf," implying that out of the Library, Bia would have the advantage. It follows that Shelly's Sphinx heritage (from Phix, no less) makes her capable of challenging or harming an Apo on it's home ground, and Bia's blood gives her the physical power of her mother, the personification of Force.

Given what we just witnessed of Sphinx society, when Shelly became enraged, Phix may have assumed that Shelly was going to do something similar to what she did do to Medeia.

The scary thing is, who's to say if Bia hadn't intervened, she wouldn't have.

Good points all. I think there's still one unknown about this situation. We don't know whether Phix was, or was not, aware of Shelly's Titan ancestry at the time Shelly struck out.

My guess is "not" - Bia's role as Shelly's mother seems to be something that Phix learned only after Bia announced herself and Nudge let the kittywumpus out of the bag. Hence, Phix's reaction probably wasn't based on "fear of Titan in a rage" because she didn't realize that was the situation.

However, your basic premise is still good... Phix could have been very afraid that the situation was about to turn into a "typical, traditional" sphinx-on-sphinx battle to the death... and Phix, knowing that Shelly is her granddaughter, might have found it very difficult to defend-by-attacking.

Shelly self identifies as the human girl who just happens to be a Sphinx, but the truth is, she has 80,000 years of conditioned behavior and the raw instincts of a predator driving her in her more emotional moments when her guard is down. She may have to accept that she needs to have less contact with breakable mortals in the future.

That's the very reason she went to the Library to take lessons from Phix... to gain control of her sphinx-nature and prevent such instinctive outbursts of transformation and violence. The fact that she also has the force of a Titan within her is only going to add urgency to this!

Based on Shelly's words and reactions recently, I don't expect that she would agree to give up her human life at all easily... not unless her very best attempt to learn a "path of balance" fail, and she finds herself in Bruce Banner's situation.

[scantrontb]

Nudge is quite an expert manipulating people into doing the right thing..... so, I do believe she is in no real danger of getting eaten, she will play Phix into taking the right path or at least try to because I think Phix already know what she will do.... but I love it how all this seems so very normal for Nudge. Ain't drama queens tasty!?

of course!... she's going to confuse them into doing the right thing...

too bad i can't find that comic where she said that.

[Jabberwonky]

How did the human head species get started? Unlike the Apos, it appears there are only female human-headed sphinxes so how do they, as a species, propagate?. In the story it's been said that her kind retreated from the human world. Yet it's also been said that sphinxes (presumably her kind of sphinx and not all sphinxes) come from humans. Does this mean no new human headed sphinxes, apart from Shelly, have been born for thousands of years?

Have we seen any Sphinx that we KNOW are male? I don't remember if anyone has mentioned a male Sphinx, though the Egyptian Sphinxes were. But they were human-headed. In the Wapsi-verse, they may all be female.

Yes, we've seen one for years. Bia said that "Male human-sphinx hybrids of Phix's species can't morph."
'

[Jabberwonky]

Something I haven't seen mentioned is that Nudge has been Co-Head Librairian for a while now. She should also have the 'not be harmed in here' glamour also.

Not that I think she needs it, she knows what's she's doing...

[Bathorys Daughter]

How did the human head species get started? Unlike the Apos, it appears there are only female human-headed sphinxes so how do they, as a species, propagate?. In the story it's been said that her kind retreated from the human world. Yet it's also been said that sphinxes (presumably her kind of sphinx and not all sphinxes) come from humans. Does this mean no new human headed sphinxes, apart from Shelly, have been born for thousands of years?

Have we seen any Sphinx that we KNOW are male? I don't remember if anyone has mentioned a male Sphinx, though the Egyptian Sphinxes were. But they were human-headed. In the Wapsi-verse, they may all be female.

That's a point to consider. Looking back at This comic, it is impossible to determine the sex of any in that group. Up until this incident everyone assumed they were male because of the descriptions found on-line of the ram-headed type of sphinx. It appeared there were only males in that line of sphinxes. But this is Wapsi world and in this world we now know for sure of at least one (former) ram-headed sphinx who was female. So it could be, like Phix's line, the Apos may also be all female in Paul's universe. That would fit with everything else. Personally, I hope so.

Yes, we've seen one for years. Bia said that "Male human-sphinx hybrids of Phix's species can't morph."'

Also a good point. Technically, he is a sphinx. At least half sphinx in fact. We don't know who dad was, so we can't say how much human genetic material he has in him. I suppose it could be all male sphinxes are like him. A sphinx who can't undergo the transition to the full winged leviathan the girls can. I suppose he is exempt from the "watch your back or die" thing Phix was mentioning. In fact, if he did get picked on it could be up to a female sphinx to protect him. Interesting gender role reversal story possibilities in that.

[Fairportfan]

Have we seen any Sphinx that we KNOW are male? I don't remember if anyone has mentioned a male Sphinx, though the Egyptian Sphinxes were. But they were human-headed. In the Wapsi-verse, they may all be female.

Ummm - parthenogenisis?

[Atomic]

How did the human head species get started? Unlike the Apos, it appears there are only female human-headed sphinxes so how do they, as a species, propagate?. In the story it's been said that her kind retreated from the human world. Yet it's also been said that sphinxes (presumably her kind of sphinx and not all sphinxes) come from humans. Does this mean no new human headed sphinxes, apart from Shelly, have been born for thousands of years?

Have we seen any Sphinx that we KNOW are male? I don't remember if anyone has mentioned a male Sphinx, though the Egyptian Sphinxes were. But they were human-headed. In the Wapsi-verse, they may all be female.

Yes, we've seen one for years. Bia said that "Male human-sphinx hybrids of Phix's species can't morph."

Note the "of Phix's species" phrasing. This suggests there are several species of Sphinx (at least two), and Monica has referred to Greek, Babylonian, and Egyptian sphinxes. Wikipedia mentions South Indian sphinxes being apotropaic, also, though other regions no doubt had their guardians as well.

The point is that sphinx ancestry may be in part along the lines of Zeus' wanderlust romances, leaving behind the various species, some of whom may be Mules, while others being Morgans. As Phix successfully gave birth to Shelly's father, her lineage and coupling produced a human-ish male. Then via Bia, that interbreeding created Shelly, now 1/4 sphinx, 1/4 human (Phix paramour, one presumes was all or mostly human), and 1/2 Titan (the Zeus dalliance a'la femme). This makes Shelly at least a Morgan (a new, distinct sphinx breed), perhaps an entirely new sphinx species.

[Mark N]

Have we seen any Sphinx that we KNOW are male? I don't remember if anyone has mentioned a male Sphinx, though the Egyptian Sphinxes were. But they were human-headed. In the Wapsi-verse, they may all be female.

Ummm - parthenogenisis?

Oh there you go again, bringing mythic logic to a science fight over mythic beings.

[Dave]

Have we seen any Sphinx that we KNOW are male? I don't remember if anyone has mentioned a male Sphinx, though the Egyptian Sphinxes were. But they were human-headed. In the Wapsi-verse, they may all be female.

Ummm - parthenogenisis?

Oh there you go again, bringing mythic logic to a science fight over mythic beings.

Since the sphinxes have at least some roots in Greek mythology, I would say they were created via Parthenon genesis.

Or, if recent speculation about the apos is correct, and Zeus and other gods were among their ancestors, they're the result of pantheon genesis.

(drops a few drachmas in the Jar)

[sonicthunder]

Shelly self identifies as the human girl who just happens to be a Sphinx, but the truth is, she has 80,000 years of conditioned behavior and the raw instincts of a predator driving her in her more emotional moments when her guard is down. She may have to accept that she needs to have less contact with breakable mortals in the future.

Or just work on the whole self-control/restraint aspect she's discussed with Bud several times. Bud's in a very similar scenario to Shelly. She has a lot of pent up aggression, has a past involving death at her hands of which she is less than proud, has lived thousands of years but can't remember the majority of them, identifies herself as more of a grunt or protector to her friends, and has some trust issues with Jin and immortal society (Bud even has the goat form similar to some Apos). Bud's just had more time to adjust to her situation.

Shelly gets the added bonus though of having fairly indestructible friends (probably can't even hurt Bud and Brandi, Monica's defensive poiting, and Officer TB's regeneration), so just as long as she doesn't lash at the fragile ones (Jacqui, Amanda, Luci, and now Jin) or pick a fight with something bigger than her (Bia) she should be able to make the adjustment.

Of course. I was just pointing out that Kat is no prude when it comes to killing and associated blood and guts, unlike Monica. I don't picture her gutting and cleaning any tree rodent kills.

Ah. Ok then. True, the blood and guts wouldn't bother her, but we've also seen Kat get nervous when dealing with people in general (something she's learning to overcome). We've yet to see her ever deal with a fairly negative emotional response, and something like Phix eating an Apos out of pure rage may not be a good starting point to test her reaction.

[Wdot]

Shelly self identifies as the human girl who just happens to be a Sphinx, but the truth is, she has 80,000 years of conditioned behavior and the raw instincts of a predator driving her in her more emotional moments when her guard is down. She may have to accept that she needs to have less contact with breakable mortals in the future.

Or just work on the whole self-control/restraint aspect she's discussed with Bud several times. Bud's in a very similar scenario to Shelly. She has a lot of pent up aggression, has a past involving death at her hands of which she is less than proud, has lived thousands of years but can't remember the majority of them, identifies herself as more of a grunt or protector to her friends, and has some trust issues with Jin and immortal society (Bud even has the goat form similar to some Apos). Bud's just had more time to adjust to her situation.

Shelly gets the added bonus though of having fairly indestructible friends (probably can't even hurt Bud and Brandi, Monica's defensive poiting, and Officer TB's regeneration), so just as long as she doesn't lash at the fragile ones (Jacqui, Amanda, Luci, and now Jin) or pick a fight with something bigger than her (Bia) she should be able to make the adjustment.

Of course. I was just pointing out that Kat is no prude when it comes to killing and associated blood and guts, unlike Monica. I don't picture her gutting and cleaning any tree rodent kills.

Ah. Ok then. True, the blood and guts wouldn't bother her, but we've also seen Kat get nervous when dealing with people in general (something she's learning to overcome). We've yet to see her ever deal with a fairly negative emotional response, and something like Phix eating an Apos out of pure rage may not be a good starting point to test her reaction.

Sonicthunder we have seen how Katherine reacts with "negative emotional responce," and it ain't pretty. Also, next!

[bmonk]

......OOOhkay! I think I see what Nudge is doing here (least I think I do). Nudge outs Bia to be Shelly's mother as well as revealing the her dad is Phix's son whom Bia forced(?) Phix into giving up to grow up a normal human.....okay. Need to break out a score card, a slide rule, and a abacus to keep track of who's doing what to who here.

You would need a very complex flow chart to figure out the relationship orbits in this comic. Yes, Monica's in the middle, but oh MY how things fly away after that.

Hey, maybe we can get the confusion couch and the pun jar between them, with their ample capacity and incalculable connectivity to keep track of the relationships? (Besides distracting them from us. That might just be a nice side effect.)

[bmonk]

davids4250: "Have we seen any Sphinx that we KNOW are male? I don't remember if anyone has mentioned a male Sphinx, though the Egyptian Sphinxes were. But they were human-headed. In the Wapsi-verse, they may all be female."
Fairportfan: "Ummm - parthenogenisis?"

Oh there you go again, bringing mythic logic to a science fight over mythic beings.

Since the sphinxes have at least some roots in Greek mythology, I would say they were created via Parthenon genesis.

Or, if recent speculation about the apos is correct, and Zeus and other gods were among their ancestors, they're the result of pantheon genesis.

(drops a few drachmas in the Jar)

Not sure that will be enough. I think, after this last bout of puns, the jar is looking more for talents.

(drops some slightly used images of Diana of the Ephesians into the jar. You know, sacrificing virgins to the hungry monsters. . . .)