Going to say 2012-09-26

[Stigmartyr762]

Bravo Shelly! Well played. *golf claps*

[ShadOBabe]

Whoop!! Nailed it!!
Bud's pissed because she believes that if she can control herself, then everyone else can as well. I KNOW HOW SHE FEELS...
But it's best not to judge people too harshly too quickly. HOWEVER, the people I feel that way toward aren't usually doing anything that is going to get anyone killed... like magically freezing people into ice statues. Just sayin'...

Shelly's right; they're ALL dangerous. But Bud's also right in that that's not an excuse for not controlling their abilities.

EDIT: And YAY!! I'm finally getting back into commenting on these strips.

[Atomic]

Excellent play, Shelly!

And I'm looking forward to the Monica == Dangerous reveal! Perhaps some act of stress and urgency bring out the Jaguar in her? As long as she doesn't try to parallel park and break her arm...

No, wait -- that was Tina. Never mind.

P.S. Love the 1 AM Eastern update! Now I can see it before bed!

[Casey]

A few observations:

Euryale has never been seen freezing anyone other than Monica. I suspect she can't freeze golems or titans. Still, she lives in human society, and she apparently hasn't blown her cover by turning her boss to ice or anything. There's a few possible explanations for that. The first is that when she's trying to look more human, there is another block in place between default and freezing people. That block could be psychological or a physical limitation. The second possibility is that her repeated freezing of Monica is not entirely accidental. There's a few possible motivations for her to do that (some of which are easier to see if you're wearing shipping goggles).

Also I notice that Bud's mind still jumps to the destruction of the world when she's upset. It's something that she tends to separate from herself when she is calm and rational, but it jumps out when she gets upset. Even though she knows logically that it wasn't her fault, she still blames herself. That wound has not yet healed.

[Dave]

Whoop!! Nailed it!!
Bud's pissed because she believes that if she can control herself, then everyone else can as well. I KNOW HOW SHE FEELS...

I've gotta think that some of that pissed-offedness is also the result of residual guilt on Bud's part... otherwise she wouldn't have flared up so intensely at Shelly's remark. No matter how much Bud knows intellectually that she wasn't in control of herself when she slagged down Lanthis, it's still a tough emotional burden for her to bear. I imagine that there's some residual fear there, too (Spider's maxim about anger always being fear in disguise)... someone as incredibly powerful (and good-hearted) as Bud would always be worried about what would happen if she lost control again. Hell of a thing to have to wake up to, every day of a very long life!

As it is, unfortunately, she ends up wearing that sort of sheepish expression which results from hearing "Hey, kid, it isn't all about ewe". Nothing deflates a good, roaring emotional self-defense more effectively than the realization that you weren't being attacked.

Even when she's mad, though, she alliterates beautifully... gotta love it!

[Bathorys Daughter]

Monica can be very dangerous. Aside from controlling the GGs, there is her ability to poit others. If she poited someone in a fit of rage, who knows what may happen. Poit them to 15,000 feet then lose track of where they are and not able to retrieve them. Poit someone to the wrong place. After all, she's been to the site of what is now an active volcano. That ability alone makes her as dangerous as Phix or Shelly. She's poited tons of snow. She could poit a whole building full of people. All I can say is the folks at the DMV better not give her a hard time ... ever.

[ShadOBabe]

Whoop!! Nailed it!!
Bud's pissed because she believes that if she can control herself, then everyone else can as well. I KNOW HOW SHE FEELS...

I've gotta think that some of that pissed-offedness is also the result of residual guilt on Bud's part... otherwise she wouldn't have flared up so intensely at Shelly's remark. No matter how much Bud knows intellectually that she wasn't in control of herself when she slagged down Lanthis, it's still a tough emotional burden for her to bear. I imagine that there's some residual fear there, too (Spider's maxim about anger always being fear in disguise)... someone as incredibly powerful (and good-hearted) as Bud would always be worried about what would happen if she lost control again. Hell of a thing to have to wake up to, every day of a very long life!

As it is, unfortunately, she ends up wearing that sort of sheepish expression which results from hearing "Hey, kid, it isn't all about ewe". Nothing deflates a good, roaring emotional self-defense more effectively than the realization that you weren't being attacked.

Even when she's mad, though, she alliterates beautifully... gotta love it!

Wise words from The Dave.

[Opus the Poet]

Yay Shelly for defusing an angry situation. And I await the demonstration of the dangers of the Jaguar Girl with equal parts dread and anticipation...

[Bathorys Daughter]

A few observations:

Euryale has never been seen freezing anyone other than Monica. I suspect she can't freeze golems or titans. Still, she lives in human society, and she apparently hasn't blown her cover by turning her boss to ice or anything. There's a few possible explanations for that. The first is that when she's trying to look more human, there is another block in place between default and freezing people. That block could be psychological or a physical limitation.

I think you're on to something there. It could be the main problem with Monica is that Euryale feels she can be herself around her (and usually is). In that state it could be much easier to go all glaciation on mortals. Maybe she needs to stop letting her hair down/out and do better at maintaining her human persona in order to restrain her power better.

[Mark N]

Monica can be very dangerous. Aside from controlling the GGs, there is her ability to poit others. If she poited someone in a fit of rage, who knows what may happen. Poit them to 15,000 feet then lose track of where they are and not able to retrieve them. Poit someone to the wrong place. After all, she's been to the site of what is now an active volcano. That ability alone makes her as dangerous as Phix or Shelly. She's poited tons of snow. She could poit a whole building full of people. All I can say is the folks at the DMV better not give her a hard time ... ever.

Monica is more dangerous than you seem to think. She could probably poit entire weather fronts around and that would throw off the balance of nature horribly. Another possibility is if she can poit something she has never seen. She could alter magma flows and set off potential Super-Volcanoes like Yellowstone and cause an extinction level event. I think what we have to face her is that the ability to teleport huge masses like she has shown can lead to horrifying complications for the world.

[Jabberwonky]

Monica can be very dangerous. Aside from controlling the GGs, there is her ability to poit others. If she poited someone in a fit of rage, who knows what may happen. Poit them to 15,000 feet then lose track of where they are and not able to retrieve them. Poit someone to the wrong place. After all, she's been to the site of what is now an active volcano. That ability alone makes her as dangerous as Phix or Shelly. She's poited tons of snow. She could poit a whole building full of people. All I can say is the folks at the DMV better not give her a hard time ... ever.

I'll have to admit I wouldn't give M any grief over poiting the DMV into an active volcano...

[NOTDilbert]

Woah. Shelly as the voice of reason. She's gone a long way down the road from the hot-headed little Comanche bouncing engine blocks across the shop through to The Sage of the Forest. Not to the end of the road, yet, but along it....

And she's wearing yet another swimsuit! Honestly, how many did she pack for this afternoon trip!?

[kingklash]

Considering the group that constitutes the current luau, Cousin Shelly might have been talking about anyone but Bud. And even then, she doesn't even have to be referring to any kind of enhanced ability. Anyone remember how The Doctor scuttled the Prime Minister's career with just a handful of words? No wires, no ropes, no mirrors, no hidden panels, no assistants stashed away, no Sonic Screwdrivers, no reversing polarities, just one simple question to one person. It was diabolic in its' simplicity, because anyone could have done it. The Golems started life as Humans, and despite the long, nigh-immortal lives, the repeated cycles, they are still Human, with all that entails. That is dangerous in itself. The rest, the Mythics, they can assume Human form, and thus tread dangerously close to being Human themselves. Euryale is just dealing with the dang ol' shocks that Monica is constantly subjecting her to. Hell, I'd be jumpy to, if I were the new kid, and somebody I looked up to kept saying insane, upsetting crap like a crazy person. And this is someone who, if it wasn't for an iPod, would have been completely naked the first time we saw her. Bud needs to give the Snakey Sweetheart a break here.

[CPUGuy1]

Yeah, Shelly!!!
Way to go!!!

[lake_wrangler]

Wow! She really is the sage of the forest!

And she's wearing yet another swimsuit! Honestly, how many did she pack for this afternoon trip!?

Actually, apart from the commission print, where she's sporting a strapless one-piece, she has been wearing the same one-piece all along. Sometimes it gets colored/inked, sometimes not. It's the same way that Nudge is sometimes shaded and fur-textured, and sometimes not.

[MrFireDragon]

I like Shelly... All wisdomy and sagelike... Even after that earth shattering news she got at the library. She certainly can take more SHTF situations that M.

[MerchManDan]

Well! That certainly took the wind out of Bud's sails.

...speaking of, I wonder if Mon is still three sheets to the wind?

[Dave11]

Whoa. Deep.

[Yamara]

The real test of Shelly's wisdom is with her friendship with Bud, one of the relationships that Jin noticed was going to save the world.

Because here it seems that Bud is lashing out at Shelly with extra anger and self-loathing because Shelly landed the cute Titan that Bud was after.

I can only imagine nights of Bud, lying alone in her room, very consciously not destroying the world as she thinks about Shelly and Justin across town... yeah.

Being aware that those two would likely survive such an end of the world really wouldn't help the pain.

[Fairportfan]

I don't think anyone but Shelly (and Phix and Bia, of course) is aware that Justin is Shelly's cousin on the Titan side.

Not even Justin.