How Dangerous 2012-10-09

[jwhouk]

I think we already know a couple of things as to why Shel would say how dangerous M is:

• She can poit at will (though not always well)
• She can read/speak glyph (which gives her power to deal with Lanthian artifacts, such as...)
• She has "control" of the golem girls - Bud, Brandi and Jin (though it's somewhat questionable about Jin)
• She has demons, as Pablo has already eloquently pointed out, "in her back pocket" (whose powers have shown to be catalysts for her)
• As a Jaguar Girl, she can take on a "spirit" form - literally, "become a ghost" (I think both Tina AND Jin might be interested in that fact), AND
• She has "the most common superpower" (I'll spare the TV tropes link)

On a completely and totally off-topic note: Jay-Em, what's up with your English keyboard? I'm getting a lot of letters that have accents and graves when reading your posts...

[rootwalla]

The point's honesty, support and trust, Shelly, you know, what friendship's about?

I can't stand Shelly right now the same reason I cannot stand Nudge: Keeping things away from others because it's easier, even "for their own good" takes away what makes a person a person: The ability to make informed decision for themselves. It's treating them as animals to be trained as opposed to friends.

Shelly should've at least tried to warn Monica, even if it's just a "Monica, you're supposed to be a Jaguar girl, it's important, do some frigging research into it". - If Monica would've headed it would've been her own decision. But keeping it away from Monica because it's easier, that's not the action of a friend.

I wouldn't be able to trust or even want to be in the same room as her if I'd found out she knew something that important to my future and didn't tell me because "there was no point".

Erm... I'm more of the opinion that Shelly just knows Monica better... M needed a good sharp shock (a personal one) to snap her out of her "everyone is a monster and I am better than them" loop, and pay attention.
That's what a best friend can and is expected to do.

[donoho]

The point's honesty, support and trust, Shelly, you know, what friendship's about?

I can't stand Shelly right now the same reason I cannot stand Nudge: Keeping things away from others because it's easier, even "for their own good" takes away what makes a person a person: The ability to make informed decision for themselves. It's treating them as animals to be trained as opposed to friends.

Shelly should've at least tried to warn Monica, even if it's just a "Monica, you're supposed to be a Jaguar girl, it's important, do some frigging research into it". - If Monica would've headed it would've been her own decision. But keeping it away from Monica because it's easier, that's not the action of a friend.

I wouldn't be able to trust or even want to be in the same room as her if I'd found out she knew something that important to my future and didn't tell me because "there was no point".

Just like teachers are bad for not teaching fractions in the first grade...

[chalcara]

Monica's an ADULT not a child - this is what this is about!

[illiad]

Monica's an ADULT not a child - this is what this is about!

heh, I know plenty of 'adults' who behave like that.... :/ and best friends are the worst... you *have* to be, to put up with it!!!!

another friend has a tendency to chatter on, and not hear what you are saying... you have to wait till he has stopped!!!

[Sphinx-Napped]

shelly stop looking at monica's boobs and look her in the eye

yes we know she booblicous and carrying loaded weapons of mass distraction..but.. still eyes up

/throws 32 silver Cesar dollar coins dating back around Jesus in to the pun jar

[Fairportfan]

The point's honesty, support and trust, Shelly, you know, what friendship's about?

I can't stand Shelly right now the same reason I cannot stand Nudge: Keeping things away from others because it's easier, even "for their own good" takes away what makes a person a person: The ability to make informed decision for themselves. It's treating them as animals to be trained as opposed to friends.

Shelly should've at least tried to warn Monica, even if it's just a "Monica, you're supposed to be a Jaguar girl, it's important, do some frigging research into it". - If Monica would've headed it would've been her own decision. But keeping it away from Monica because it's easier, that's not the action of a friend.

I wouldn't be able to trust or even want to be in the same room as her if I'd found out she knew something that important to my future and didn't tell me because "there was no point".

Please take note of the post immediately before yours.

Shelly tried exactly what you suggest in your third graf and Monica blew her off.

[MrFireDragon]

Shelly, I think we all know how dangerous M is...... I mean she has a couple of huge power sources that can hypnotize anyone, either mortal or immortal..... ok ok, perhaps that is not what makes her the most dangerous, but surely the most alluring

[Aleister Crow]

The point's honesty, support and trust, Shelly, you know, what friendship's about?

I can't stand Shelly right now the same reason I cannot stand Nudge: Keeping things away from others because it's easier, even "for their own good" takes away what makes a person a person: The ability to make informed decision for themselves. It's treating them as animals to be trained as opposed to friends.

Shelly should've at least tried to warn Monica, even if it's just a "Monica, you're supposed to be a Jaguar girl, it's important, do some frigging research into it". - If Monica would've headed it would've been her own decision. But keeping it away from Monica because it's easier, that's not the action of a friend.

I wouldn't be able to trust or even want to be in the same room as her if I'd found out she knew something that important to my future and didn't tell me because "there was no point".

Please take note of the post immediately before yours.

Shelly tried exactly what you suggest in your third graf and Monica blew her off.

Exactly. When Shelly said "You're the Jaguar Girl", the first words out of Monica's mouth should have been "What's a Jaguar Girl?" But she was too busy wallowing in her own self pity. "No, you really need to hear this" would have ended up in an argument.

Thanks to her stubbornness, Monica invariably has to learn the hard way, at which point she finally starts asking questions.

By the way, Chalcara, "At what point would you have had me tell you?" doesn't mean the same as "There's no point in telling you." It means "When would you have been willing to listen?" which Monica now realizes is part of the problem.

[eee]

2) Nothing yet really indicates Shelly's knowledge of Monica or Euryale are newly discovered. That gives Shelly pretty much any point in time since Shelly returned from the Sphinx forest to reveal this to Monica. Especially since Shelly's seen Euryale around Monica before today.

Define 'newly discovered'. Remember, Shelly came back from the Time Forest having forgotten almost everything about her previous life after 80,000 years; although she's since reintegrated very well. Since then she's been getting deeper and deeper into the Sphinx side, including getting lessons on being one from Granny Phix. Also, Monica cut Shelly (and everyone else) off for two weeks after she saw Phix feeding; we don't know what Shelly did during that time. Although I would imagine she made peace with Phix at some point because the attraction of having an actual maternal figure in her life would be almost irresistible. So we've got a considerable length of time during which Shelly could have learned the facts about Monica, but not had the opportunity to tell them to the pocket elf. Her knowledge COULD have been newly discovered. We'll have to see if we get further facts on this.

[Boxilar]

The point's honesty, support and trust, Shelly, you know, what friendship's about?

I can't stand Shelly right now the same reason I cannot stand Nudge: Keeping things away from others because it's easier, even "for their own good" takes away what makes a person a person: The ability to make informed decision for themselves. It's treating them as animals to be trained as opposed to friends.

Shelly should've at least tried to warn Monica, even if it's just a "Monica, you're supposed to be a Jaguar girl, it's important, do some frigging research into it". - If Monica would've headed it would've been her own decision. But keeping it away from Monica because it's easier, that's not the action of a friend.

I wouldn't be able to trust or even want to be in the same room as her if I'd found out she knew something that important to my future and didn't tell me because "there was no point".

I think it comes down to what did Shelly know, and when did she know it. If Shelly only found out about Monica's "Jaguar Girl" status after the metric tons of personal revelations (pale horse, grass burnt up, star named wormwood. *CLINK*) she just went through, there hasn't been a chance to tell her. Monica has held herself incommunicado for two weeks and was in the process of emotionally detatching herself from her supernatural friends. Shelly brought the subject up at the beach and Monica blew her off. Long experience has taught Shelly that often times when Monica has her mind made up about something telling is ineffective, showing is the only thing that works.

Shelly's attitude after tucking M in shows that she knew Monica was going to preform a hard reboot of her system to correct the damage Euryale caused (that's what the out of body thing looked like to me, anyway) and was waiting for it to happen. Shelly knew that it would take something shocking to make Monica belive that she was just as dangerous as everyone else. Shelly knows this because it took Phix's display of feral behavior to convince Monica that everyone else is dangerous.

Even if Shelly knew before the big Library dustup, she was busy dealing with her own drama. Both M and Shell can be self absorbed. Shelly was trying so hard to slide back into a normal life in spite of her nature that she probably wasn't to worried about potential problems for Monica down the road. After all, Monica can't die, so it wasn't like the problem was an immediate one.

Now Shelly seems to have come to terms with who she really is. She cut her hair, probably to show a seperation from Bia, and the fangs are present even when she's relaxed and holding her "human" form, which shows she's comfortable with her Sphinxyness. Part of Shelly's internal conflict was that she wanted to go back to the person she was before the Time Forrest, not just physically, but emotionally as well. She has finally accepted that she is who she is, now. The Sage of the Forrest has finally come to terms with who and what she is, and because of that, is capable of being there for Monica as she dicovers who and what she really is.

And Shelly also probably understands the value of self discovery. It can be hard, but is also very rewarding.

[lake_wrangler]

Although I would imagine she made peace with Phix at some point because the attraction of having an actual maternal figure in her life would be almost irresistible.

I can just picture Shelly rubbing her head on Phix' shoulder, and purring... or doing that thing with her hands like cats do with their claws as they sort of knead you with them...

[MrFireDragon]

Monica's an ADULT not a child - this is what this is about!

the main thing here is that Monica needs to walk her path to reach the full powers of Jaguar Girl on her own, there will be people that can and will help her. But the ripe time to start that path is never known, even for those who know the most. Now that M has tapped her Jaguar Girl powers then Shelly will have to share more, but just enough so M can start her own journey. It is not about friendship, it is about growth and Monica reaching her full potential. Shelly changed from being the wrench monkey guts-before-reason to the sage in the forest, she has become probably the teacher an Obi-Wan of sorts. Perhaps Shelly won't help Monica discover all her powers, but she will make her start on them. Yes M is an adult, and as such, she needs to find her own way.

[Boxilar]

Although I would imagine she made peace with Phix at some point because the attraction of having an actual maternal figure in her life would be almost irresistible.

I can just picture Shelly rubbing her head on Phix' shoulder, and purring... or doing that thing with her hands like cats do with their claws as they sort of knead you with them...

Purring, making buiscits...and drooling. If she were in full Sphinx form, that's a lot of drool.

[Boxilar]

Monica's an ADULT not a child - this is what this is about!

Monica is an adult by human standards. Compared to an 80,000 year old Sphinx, she's got a lot of learning to do. Up till now, Monica has been part of the supernatural, but only on the edges of it. Sure, she saved the world and wrangles the Chimhera, but she hasn't been part of the universe the other paranormals walk in. Shelly is getting her ready for that.

To paraphrase Obi Wan, Monica has taken her first step into a larger world.

[lake_wrangler]

... the Shelly hatters...

That's either a typo, or it's taking fanart to a whole new level!

[Julie]

I'm still trying to figure out how Monica is "dangerous". Dang near immortal, true. But we have had immortal characters in Wapsi before and unless they had some other powers (like the GGG and their chimera powers) they weren't dangerous (think Tepoz and Kulkulcan). And poiting is not unknown among the cast either, several characters can poit, most better than M (remember Jin poiting M's body wastes and dirt to get ther ready for morning?).

So, we have another Big Reveal coming in the next 2 weeks...

Well I'm sure the fact that she apparently can spontaneously-combust makes her at least somewhat dangerous...especially if that's something she'll ever be able to direct away from her own figure. Shelly did say something about how M would have burned her way out of the freeze if Euryale hadn't defrosted her quickly enough, too. I'm guessing the fire bit is a power that's here to stay.

[Julie]

I am just glad that this strip might be able to cool off the Shelly haters that have been cropping up.

Yeah right. Haters gonna hate. It's a terrible line (and meme), but it's unfortunately true. There are certain people who are just dead-set that Shelly is a terrible person/friend, and short of Paul making Shelly fit into the narrow definition those people have of what makes a decent humans being and true friend, they will not likely ever change their mind...and then they'd probably complain about the character changing personalities without explanation.

[Jürgen A. Erhard]

Monica has held herself incommunicado for two weeks and was in the process of emotionally detatching herself from her supernatural friends. Shelly brought the subject up at the beach and Monica blew her off. Long experience has taught Shelly that often times when Monica has her mind made up about something telling is ineffective, showing is the only thing that works.

Shelly's attitude after tucking M in shows that she knew Monica was going to preform a hard reboot of her system to correct the damage Euryale caused (that's what the out of body thing looked like to me, anyway) and was waiting for it to happen. Shelly knew that it would take something shocking to make Monica belive that she was just as dangerous as everyone else. Shelly knows this because it took Phix's display of feral behavior to convince Monica that everyone else is dangerous.

Yup. The bit about "detaching" made me realize that M's giving free will to the GGG is also a "I want nothing to do with this supernatural nonsense" reaction. She's still struggling with her past. Even though M seemed to have accepted it, I think Phix' "feast" caused a relapse.

And Shelly also probably understands the value of self discovery. It can be hard, but is also very rewarding.

Oh, sure. As I said before, Shelly's "welcome to my side" means exactly that, Shelly *knows* how it is to suddenly realize to be something completely different. Though she had 80000 years to come to grips with it. Or at least part of it. But it seems it made accepting the recent revelation of being a titan easier.

[Dave]

I think it comes down to what did Shelly know, and when did she know it. If Shelly only found out about Monica's "Jaguar Girl" status after the metric tons of personal revelations (pale horse, grass burnt up, star named wormwood. *CLINK*) she just went through, there hasn't been a chance to tell her. Monica has held herself incommunicado for two weeks and was in the process of emotionally detatching herself from her supernatural friends. Shelly brought the subject up at the beach and Monica blew her off. Long experience has taught Shelly that often times when Monica has her mind made up about something telling is ineffective, showing is the only thing that works.

**snip**

And Shelly also probably understands the value of self discovery. It can be hard, but is also very rewarding.

I'm reminded of a piece of philosophical/spiritual teaching I heard many years ago:

"Speak to every man according to his understanding. There is a gradation in all men; each will perceive what he can perceive, at the stage at which he can perceive it."

(and I personally read "every man" as "each person", etc. - the English language unfortunately lacks a good gender-neutral turn of phrase for these things. You either have to say "his or her", or use the plural "they" and "their", and both are clumsy. It's enough to make a person pull hir hair out.)

That, I think, is what people have been pointing out. Monica hasn't every been very comfortable with the paranormal/supernatural in general, and certainly not with her own connection to it. During the past two weeks (since the big sphinx-feed) she's been actively looking for ways to withdraw from the whole paranormal world, even if it cost her one of her oldest friendships.

I think she has been actively resisting (or at least in denial of) information about her own true nature. When Shelly dropped the first reference about "Jaguar Girl" (that caused a lot of us to say "Hunh? What?!?") Monica's reaction wasn't one of curiosity and inquiry - it was one of "Well, I did have a special nature at one point, but that's closed and in the past now." Rather than follow up on Shelly's statements, she backed away from them. She really didn't want to know... because knowing would have required her to face the fact that she can't just withdraw from the paranormal world and return to the "safe" normal world.

Her own fire-and-OOBE experience was an abrupt wake-up call (in a very literal sense). She can no longer deny that she's part of the paranormal world. Now, she seems ready to actually listen to Shelly, and hear the information Shelly has to impart.

It'll be interesting (and significant) to learn just how long Shelly has known all this stuff. My guess is that Shelly may have had some (or many?) of the pieces of the puzzle from her time in the Time Forest, but that at least some of this is relatively new information for her.

Shelly had quite an opportunity to talk with Nudge (after the Bia punch-out), and Nudge is clearly a very knowledgeable demigod who could have told Shelly about a great many things that had previously been hidden. As others have noted, there was also time for a Shelly/Phix reconciliation and talk-talk.

I have to wonder whether Phix and Nudge may have come to an agreement that it was past time to stop hiding things from Shelly and Monica. Just what quiet places are being filled?