Been Important 2012-11-21

[Jabberwonky]

My experience has been that boobs can help you get free drinks...but not usually in an establishment that also serves cannolis.

I don't see why not. I'd buy a cute gal a beer and a cannoli as soon as I would a beer. But, I can't actually recall that I've been in an establishment that served both...

[TheDOCTOR]

Wow, the tensile strength of the thread on those buttons holding that blouse must be amazing!
I keep hearing Scotty on STAR TREK saying : "I kenna hold her, captain! Shes libel to Fly apart ANY SECOND!!!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING N'at, yinz guys.

[meisdadoo]

Some people need only a nudge, some a Cat D-8...

Which is why nudge is getting impatient, plain statements (let alone subtle hints) are just not working on Monica (Having her heart ripped out just to get her out of denial for example). But Nudge is an expert at getting the light bulb to come on, and at finding and pushing buttons--hence her name.

[Jabberwonky]

There's an idea for a comission...Nudge on a bulldozer chasing Monica...

[ShadOBabe]

Hmmm.. Suddenly you get an inkling of Nudge's age... may act goofy but that is not a young head on those shoulders...

Well of course she's not young. She's a trickster deity. She's been around since the first time a sentient being punked another sentient being. And I'm sure that was a LONG time ago. XD

[kingklash]

When a Trickster has to use a more direct approach, the "Serious Business" level dial starts to twitch.

[Bathorys Daughter]

I'm kind of lost here. Is Nudge actually mad and giving up on her mission? Usually you can tell by her expression that she is goading someone on, as when she talked to Bia. Not so here. And her last statement in the first frame is confusing. Especially because of the inclusion of the last two words.

[Wdot]

Wow, the tensile strength of the thread on those buttons holding that blouse must be amazing!
I keep hearing Scotty on STAR TREK saying : "I kenna hold her, captain! Shes libel to Fly apart ANY SECOND!!!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING N'at, yinz guys.

Probably made up of "scrith" fibers, but it may be unstable...

[as363]

Perhaps one of "Hammers Slammers" might do the trick - the 270 tonne version - at least it might budge her a bit - before she retaliated by picking it up and tossing it a mile or so !

"Hammers Slammers copywrite by David Drake"

[Shademaker]

Don't get tricksters mad. Their gentle nudging is like cracking eggs with a crowbar.

<my 2 cents worth into the pun jar.>

[Dave]

I'm kind of lost here. Is Nudge actually mad and giving up on her mission? Usually you can tell by her expression that she is goading someone on, as when she talked to Bia. Not so here. And her last statement in the first frame is confusing. Especially because of the inclusion of the last two words.

I think she's using the same sort of sardonic reverse-psychology approach we've seen her use at least twice before (with Phix and with Monica). It's sort of a "OK, you want to avoid the situation by saying that you're (something or other)? OK, I'll play along, and agree that you are incredibly (something or other) - I'll be so insistent about it that you protest and argue that you're really not (something or other) and have to admit to yourself that you can change the situation."

With Phix, the (something or other) was "I'm a sphinx" (and sphinxes do things violently). Nudge revved this up by emphasizing all of the worst attributes (or stereotypes) of sphinxes... saying "Yes, I realize you're a sphinx... a monstrous, callous, heartless, manipulative, superior-acting killing bitch-machine with no heart", and forcing Phix to compare her own behavior with that of Bia (whom Phix had just punched out for behaving in just this fashion).

That lesson seems to have "taken" on Phix, to some extent at least... Phix dropped her anger "on a dime" and saved Nudge from a nasty smelching.

With Monica, the (something or other) was "I'm mortal, short-lived, and essentially powerless" (and thus justified in withdrawing from Phix, Shelly, and the whole paranormal world). Nudge "bought" this, by agreeing that Monica was just too short-lived to matter at all, and said she'd tell Phix that Monica had died and should simply be forgotten.

That lesson didn't quite "take". Although Monica has been forced to admit to her own nature as a Jaguar Girl (and thus essentially immortal and invulnerable) she apparently hasn't been willing to reconsider her "stay away" relationship with Phix.

So, it looks as if Nudge is back to apply another dose of "OK, I'll buy your story... see how you like being treated as if it's true" psychology.

Oh, heck, if you want to play helpless and irresponsible and inconsequential, why should I bother to treat you any differently? It's your life. You want to de-value your friends and push them away - OK, I'll de-value you. You're right... you're inconsequential... as a matter of fact, what you're doing and feeling is less important to me than my desire for a light snack. Who you are, and what you can do, doesn't really matter, does it? Your only real value comes from how people react to the size of your boobs, and the only reason I'm asking you to join me is to take advantage of that. Your company has precisely the worth of one free beer.

Ouch. That's gotta sting like hell to Monica, a woman who does seem justifiably proud of who she is and what she has accomplished, and who is also very tired of years of dealing with people reacting to her solely on the basis of the grandeur of her rack. But, if she gets her dander up and protests against Nudge's implications and demands respect, she'll be undermining her own rationale for "playing helpless"... and I suspect that this is Nudge's goal.

"I get people to look at things differently, In ways they might not want to. I help them determine why they're doing something, and some don't like the answers that they find."

Yes indeedy.

'sa good thing Nudge is female. I don't think a male (human or otherwise) could have used that sort of snarky line on Monica without really severe repercussions (as in "bodily damage").

[Opus the Poet]

Most Common Super Power

they missed this one!!
http://www.spinnyverse.com/2010/12/20/12202010/

Actually canon in that universe is that Greta Gravity's powers are made controllable by her ample adipose tissue, of which the gravity defying breasts are just another "asset". Also one of the reasons her breasts defy gravity is that she chooses for them to be that way as part of her control of local gravity. So Greta would not fall under that trope.

[MerchManDan]

I was pretty sure Nudge is only trying to get Mon to patch things up with Phix, but now (after Dave's deconstruction, above) I'm starting to wonder.

[donoho]

My experience has been that boobs can help you get free drinks...but not usually in an establishment that also serves cannolis.

I don't see why not. I'd buy a cute gal a beer and a cannoli as soon as I would a beer. But, I can't actually recall that I've been in an establishment that served both...

New York Italian Deli w a counter. Beer, cannoli, meat, cheese, pie. The list goes on.

[Boxilar]

I was pretty sure Nudge is only trying to get Mon to patch things up with Phix, but now (after Dave's deconstruction, above) I'm starting to wonder.

I'm not exactly sure what Nudge is trying to accomplish, beyond getting a reaction out of M.

I am sure that Nudge is playing a dangerous game. Monica has already shown that her "new" self can be dangerous when provoked.

Maybe that's Nudge's game. Shelly was overly concerned with regard to the danger she posed to those around her, at least in the view of Nudge, Phix and Bia.

I think maybe Monica has the opposite problem. She doesn't know, or refuses to see, how lethal she could be to the normals around her.

Nudge is in the process of correcting that.

[starkruzr]

Side note: what ethnicity is Nudge in human form? I feel like she looks mixed Black/Caucasian but I could also be totally misjudging.

[Jabberwonky]

My experience has been that boobs can help you get free drinks...but not usually in an establishment that also serves cannolis.

I don't see why not. I'd buy a cute gal a beer and a cannoli as soon as I would a beer. But, I can't actually recall that I've been in an establishment that served both...

New York Italian Deli w a counter. Beer, cannoli, meat, cheese, pie. The list goes on.

In San Antonio, we have Shilo's on Commerce. But it's a German deli, no cannolis. I'll have to go to Austin and check Katz's for cannoli and beer...

[Jabberwonky]

I'm kind of lost here. Is Nudge actually mad and giving up on her mission? Usually you can tell by her expression that she is goading someone on, as when she talked to Bia. Not so here. And her last statement in the first frame is confusing. Especially because of the inclusion of the last two words.

I think she's using the same sort of sardonic reverse-psychology approach we've seen her use at least twice before (with Phix and with Monica). It's sort of a "OK, you want to avoid the situation by saying that you're (something or other)? OK, I'll play along, and agree that you are incredibly (something or other) - I'll be so insistent about it that you protest and argue that you're really not (something or other) and have to admit to yourself that you can change the situation."

With Phix, the (something or other) was "I'm a sphinx" (and sphinxes do things violently). Nudge revved this up by emphasizing all of the worst attributes (or stereotypes) of sphinxes... saying "Yes, I realize you're a sphinx... a monstrous, callous, heartless, manipulative, superior-acting killing bitch-machine with no heart", and forcing Phix to compare her own behavior with that of Bia (whom Phix had just punched out for behaving in just this fashion).

That lesson seems to have "taken" on Phix, to some extent at least... Phix dropped her anger "on a dime" and saved Nudge from a nasty smelching.

With Monica, the (something or other) was "I'm mortal, short-lived, and essentially powerless" (and thus justified in withdrawing from Phix, Shelly, and the whole paranormal world). Nudge "bought" this, by agreeing that Monica was just too short-lived to matter at all, and said she'd tell Phix that Monica had died and should simply be forgotten.

That lesson didn't quite "take". Although Monica has been forced to admit to her own nature as a Jaguar Girl (and thus essentially immortal and invulnerable) she apparently hasn't been willing to reconsider her "stay away" relationship with Phix.

So, it looks as if Nudge is back to apply another dose of "OK, I'll buy your story... see how you like being treated as if it's true" psychology.

Oh, heck, if you want to play helpless and irresponsible and inconsequential, why should I bother to treat you any differently? It's your life. You want to de-value your friends and push them away - OK, I'll de-value you. You're right... you're inconsequential... as a matter of fact, what you're doing and feeling is less important to me than my desire for a light snack. Who you are, and what you can do, doesn't really matter, does it? Your only real value comes from how people react to the size of your boobs, and the only reason I'm asking you to join me is to take advantage of that. Your company has precisely the worth of one free beer.

Ouch. That's gotta sting like hell to Monica, a woman who does seem justifiably proud of who she is and what she has accomplished, and who is also very tired of years of dealing with people reacting to her solely on the basis of the grandeur of her rack. But, if she gets her dander up and protests against Nudge's implications and demands respect, she'll be undermining her own rationale for "playing helpless"... and I suspect that this is Nudge's goal.

"I get people to look at things differently, In ways they might not want to. I help them determine why they're doing something, and some don't like the answers that they find."

Yes indeedy.

'sa good thing Nudge is female. I don't think a male (human or otherwise) could have used that sort of snarky line on Monica without really severe repercussions (as in "bodily damage").

Very nice breakdown on Nudge's actions, but you said 'smelch' and that's what's sticking to me...

[NOTDilbert]

Jabberwonky has thus declaimed: In San Antonio, we have Shilo's on Commerce. But it's a German deli, no cannolis. I'll have to go to Austin and check Katz's for cannoli and beer...

Head up towards New Braunfelds and scout around for German delis and bakeries. Westphalia, Zobzikville, Lott, all of those little German colonies have great beer, great meats, and great bakeries, - often all-in-one. (Went to college in Belton and College Station).

[Dave]

Very nice breakdown on Nudge's actions, but you said 'smelch' and that's what's sticking to me...

You can thank Keith Laumer for that one... it was the name he gave to one particular alien character (massive, heavily muscled, none too bright, but a pretty nice guy) in one of the Retief stories. If I recall correctly, it means "the sound of a large and rather overripe melon being dropped several stories onto a hot concrete sidewalk."