Wapsi Square Forum

Yup, she was set up, otherwise Euyrale would not be so perky.

Yup, but two annoyingly nagging questions still remains, Is Nudge still alive (I think she is, Phix would not be so cold about it if she was not) and does she have a connection to Tsillah (the facial markings on both of them are the same after all)?

Good for you, Monica! We have a huge laundry list of beings we want you to kill in the way most terrifying to them!


T minus 18 days.

Monica now appears to be in an "anti-Nudge" club. I think the "common ground" she spoke of may mean that they all have a beef with Nudge.

But why "breathing easier" and "thanks are in order"? Those sound a bit ominous, as far as Nudge's safety goes. If what Phix is saying is "We'll all breathe easier now that you've done the worst thing possible to Nudge... thanks for getting her our of our hair, Monica!" that would be very bad indeed for the trickster... and Monica's journey to the Dark Side will be picking up momentum.

On the other hand, if Phix is saying "We'll all breathe easier now that you've woken up and realized how dangerous you can be... thanks for coming out of denial and pulling your head out of your butt" it would be less bad, and maybe not bad at all (if somebody/something was standing ready, and trumped Nudge away before she fried).

Gaah. Still hanging on a cliff, we are.

I'm gonna go with, this was all a grand conspiracy to get Monica to own up to what she is really capable of. Phix, Tsilla and Eyrale are playing the one of us monsters thing hard here, I think to drive home that Monica is dangerous and can choose how she interacts with her world.

And the creeping fear I had that Nudge has been permanently done in is mitigated by Phix's blase attitude about Judge's apparent demise. Phix cares for Nudge.

Of course, Monica doesn't know that. She wasn't privy to Phxl's airborne rescue. For all she knows, Phix is genuinely glad Nudge is gone.

Dave wrote:On the other hand, if Phix is saying "We'll all breathe easier now that you've woken up and realized how dangerous you can be... thanks for coming out of denial and pulling your head out of your butt" it would be less bad, and maybe not bad at all (if somebody/something was standing ready, and trumped Nudge away before she fried).

This is what I'm hoping for.

But to deconstruct this further ('cause that never happens around here), since Phix says "the foreseeable future," Nudge may still be alive...sort of. Perhaps THAT is Nudge's worst fear: Not being killed by hot liquid magma, but so severely injured by it that she needs a long time to recover - or find a way to remove herself from a volcanic tomb. Sort of an "And I Must Scream" situation. *shudder* That would be horrifying.

Boxilar wrote: And the creeping fear I had that Nudge has been permanently done in is mitigated by Phix's blase attitude about Judge's apparent demise. Phix cares for Nudge.

Judge? Did a judge die? Whad I miss?

All of this seems like they're really just screwing with her...

ShadOBabe wrote:All of this seems like they're really just screwing with her...

Cue Dark Helmet: "Fooled you!"

Whee! We need to have a graduation party!

NOTDilbert wrote:

Boxilar wrote: And the creeping fear I had that Nudge has been permanently done in is mitigated by Phix's blase attitude about Judge's apparent demise. Phix cares for Nudge.

Judge? Did a judge die? Whad I miss?

Nope. Not dead. Any moment now, Phix and Tsillah and Euryale will start doing a can-can dance, while chanting "Here come da Nudge! Here come da Nudge! Order in da court, 'cause here come da Nudge!" and they'll have a good laugh-in at Monica's expense.

Actually, this reaction hints Nudge isn't really dead. In that case, she's more on common ground with Shelly and Bud than Phix. Phix is at least successful when she goes homicidal, and Euryale's attempts seemed more accidental (and lacking the whole sociopath angle).

I fucking give up. I just give up.

ShadOBabe wrote:All of this seems like they're really just screwing with her...

In all seriousness, there's more than one part of "her": "You won't let you be hurt by anything."

Something Nudge said must have struck deep into that other "her".

This is only the first stage of the operation. The Library is in Limbo, where Phix cannot be harmed and time and space do not operate as it does elsewhere; a safe place to proceed. There's a part of M that needs to be called out, recognized and....

...parsed.

sonicthunder wrote:Actually, this reaction hints Nudge isn't really dead. In that case, she's more on common ground with Shelly and Bud than Phix. Phix is at least successful when she goes homicidal, and Euryale's attempts seemed more accidental (and lacking the whole sociopath angle).

Well, Phix is only at 33% in her recent rage history. She did take down Medeia with one punch... but she was unsuccessful in slaughtering Nudge despite two direct assaults and a serious chase, and it doesn't seem likely that she damaged Bia very much (well, Bia is a Titan).

I think the common ground is "Powerful enough to do lethal damage to other, very powerful entities, and should therefore be very careful about acting on impulse."

Sorta like being a skilled martial artist, in a way. You have "equipment" that the average human does not (even if it's just training and skill and experience, rather than something paranormal) and therefore have an additional responsibility.

All of the GGs, Shelly, Phix, and Euryale are, or have been in this situation. Monica has been, I think, ever since she learned to poit, and her ability to command the GGs put her in that same situation "by proxy". Her recent leveling-up with near-immortality has simply exacerbated things...

... and she's been stoutfastly trying to ignore or deny the situation (for reasons that make a lot of psychological sense, I think). That doesn't make her dangerousness go away; it might well make it worse. That's what Shelly and Bud were trying to get through to her... and she still wasn't ready to get the point.

Now, I think she is. The banks of denial have just flooded over.

Maybe, if this was indeed a setup (looks likely), Monica has learned an important (but painful!) lesson about her own power, in time to keep her from actually becoming a murderer.

Harsh medicine, yes... but was it unnecessarily harsh and cruel? I don't think we know that yet.

NOTDilbert wrote:

Boxilar wrote: And the creeping fear I had that Nudge has been permanently done in is mitigated by Phix's blase attitude about Judge's apparent demise. Phix cares for Nudge.

Judge? Did a judge die? Whad I miss?

You missed me not double checking that my dastardly auto correct wasn't putting words in my mouth. Or on the page, at any rate.

Boxilar wrote:

NOTDilbert wrote:

Boxilar wrote: And the creeping fear I had that Nudge has been permanently done in is mitigated by Phix's blase attitude about Judge's apparent demise. Phix cares for Nudge.

Judge? Did a judge die? Whad I miss?

You missed me not double checking that my dastardly auto correct wasn't putting words in my mouth. Or on the page, at any rate.

Yeah, more proof I'm not ready for a machine to guess what I'm thinking.

Boxilar wrote:I'm gonna go with, this was all a grand conspiracy to get Monica to own up to what she is really capable of. Phix, Tsilla and Eyrale are playing the one of us monsters thing hard here, I think to drive home that Monica is dangerous and can choose how she interacts with her world.

And the creeping fear I had that Nudge has been permanently done in is mitigated by Phix's blase attitude about Judge's apparent demise. Phix cares for Nudge.

Of course, Monica doesn't know that. She wasn't privy to Phxl's airborne rescue. For all she knows, Phix is genuinely glad Nudge is gone.

Reading sown the posts in order, so i don't know if this has been proposed:

Was that even Nudge ... or one of Tsillah's "shadows"?

And, looking at Tsillah in this page really makes me wonder if that "Tina-under-the-mistletoe" page was (you'll pardon me, this is not a pun) foreshadowing? I mean we talked about how the shadow didn't seem to match Tina, and how it almost appeared to have eyes...

====================

EDIT: Can't believe i typed "Nudge" - twice - when i meant "Tina".

ShadOBabe wrote:All of this seems like they're really just screwing with her...

It's more than that. All of them, especially Phix, are trying to drive home that beings of great power screw up. Eyrale accidentally freezes people. Phix gets pushed past her breaking point and lashes out. They all have lethal potential, bit it doesn't make them care any less or keep them from regretting the things they've done.

Monica apparently had decided on some level that All Phix was was a souless monster. And that probably has a lot to do with her denial. Phix is a souless monster because she's powerful if Monica is powerful, she must be a souless monster too. The ladies are doing some cognitive realignment.