Land Sakes 2012-12-03

[jwhouk]

Of course, all of us who have been reading Wapsi for any significant length of time know what's next.

Scene change to Shelly and Justin on a date!

[Jabberwonky]

the cannon of Wapsi

I hereby propose this as Monica's new nickname.

She is sporting some big guns...

In other words, her worst fear is getting stuck doing the family business, which may happen to take place in a hellish environment. We saw her dropped in her dad's hot tub. And is even now being subjected to slide shows of what her cousins are doing and who/what they are married to ("And are you seeing anyone special, Dear?")

Good Lord! (choke) I'll take the lava pit...

[lake_wrangler]

Give Phix's question mark I doubt the boiling lava was Nudges worst fear, and so does Phix. I suspect Nudges worst fear is being ignored. Thee is a lot of demanding of attention in what Nudge does. It can be dangerous attention but still attention. Makes you wonder of Nudge is ever off stage, even when in hiding. Bets that Nudge slipped that fear to the front so Monica could act on it.

I read that question mark differently. I see it more as Phix asking "You made her face her worse fear? Then in that case..." I.e. confirming what was said, with her question, then basing the logic of the next statement on the confirmation. Monica did act on Nudge's worst fear.

"I think we'll all be breathing easier for the foreseeable future."
Nudge has been a pain in the rear to many people/supers until now... So either Nudge is indeed dead, and there will be peace until something else comes along to bother them, or she is not dead, and will either take a while to manage to return, or will be more quiet once she does, having been "put in her place" by Monica, and either sulk or (gasp!) reform (even if only partially), so that the rest of the crew will still have it easier for a while, until Nudge gets back in the swing of things.

"While thanks are in order"
Nudge has been a pain in the rear for a while, and Monica just "solved" that problem (whether temporarily or not remains to be seen).

"I believe, more importantly, you stand on common ground with us all, now." Either in the camp of "We're all relieved to not have Nudge around (you'll come around, once you get past your own guilt)", or "You're as bad/dangerous a monster as any of us".

Interesting, to say the least. And while some things are being resolved, much is still up in the air (like whether Nudge is dead or not, and how Monica will react to the way they are treating her right now.)

And yes, it does sound like they're proud of her. (Our little Monica... they grow up so quickly...)

[chibichibi01]

Of course, all of us who have been reading Wapsi for any significant length of time know what's next.

Scene change to Shelly and Justin on a date!

No, no. See.... that happens next monday after we're left hanging on Friday with Phix or someone saying that M finally got rid of a huge pain in the ass, permanently. "Now she won't be able to hurt anyone again." And then M poiting away to hide in the fetal position in her bedroom.

THEN we have the date.

[TheDOCTOR]

Today's strip helped to gel a nagging question I have had for a while about Monica and her ever-growing list of special abilities.

Just how many of them are actually innate powers and how many have been given to her... let me see.

1) Being born with Irish + Mexican heritage resulting in her unique physique = so far per the cannon of Wapsi this has not had any outside influence and thus we can still keep that in the random (out of her control) column. (However Jin may have had some hand in it)
2) Learning to read The Glyphs (i.e. The Glyph Reader) = That was done to her by intervention by an outside supernatural source with their own motives so that was done to her.
3) The "Poit / Doorway" Ability = This appears to be her base ability however it appears to only have come to the surface through some special circumstances.
4) The "Phoenix" regenerative Ability = This has been the direct result of using the key / knife on her head essentially locking her "Doorway" ability in feedback.

So it appears to me that Monica is mostly the product of outside intervention.
She has been manipulated to this point in the story.

The key just unlocked the regeneration powers and fixed them to that point when it was stuck in her head. Otherwise she'd return to being a baby.
That's what I gathered anyway.

The way Monicas going on in the first panel looks as thought shes really torn up insideand she'll be seeking solace and comfort from Kevin.
Speaking of, whats Monica going to do to, and with him with these new powers of hers? Really put a smile on his face. Probably be like 'nailing' SuperGirl.

[Wdot]

Of course, all of us who have been reading Wapsi for any significant length of time know what's next.

Scene change to Shelly and Justin on a date!

Aaarrrrrrrrgggggh. You could just have started a self fulfilling prophecy!!!! I picture Paul hard at work on tomorrows page. He wonders what his fans are thinking about his latest page. He reads down to your comment and thinks to himself, "hmm, jwhouk, there has a good idea. I wasn't planning a scene change, but I think I'll do it now." Paul : Wapsi fans:

Nimrod has something there. Monica has been created as surely as the GGG's were created and for the same reason: as a weapon. (She and Shelly can get together and bitch about being set up.) The calender machine arc, which was very cool, is kinda like The Hobbit in relation to The Lord of the Rings. We thought that the story was about getting the gold from Smaug. In reality it was introducing The One Ring. Getting rid of the Calendar Machine was important, but getting the spike in Monica's head was more important. The more I read Wapsi, the more impressed I get.

"... you stand on common ground with us all now." Means?
a.) You've wanted to kill Nudge.
b.) You've been tricked by Nudge.
c.) You've been helped by Nudge.
d.) You've been helped by being tricked by Nudge.
e.) You've tried to kill Nudge.
f.) You're a 'Monster' Monica. Said in the giant's voice from the first Harry Potter movie.
g.) All of the above.
h.) None of the above.

[eee]

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.

Yeah, I get that.
But I mean, right at this very moment they all just seem to be screwing with her. There's a reason behind it, but the somewhat smug smiles and bits of praise they're giving her all while she's still in horror over the idea that she's a murderer (as far as she knows, anyway)... and the fact that all the "compliments" really sound like BAD things. She's a "cobra" a "sociopath"... They're driving home the point that she's not really any different from them, but in a very twisted kind of way.

Yeah, they're totally trolling her.

"... You stand on common ground with us all now."
"That's right sugah!! Welcome to the "monster" club!!"

To be honest, though... What would they do if this backfires?
I know it probably won't, but seriously!! It's entirely probable that a person in this situation would just simply break, panic, and in her case, poit away. Like all the way to Mexico and just hide curled up in a fetal position. I'm glad Monica is getting her long overdue piece of humble pie, but if I was in the same boat, my flight instincts would have kicked in and I'd be getting the hell out of there so I can break down in peace.

Flight... or fight. I agree, Monica is in an extremely vulnerable state right now - on the floor, believing herself to be a killer, racked by guilt and horror - and the others are praising what she did. I can see her running away again, unable to deal with all this. Or I can see her thinking "I am a soulless, murdering monster. Phix says I'm a member of the club. So all paranormal beings are soulless, murdering monsters. None of us deserve to live. I've got two incredibly powerful golems, I've got one master planner golem, I've got all these powers: I'm going to start wiping out the other members of this club."

That would be AWFULLY dark, I admit. And I doubt we go there. Instead I'm going to trust Phix, Euryale, and Tsillah. And Nudge. These are beings with thousands of years - in Phix's case, tens of thousands of years - dealing with humans, and who all seem to really care for Monica. I suspect this is all some sort of plan of Nudge's to help, and once we and Monica find out what's going on, things will be better.

I hope, anyway.

[Atomic]

Having taken the day to think about this, and read the comments of others, I think I can see where this is going, and why.

First - an aside. In the Air Force, among those who drive bomb loaders and forklifts, it is the height of noobish clue hammers to assign the new guy a chance to drive one of those machines, but only after it has been set up -- parked smack up against an empty crate next to the wall. Noob gets in, turns the wheel, and discovers that since they steer from the REAR, he's crushed the crate! Oh Noes!!! It's an education and a character test; a lesson not to be forgotten.

One of the ways people make their lives difficult is by denying what is in favor for trying to deal with things as they wish they should be. Yes, we grow by moving toward our goals, but we need a path to get there, so we must face facts and our limits. Nudge, Phix, Euryale, and Tsillah conspired to throw Monica in the swimming pool and see how she swims!

Between the knife in the head, opening access to her skills (beyond poiting), and the subesquent ascendency of Phoenix Blood and Jaguar Whatever, Monica is now the proverbial monkey with a machine gun. She must now face those facts, and learn how to handle the gun, if for no other reason that she will be able to avoid hurting others with/because of it.

Phix is teaching Shelly how to be a sphinx. Monica has started taking Jaguar 101. Maybe they can commute together!

And that's the common ground where they all stand -- amazing powers as part of their being.

[Yamara]

Give Phix's question mark I doubt the boiling lava was Nudges worst fear, and so does Phix. (snip)

Being indefinitely stuck in searing hell should be near the top of anyone’s list.

Phix acts like she wishes she thought of it.

Actually, she did: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/via-a-riddle/

For all Monica knows, this is what Phix really wants for Nudge.

Flight... or fight. I agree, Monica is in an extremely vulnerable state right now - on the floor, believing herself to be a killer, racked by guilt and horror - and the others are praising what she did. I can see her running away again, unable to deal with all this...

That would be AWFULLY dark, I admit. And I doubt we go there. Instead I'm going to trust Phix, Euryale, and Tsillah. And Nudge. These are beings with thousands of years...

But flight to where? If you're a monstrous murderer, that's not something you can share with your boyfriend. Just ask Brandi, you can never escape yourself.

And as for dark, that seems to be fully installed. The Wapsi-doo Gang is trying to circumvent its damage before it's unleashed.

Someone must be enjoying the cruel irony of putting a Trojan Horse inside a beautiful woman.

[Mark N]

I see this trolling as a way to get Monica to stand up and fight the concept that she seems to currently have, that she is a monstrous soulless sociopath. The concept is break a person down to build them back up again, this time with the proper safeguards in place. That is when Nudge comes out from behind the curtain, maybe with Toto. (I hope )

[chibichibi01]

I see this trolling as a way to get Monica to stand up and fight the concept that she seems to currently have, that she is a monstrous soulless sociopath. The concept is break a person down to build them back up again, this time with the proper safeguards in place. That is when Nudge comes out from behind the curtain, maybe with Toto. (I hope )

She'll rebel against their observations.

"No! No, I'm not a sociopath! I'm not a monster."

"Then neither are we, are we Pumpkin?"

[Mark N]

I see this trolling as a way to get Monica to stand up and fight the concept that she seems to currently have, that she is a monstrous soulless sociopath. The concept is break a person down to build them back up again, this time with the proper safeguards in place. That is when Nudge comes out from behind the curtain, maybe with Toto. (I hope )

She'll rebel against their observations.

"No! No, I'm not a sociopath! I'm not a monster."

"Then neither are we, are we Pumpkin?"

Yup. that is my thought exactly.

[chibichibi01]

I see this trolling as a way to get Monica to stand up and fight the concept that she seems to currently have, that she is a monstrous soulless sociopath. The concept is break a person down to build them back up again, this time with the proper safeguards in place. That is when Nudge comes out from behind the curtain, maybe with Toto. (I hope )

She'll rebel against their observations.

"No! No, I'm not a sociopath! I'm not a monster."

"Then neither are we, are we Pumpkin?"

Yup. that is my thought exactly.

Ahh... Culture shock. Gotta love it.

[Nimrod]

Today's strip helped to gel a nagging question I have had for a while about Monica and her ever-growing list of special abilities.

Just how many of them are actually innate powers and how many have been given to her... let me see.

1) Being born with Irish + Mexican heritage resulting in her unique physique = so far per the cannon of Wapsi this has not had any outside influence and thus we can still keep that in the random (out of her control) column. (However Jin may have had some hand in it)
2) Learning to read The Glyphs (i.e. The Glyph Reader) = That was done to her by intervention by an outside supernatural source with their own motives so that was done to her.
3) The "Poit / Doorway" Ability = This appears to be her base ability however it appears to only have come to the surface through some special circumstances.
4) The "Phoenix" regenerative Ability = This has been the direct result of using the key / knife on her head essentially locking her "Doorway" ability in feedback.

So it appears to me that Monica is mostly the product of outside intervention.
She has been manipulated to this point in the story.

The key just unlocked the regeneration powers and fixed them to that point when it was stuck in her head. Otherwise she'd return to being a baby.

That's what I gathered anyway.

Well from the previous forum there had been an extensive discussion about her "dodging" the bullets and within that conversation the actual nature of Monica's doorway ability was reviewed. From that talk the consensus was that she instinctively was protecting herself by slipping into "Doorway Mode" which is simply the inverse of her "Poit Ability".

Thus instead of moving objects (herself, her bra, her friends) through space she was moving space through her - acting as an actual door. However in order to get back to being a solid person you need to materialize back - just like the second half of her normal Poit Ability.

The "key" in her head effectively jambs the door "stuck" at that point of materialization back from being a door. Luckily it is stuck closed. The key did not create or activate a new power it simply stuck Monica in a perpetual feedback loop as the second half of her baseline Poit Ability.

Therefore, what appears to be a "Phoenix-like" ability is actually her automatic reconstituting Poit Ability stuck at the re-materialization point of a returning Poit. It does not look like an actual Poit because she is only doing the second half and it is coming back from being in "Doorway Mode" not returning from some other location.

It actually makes more sense that it would be a modification to her basic ability and not a totally new power.

In fact her "Doorway Mode" is effectively broken and only her "Poit Ability" remains - in other words, she actually lost an ability only to gain a damaged version of it.

Thus Monica's "Phoenix Ability" = broken/locked "Doorway Mode" and "Doorway Mode" = inverse of "Poit Ability" thus "Phoenix Ability" = the broken or locked inverse of her Poit.
That's what I gathered anyway.

[Prester Fred]

I very much doubt Monica would flee to Kevin's arms right now; her number one fear would be that she'd do something horrible to him in an unguarded moment.

As for Nudge, the majority opinion seems to be that she's either dead and gone forever, or not dead and will be back as soon as she can manage. Personally, I suspect she is dead and gone, and will be back as soon as she can manage. She wouldn't be the first legendary trickster to pull that one off (plus, if Monica really did kill her, it wouldn't dilute the lesson to have her show up again).

[meisdadoo]

"... you stand on common ground with us all now." Means?

All it means is " one of us, one of us, gooble gobble, one of us, one of us"


(I can't believe no one else thought of that!--does the pun jar take paypal?)

[Dave]

Well from the previous forum there had been a extensive discussion about her "dodging" the bullets and within that conversation the actual nature of Monica's doorway ability was reviewed. From that talk the consensus was that she instinctively was protecting herself by slipping into "Doorway Mode" which is simply the inverse of her "Poit Ability".

I've read you say this before, Nimrod. All I can say is that I do not remember any such consensus in the comments section (and I'd read it through all the way a couple of times before it was taken off-line).

And, what you suggest is not what Shelly and Bud had concluded. Shelly discusses the incident with Monica here, and it's clear that Bud, Shelly, and Monica had all come to the conclusion that Monica had actually poited the bullets away just before they touched her skin, or "caused them to graze somehow".

No mention of "doorway" at all in that discussion. No hint that the bullets went "through" Monica (doorway or otherwise).

It's an interesting interpretation you have, about "doorway mode", but you are the only commenter/forumite I have ever read who seemed to hold that point of view.

[Bathorys Daughter]

I took the "breathing easier" part to mean they will breath easier now that Monica really has come to grips with her power and they no longer have to wait for the other shoe to drop; possibly on their heads. And, to me, the "thanks" part refers to Tsillah, Euryale, and Nudge for their part in making this happen. The "common ground" seems to be a reference to their all having the potential to do great damage and can become a monster without meaning to or even thinking about it. Such as Shelly to Justin and Euryale to Monica. Now, Monica to Nudge.

They still seem to still be goading her with that sociopath remark. Either that or Tsillah was referring to Nudge with that statement. It does seem to describe her more than Monica.

[Fairportfan]

Speaking of, whats Monica going to do to, and with him with these new powers of hers? Really put a smile on his face. Probably be like 'nailing' SuperGirl.

Heh. "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex".

Not the best idea.

[ShadOBabe]

Flight... or fight. I agree, Monica is in an extremely vulnerable state right now - on the floor, believing herself to be a killer, racked by guilt and horror - and the others are praising what she did. I can see her running away again, unable to deal with all this...

That would be AWFULLY dark, I admit. And I doubt we go there. Instead I'm going to trust Phix, Euryale, and Tsillah. And Nudge. These are beings with thousands of years...

But flight to where? If you're a monstrous murderer, that's not something you can share with your boyfriend. Just ask Brandi, you can never escape yourself.

That's true. But on my original post was just asking the hypothetical question of, "What would these guys do if this plan backfired and Mon freaked out and just ran (poited) away?" No she can't run or hide from herself, but she can run and hide from everyone else. And the mildly twisted way these guys are trolling her? If I was that distraught and I had the power to poit, I wouldn't stick around for it. I'd poit into the quietest, loneliest place I'd ever been, just to get away.
And she can keep poiting if they locate her. She could keep running from them for as long as she wants. And if this really broke her (as it really COULD break a real life person), she might not want to come back for a LONG time, if ever.