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Dave wrote: I think I remember Paul saying that she's the only "Shelly" who was Bia's daughter... the other Shellys were part-Comanche but had a non-Titan mother.
Actually, I believe at least one of the other Shellys had Bia as a mother. According to the dialog, Bia had tried to create a Titan-Sphinx hybrid before our Shelly, and failed. It's not clear how many times she tried, but she succeeded this time because she used the male offspring of a true sphinx to breed with. We also don't know if any of the other Shelly experiments turned into a sphinx in the Time Tree Forest. Obviously those not having Bia as a mother didn't. Maybe some did, but were probably killed by the Apos since they didn't have a Creepy Girl protector. Or maybe some who turned weren't bound by the same laws our Shelly was and spread their wings, eventually going their separate way. For that matter, we don't know who Phix bred with either. Perhaps another Titan? Tales of the Time Tree Forest would make some epic spin off graphic novels (hinty-hint-hint).
All good speculations! I did a forum-dive and found Pablo's remarks on 8/27:
Wapsi wrote:I'll help clear this up for you guys, there was a Shelly in all time loops, but they were not all from the same mother and father, although they were all a Comanche gal. =)
So, still somewhat ambiguous. Bia could have been the mother of every Shelly (with different fathers) or just Shelly-57, or of any number inbetween. There might have been another Sphinx-human-Titan hybrid Shelly (or more than one), or not. Since Phix was in the Library and not subject to the CM time looping, her interactions with humans (including mating) would not necessarily have repeated or even been at all similar from one loop to the next. Shelly-57's father may have been the first human-Sphinx hybrid available for Bia to seduce at a suitable time. Bia's remarks do imply that she may have made earlier attempts to create a descendant who could fulfill the prophesy, but we don't know that for certain. I don't think we know whether Bia was subject to the CM looping and resets like most people, remembered all the loops like Jin, or evaded them like Phix.
The two things which do seem to uniquely characterize "our" Shelly, with regard to the Time Forest experience and her maturation into a full Sphinx, seem to be the presence of Conscience as her protector, and her entry into the Forest from a point outside of the CM's influence. Connie was unprecedented, it seems... Tina seems fairly sure that this cycle was the first in which "the rats are in charge of the ship", and if this is correct then the "Shelly's demons and Tina's soul" fusion did not occur in any of the previous cycles.
Dave wrote:
The two things which do seem to uniquely characterize "our" Shelly, with regard to the Time Forest experience and her maturation into a full Sphinx, seem to be the presence of Conscience as her protector, and her entry into the Forest from a point outside of the CM's influence. Connie was unprecedented, it seems... Tina seems fairly sure that this cycle was the first in which "the rats are in charge of the ship", and if this is correct then the "Shelly's demons and Tina's soul" fusion did not occur in any of the previous cycles.
So much to wonder about!
As far as the other Shelly's not having a protector is a moot point. Our Shelly was always in the forest since she was the last in and the Forest follows the reverse of the entropy arrow. The forest goes last to first unlike our world which is first to last. So the others did not have a chance to become anything other than the cogs in the machine that they had become.
This message is brought to you by the "Let the artist know how much you LOVE his work" council.
MerchManDan wrote:Oooh, that's a letter I, not a number 1. My mistake.
Shoulda been displayed with serifs to distinguish it from a numeral, methinx.
The paper maker is the basest of all creatures. He deprives the beggar of his rags to make white sheets for editors to lie on. --early 20th century school essay, from Fresh Howlers, ed. H. Cecil Hunt (UK, 1930)
Jabberwonky wrote:Maybe we could get a Deputy Serif to police the posts...
That would be Omar Serif, known for his role in "the mysterious iLand"? Or perhaps Harry Fontaine?
Ah -- you are thinking of the beautiful ocean paradise known as San Serriffe! A glorious vacation spot if ever there was one. Make your reservations now!
Don't let other peoples limitations become your constraints!
Aleister Crow wrote:My luck? It'll be when I finally get to go camping there. The next "planet-killer" asteroid will come screaming down, hit Yellowstone dead on top of my campsite, and set the entire mess off.
The universe has been out to get me for decades. It's been subtle so far, but sooner or later it'll give that up and go for overkill.
Well you know what they say...if at first you don't succeed, use a bigger gun.
"Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful."
MerchManDan wrote:Actually, I was thinking of Sand Saref, International Woman of Mystery.
That' s who I thought of first, too. But damned if it isn't hard to find a picture of her with the Google and Bing...
Tell me about it.
But it's easier to find her than to find the splash page from "Plaster of Paris"...
Not even duct tape can fix stupid. But it can muffle the noise.
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Peace through superior firepower - ain't nothin' more peaceful than a dead troublemaker.
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mike weber
Jabberwonky wrote:Maybe we could get a Deputy Serif to police the posts...
That would be Omar Serif, known for his role in "the mysterious iLand"? Or perhaps Harry Fontaine?
Ah -- you are thinking of the beautiful ocean paradise known as San Serriffe! A glorious vacation spot if ever there was one. Make your reservations now!
I thought San Serriffe included Helveticia, which, IIRC, a mountainous land in the Alps. Also Tahoma--isn't that on the West Coast?
OTOH, Serriffe includes the New York Times, on the East Coast.
