Still At It 2013-08-07

[TheDOCTOR]

Yay, Monicas back ...... and Monicas Front. Lookin' good girl. I still like Shelly with her long hair best, but Good to see Shelly again. Looks like we're getting the Band back together.

[zachariah]

You don't have cats, do You? Or have ever been in a run-down German Safari park where the lions ate..i dunno what.. but they farted.. Bád. I even believe they did it on purpose as revenge for their food, or something, given the smug looks they gave us .

PS every critter, especially mammals, farts. Though, admittedly, cows and horses (and probably hippo's : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyR8fs4SVAM )are the ultimate masters.[/quote]

I've had cats for years. My wife loves dogs. Only the dogs have passed gas. If yours do then I would check out the cat food you are feeding them. Too much soy byproduct or yeast extract I would expect. I spend a bit more on what I get but it's worth it. Cats are carnivorous and don't eat veggies. Its when they do that gas becomes a problem. Though I did have one cat who loved PB&J. Had to keep a sharp eye out when the kids were eating as he wasn't above stealing it from them or begging for it. lol. You try and explain to a crying 4 year old why the cat took his lunch.

[My2Cents]

When an immortal is worried about turning 31 it helps to have an 80,000 year old best friend to put things in perspective.

At least Monica will have an easier time staying in society than Shelley (or Brandi and Bud). She still ages normally, so she can get old and crotchety, stage a disappearance/suicide and reappear as a 29 year old. All without ever have to use a disguise. Some new paperwork, a couple years in grad school to (re)establish her background and a thesis, and she is back in business if she wants.

Or, more likely, on to some other line of activity. Monica doesn’t strike me as someone who does ‘bored’ for long.

[Julie]

.

So ....... the story has just had a two year time jump?

Monica 'died' just before Katherine & Atsali's Excellent Adventure began, which suggests that if she has just turned 31 there has been at least^ a two year gap?


^ Assuming Monica hasn't died again since then.

Not at all. The reset point for Monica was determined when Shelly stabbed Monica in the brain when they took out the calendar. That happened when Monica was 29. The phoenix blood on the blade was the catalyst for the change. Only recently has Monica come to realize and accept it during the hangover recovery scenes. Though I still have trouble believing that Monica died from a hangover, alcohol poisoning maybe, but not from the hangover. So there is no missing two year gap.

Ummm...actually...I think the confusion is because Monica had a "reset to 29" moment when Phix de-faced her. If she resets to age 29, then I think Grantwhy's question is more of how did she "just turn 31"...unless she's not counting the 2 or 3 resets she's experienced, she'd only be 29 right now (physically speaking). My theory is that she's not counting the "unnatural" deaths when thinking of her current age because she hasn't aged enough (yet) for her to think that the resets are worth noticing. If she were to die sometime after 40 or maybe 50...well then the difference in her physical age would be significantly more noticeable...and then again, she may just chose to keep tab on her "actual" age moving forward...how old is she based on how many years she has experienced, not how old her body is.

Fun times...age is going to be a little mind-numbing to consider from now on.

When an immortal is worried about turning 31 it helps to have an 80,000 year old best friend to put things in perspective.

At least Monica will have an easier time staying in society than Shelley (or Brandi and Bud). She still ages normally, so she can get old and crotchety, stage a disappearance/suicide and reappear as a 29 year old. All without ever have to use a disguise. Some new paperwork, a couple years in grad school to (re)establish her background and a thesis, and she is back in business if she wants.

Or, more likely, on to some other line of activity. Monica doesn’t strike me as someone who does ‘bored’ for long.

The only hiccup in her plans to stay involved in society is the "accidental death" problem. If she gets into a fatal car collision, it will be a little harder to "disappear and reappear as a new 29 yr old". I guess that's what the MiB are for though...

[kingklash]

Is it time for another Billboard Rescue?

[Dave]

Doesn't take much to get her fangs growing, does it?

Nose markings, too. The Jaguar Girl clearly isn't too far beneath the surface. Monica and Shelly have this in common now... they seem to be "paranormal, skinned as a human" as much as they are "human with a paranormal side." Phix may have more than one pupil for her "how to keep cool and avoid morphing" mentoring sessions.

It could get really bad, if they start discussing some of the other women in the Wapsiverse. "Catty" conversations among girlfriends can be bad enough when pure humans involved, and these two can now take it to a whole other level. Out of the trope-pan and into the cliche-fire!

[pinglederry]

Man, this makes what, four (paranormal) big cats in the group now? I'd love to see what it would look like if they all decided to "let loose" and goof around together.

Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time we've seen Brandi (or Bud, but not Jun I assume since she's human now) assume their animal forms. I wonder if they can still do it.

[GuySmiley]

No one went the snarky, "Oh! Hey! New characters!" route, hm?

Actually, this is the first time I've seen them "live" in the comic since I started reading Wapsi Square. So yay! New characters.

[Dave]

No one went the snarky, "Oh! Hey! New characters!" route, hm?

Don't tempt Pablo.

[Boxilar]

.

So ....... the story has just had a two year time jump?

Monica 'died' just before Katherine & Atsali's Excellent Adventure began, which suggests that if she has just turned 31 there has been at least^ a two year gap?


^ Assuming Monica hasn't died again since then.

Not at all. The reset point for Monica was determined when Shelly stabbed Monica in the brain when they took out the calendar. That happened when Monica was 29. The phoenix blood on the blade was the catalyst for the change. Only recently has Monica come to realize and accept it during the hangover recovery scenes. Though I still have trouble believing that Monica died from a hangover, alcohol poisoning maybe, but not from the hangover. So there is no missing two year gap.

One of the things I like about Wapsi is that it isn't mired in "webcomic time". Of course story arcs can take weeks of even months to resolve. (Katherine and Atsali"s Excellent Adventure being one of the longer continuous stories in the series.)

But after an Arc is resolved, there's usaully a subltle, and sometimes not so subltle, hint that we've skipped ahead to catch back up to real world time. Strips about the change in seasons in Wapsi that coincide wth real world weather changes. Monica having a cute Pixie haircut and than when she appears a week later, her hair is waist length. She didn't grow two feet of hair overnight. And anytime you get a series of pinups after a big story arc is complete, it's a sign that the comic is fast forwarding to catch up to real time.

We see select moments of the characters lives. Most of them are things that are important to the overall story, or are moments that tell us something about the characters that we need to know. There are also a lot of things we don't see, since, presumably, M and company go on about thier lives, working, going out for drinks, and generally doing stuff they enjoy that has no real impact on the story. We don't see as many slice of life moments with Bud, Brandi and Gin because they've settled into relitavely comfortable lives. There may be bumps in the road, but those three have mostly adapted to a "normal" exsistance in the modern world, thanks to Monica.

Stating the obvious that others have already stated, today's strip show's a quiet moment between old friends (one of them is really old) that is important because it shows Monica has finally accepted who and what she is.

[shadowinthelight]

Man, this makes what, four (paranormal) big cats in the group now? I'd love to see what it would look like if they all decided to "let loose" and goof around together.

I'm suddenly imagining them in a circle in That 70s Show style but with catnip instead.

[ChattaStarhawk]

Doesn't take much to get her fangs growing, does it?

Nose markings, too. The Jaguar Girl clearly isn't too far beneath the surface. Monica and Shelly have this in common now... they seem to be "paranormal, skinned as a human" as much as they are "human with a paranormal side." Phix may have more than one pupil for her "how to keep cool and avoid morphing" mentoring sessions.

It could get really bad, if they start discussing some of the other women in the Wapsiverse. "Catty" conversations among girlfriends can be bad enough when pure humans involved, and these two can now take it to a whole other level. Out of the trope-pan and into the cliche-fire!

And a little bit of shadowing around the eyes as well. I also note that the ladies are wearing the classic LBD (Little Black Dress). Night on the town, perhaps?

[Dr. Otter]

No one went the snarky, "Oh! Hey! New characters!" route, hm?

I was a little worried Pablo had forgotten how to draw these two.

And a little bit of shadowing around the eyes as well.

Two women, two eyes each. Is Pablo engaging in a bit of four-shadowing? <Ching-ching!>

[Timotheus]

When do you think we can get the Ghost Adventures team to do a lock down at the museum. Monica and Katherine can be their liaisons and Phix can be the local researcher.

I'd love to see all the glowing eyes under black out conditions.

[zachariah]

When do you think we can get the Ghost Adventures team to do a lock down at the museum. Monica and Katherine can be their liaisons and Phix and be the local researcher.

I'd love to see all the glowing eyes under black out conditions.

Not gonna happen. lol. MIB will pull some strings and stop the idea at the begining. Monica is on their list of leave alone but MIB does not want a team looking into a place where the real thing hangs out. Not ghosts but all sorts of other paranormal beings that tend to hang out around Monica. Though the comedy factor of the antics of Monica and Kathy to keep the team from seeing what they should not would be funny in a 70's sitcom kinda way.

[NOTDilbert]

What? Nobody's gonna mention the Epic Farts of Lactose Intolerant Beta's?

[Julie]

Doesn't take much to get her fangs growing, does it?

Nose markings, too. The Jaguar Girl clearly isn't too far beneath the surface. Monica and Shelly have this in common now... they seem to be "paranormal, skinned as a human" as much as they are "human with a paranormal side." Phix may have more than one pupil for her "how to keep cool and avoid morphing" mentoring sessions.

It could get really bad, if they start discussing some of the other women in the Wapsiverse. "Catty" conversations among girlfriends can be bad enough when pure humans involved, and these two can now take it to a whole other level. Out of the trope-pan and into the cliche-fire!

Oh dear...that's a good point...makes you wonder if M will end up losing control of her "human" self with Kevin if the Jaguar is that close to the surface (I'm sure someone else has already pondered this, but I never really thought it would be that likely a possibility until these pages that show how quickly M could slip into her new persona).

[bmonk]

Oh, wait... *remembers trip to safari park, where rather flatulent lions clambered úp the truck/cage thing we sat in*

Dude.

Don't worry. Probably lion about it. Cats don't eat anything that could cause gas.

I think there's a reason that dogs sniff each other's butts--but not cats. They just present it to you for your approval.