Speak Only When Spoken To 2013-08-13

[Jabberwonky]

Tuff Luv is tough...

[Atomic]

Play hard, Learn hard.

[The Old Wolf]

Ouch, that's gotta hurt, Shelly. Seriously, though - not a good idea to talk back to someone a) who is pissed off, and b) lines her living room with skulls.

[shadowinthelight]

Did Phix just punch her granddaughter so hard she dropped out of reality into Shelly-vision?

[Dave]

Ow. Phix does seem to be taking advantage of Librarian's Immunity here!

I think being hauled into the Library by the scruff of the neck might have been less undignified for Shelly, than what just happened!

[AmriloJim]

@kingklash - Sorry, Shelly does not seem to be following Comanche sensibilities.

[Jabberwonky]

Did Phix just punch her granddaughter so hard she dropped out of reality into Shelly-vision?

We've found a way around the grid!

[meisdadoo]

When communicating with a pissed-off sphinx, it is generally advisable to just listen, look at your shoes and wait for the opportune moment to say "sorry, my bad, wont happen again"

Interrupting is never a good idea, Pulp fiction comes to mind when Samuel Jackson said

[chicgeek]

Still, I loved the 'but,grandma...' It's nice seeing that Shelly does think of Phix that way. She could have kept her distance emotionally, chose to still address her as Phix, kept it on a basis of just friendship or mentorship, or be angry and resentful at the secrecy. But, she calls her Grandma.
Now, how she would treat Bia when she inevitably sees her again? That encounter I'd need popcorn for!

[Boxilar]

Hurm. Not sure if Phix is overreacting here. We don't know the full reprecussions of what Mon and Shelly did. The girls are acting guilty, which lends credence to Phix's anger. They knew the rules and broke them, and both are more than capable of taking a little tough love. Still, I wonder if Phix isn't pushing a bit too hard here. She's been a bit peckish as of late.

There's also a wierd dynamic, chain of command wise. Bud, Brandi and Jin established the MiB. Phix, Tsilla and presumably other immortals nominally work for the MiB and the GGGs. Monica controls the Golem Girls as thier keeper, yet has been kept mostly in the dark about the activities of the MiB to allow her to cordinate the fixing of the Calander Machine problem. I wonder if we're about to see a situation where the nominal "boss" of the MiB ends up working down in the trenches with the troops.

[Timotheus]

As just a guess on my part, I'd say the MIB has a rather open command structure allowing for the most appropriate senior member to handle discipline and operational decisions as they occur. In this case since Monica has command authority over the Golem girls it falls to Phix as the most appropriate in the know senior representative to handle things. And she's REALLY not happy about having to lower the boom on her own (as she sees them) offspring. So they're getting the full mad boss/disappointed mother act. Let us just hope Bria DOESN'T step in.

[zachariah]

As I said yesterday I learned young not to tick off Grandma. But Phix's harsh reactions and cutting off their words may be something else. Maybe to keep the girls from talking themselves into even more trouble? It is almost like Phix knows the scene is being watched and the girls reactions evaluated. If that is so then Phix is trying to keep the girls out of more trouble by being so tough.
It could be the immortal politician who are watching. If they have as much influence in the world as they should have then they would not want other immortals messing up their little playground. Causing a lot of problems like they did it is possible they are considering kicking the girls off the planet. There have been hints and thing said to indicate there are higher powers and games going on beyond the calendar or Monica and Shelly. Such as when Tepoz was visited by one of them, and Jin always kept them happy, rather than thumping them, so they wouldn't interfere.

[My2Cents]

Still, I loved the 'but,grandma...' It's nice seeing that Shelly does think of Phix that way. She could have kept her distance emotionally, chose to still address her as Phix, kept it on a basis of just friendship or mentorship, or be angry and resentful at the secrecy. But, she calls her Grandma.
Now, how she would treat Bia when she inevitably sees her again? That encounter I'd need popcorn for!

The nastiest thing Shelly can do to Bia is to always treat her as a stranger when whe has to deal with her and ignore her otherwise. Shelly should make a point of always refer to Bia only by name, while always referring to Phix as grandmother at least once each time she is in Bia's presence.

The Greek gods were a pretty dysfunctional bunch, Bia would enjoy a screaming insult match. Don’t give her any traction to get started, and walk away when she tries to start one.

[shadowinthelight]

I wouldn't say Phix is overreacting considering how brutal sphinx culture can get. Yes, she knocked Shelly (who can take it) into the next dimension but she restrained herself with Monica.

[My2Cents]

As I said yesterday I learned young not to tick off Grandma. But Phix's harsh reactions and cutting off their words may be something else. Maybe to keep the girls from talking themselves into even more trouble? It is almost like Phix knows the scene is being watched and the girls reactions evaluated. If that is so then Phix is trying to keep the girls out of more trouble by being so tough.

Phix cuts them off because this is NOT A DISCUSSION. Phix is laying down the law and the only time they are permitted to say anything is at the end when Phix asks “DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND?”, and the only permissible answer is “Yes, ma’am”. And then they will leave with no further discussion.

We will have to wait and see if Phix imposes additional restrictions/punishments on them.

[Boxilar]

I wouldn't say Phix is overreacting considering how brutal sphinx culture can get. Yes, she knocked Shelly (who can take it) into the next dimension but she restrained herself with Monica.

Well, she kind of has to restrain herself with M.

It's a fine line.

Right now, Monica is apropriately scared and receptive to what Phix has to say. If Phix crosses the line and, say, rips her face off, or something, Monica goes from receptive scared to angry snarly Jaguar Girl. (THAT BRA COST $300!)

She couldn't hurt Phix in her Place of Power, but she's not going to be in the mood to listen to anything Phix has to say.

[KnightDelight]

Seems to me Shelly is being represented as a lollipop in the last panel. One that has been cold-cocked. I take Paul's stylized rendition to mean she's been sucker-punched.

[txmystic]

Seems to me Shelly is being represented as a lollipop in the last panel. One that has been cold-cocked. I take Paul's stylized rendition to mean she's been sucker-punched.

NICE

To me, it looks like a full-on decapitation, although being in "Shelly-vision", it's hard to interpret.

[shadowinthelight]

Seems to me Shelly is being represented as a lollipop in the last panel. One that has been cold-cocked. I take Paul's stylized rendition to mean she's been sucker-punched.

Are you saying Paul is indulging in visual puns?

[ActionKermit]

I can't help but see this whole exchange from an Oankali perspective. The fundamental issue is that the dynamic duo weren't appropriately moderating their hierarchical tendencies with intelligence, right? Wouldn't an assertion of dominance like this only reinforce the hierarchical behavior that created the problem in the first place?