Speak Only When Spoken To 2013-08-13

[AmriloJim]

Are you saying Paul is indulging in visual puns?

... and the Pastis goes to....

[Dave]

Are you saying Paul is indulging in visual puns?

... and the Pastis goes to....

*giggle*

Wapsi has yet to break the fourth wall in the way Rat is prone to do, though.

[Radical_Knight]

Outstanding! This Granma's not sparing the rod... BOK!!!

[kingklash]

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

That's why we don't talk back to Grandma. My Ka-Koo (Mother's mother, where the Comanche side comes from) was quick with her cane, like a elder Kung-Fu Master, if you dared speak up while she was bawling you out. Filter that through Giant Cat, and you got Grandma's cuffing of Shelly.

[Julie]

Remind me not to break any of The Rules around Phix. (I, too, love the fact that Shelly cut in with the grandma thing.)

[DinkyInky]

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.

$350.

[Yamara]

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.

Phix's decapitations are in colour. For Shelly, this is the parallel to her own conking the racists on New Year's Eve of 2012.

As for Phix, this swipe is...

1) Payback for being terrorized before Bia had to intervene.
2) Velveted. In this case, velveted with knuckles. Just ask Tsillah. Who can go confirm that with Medea.

[eee]

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.

This may not have as much to do with the MiB as with the paranormal community in general. All the vampires, Sphinxes, golems, Immortals, they've all obviously been careful to keep their existence hidden from the general public. And now here's Jaguar Girl and the Sage of the Forest tearing down the street in full public view flying on wings and leaping about like a cat. It may be Phix is being so harsh because the paranormal community is REALLY upset, and if she doesn't pound it into these two blockheads that you DON'T do things like that, next time things may get very out of control...

[scantrontb]

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.

I won't repeat my post from yesterday (tl:dr), but i think you've got the wrong idea about Monica, yesterday she's got the look of somebody that is getting yelled at for doing nothing wrong and is starting to get pissed off about it... and believe it or not, Monica DOESN'T know the rules! other than her figuring out that "MIB cleans up after me"... she hasn't even been told who's IN the MIB other than Brandi and Bud, and Maybe? Tepoz (can't remember, twas a looong time ago) let alone ANYBODY telling her the RULES, other than what seems to be obvious: don't let the mundanes know about us... and how many times has humanity, in general, ignored the obvious?

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?

as for Phix being tough on them, by that same line of thought(lessness ), if Phix scares the bejeezus out of that same instinctual/animalistic side of Monica and Shelly by by being a bigger bad-ass than that side of their personality thinks that they themselves are, then you actually have the OPPOSITE effect than what you're thinking!... they MAY get the urge to act the same way again in the future, but then that internal voice is gonna kick in and say "uh, UH!... We don't want to piss off Phix/Gramma' AGAIN... she's SCARY when P.O.'d... and i DON'T want to go thru THAT again..." but they WON'T ACT on that urge any more, thus Phix has achieved the end result that she's going for right here. AND she's doing it right, by nipping this right NOW, so quick after the act itself that it isn't taken by their subconsciousness as "ok" behaviour that they got away with... kinda like swatting your dog for peeing on the carpet... if you wait too long it doesn't take, or even sending the wrong signal: if you call him over to you to yell at him, then swat him, he may think you are swatting him for coming over to you, and the signal has now shifted to "If master yells at me like that again i'm being a GOOD dog if i run away... that way he doesn't spank me for going over TO him"... NOT the "don't pee on the carpet" signal you wanted to send...

[zachariah]

Phix has been tough on them before but it always involved talk and reasoned argument. This is reading the riot act along with intimidation. That takes it to a different level. I find it hard to believe that Phix actually cares that much about MIB and what they do. Her position in the library is secure and she does make trips to earth but not a lot. So why get so upset about stirring up awareness on earth by Monica and Shelly? I lean toward the idea that the girls antics stirred up others in the paranormal hierarchy. People who could take drastic action against them and appointed, or gave Phix the chance, the straighten them out before taking steps. If that is the case then there have to be observers to see how the girls react. It is also likely they ones watching probably do not know of Phix's relation to Shelly. If that is the case it is no wonder that Phix shut her up so fast. This may be more about trying the cover for the girls rather than coming down on them. I expect we'll find out more shortly.

[ActionKermit]

I won't repeat my post from yesterday (tl:dr), but i think you've got the wrong idea about Monica, yesterday she's got the look of somebody that is getting yelled at for doing nothing wrong and is starting to get pissed off about it... and believe it or not, Monica DOESN'T know the rules! other than her figuring out that "MIB cleans up after me"... she hasn't even been told who's IN the MIB other than Brandi and Bud, and Maybe? Tepoz (can't remember, twas a looong time ago) let alone ANYBODY telling her the RULES, other than what seems to be obvious: don't let the mundanes know about us... and how many times has humanity, in general, ignored the obvious?

That's along the lines of what I was thinking. If we look at it from a certain perspective, Nudge and Phix have been exacerbating a dangerous trend. Monica said a while ago that she got into anthropology to solidify reality. Entering the paranormal community has consistently delivered crushing blows to the way she understands the world, to the point that she's been floundering in search of anything she can take for granted. It got to the point that she stopped trying to actively make sense of things, so her friends staged an intervention -- but consider the content of the message they've been putting across. She's invincible. She's a monster. To be taken seriously, she has to command respect through displays of power. In short, they've been reinforcing her tendency to indulge in hierarchical behavior, and now Phix is pissed off because M didn't put intelligence ahead of hierarchical behavior.

Phix has powerful hierarchical instincts. It's natural for her to respond to a crisis situation by asserting her authority over her charges. But it's also exactly the wrong thing to do. M needs role models who can demonstrate the way to put hierarchical behavior at the service of intelligence. The opposite order (intelligence at the service of hierarchy) is an expression of the Contradiction, and it's the very thing that doomed Lanthis when the priests used their technological prowess to create the Chimera.

[Sidhekin]

What I don't get is how Phix figures she can physically intimidate Monica. I mean, Monica responds with instinctive intimidation, but once she just pauses for a moment ...

Phix already killed Monica!

Generally, killed people are not easily intimidated, physically.

[Fairportfan]

"Son, you're supposed to be stupid. Don't abuse the privilege."

[KnightDelight]

Sticks and stones may break my bones
but words hurt more than anything.

For Phix to be really effective she should cap off everything by simply saying how disappointed she is in both of them. A tear running down her cheek would clinch it. It's one thing to be intimated by someone you respect, but quite another to let them down big time. Maybe even hurting their feelings. And that tear may not be too hard to produce. As eee pointed out, beings with considerably more power may be watching our two paranormal virgins and have given Phix to know this will not stand. Another reckless action may take it out of her hands to resolve and she may be all too aware of what that means. Could be time for a flashback at, some point, to someone else Phix was very fond of and what happened to them. Or perhaps it could mean some of the humans who witnessed their escapade are slated to "disappear" even now. The MIB may not only be good at covering tracks, they may also be ruthless in the manner it is done when the situation warrants. At least to those who continue asking questions.

[Yamara]

http://wapsisquare.com/comic/07282003/

[Timotheus]

I guess I didn't make myself clear before. What we see here is Phix being MATERNAL toward Monica and Shelly (in Sphinx terms). Phix no longer feels alienated or isolated from these two youngsters she's taken into her heart, so she is now treating them as she would one of her own (which in Shelly's case she is). Watch a wildlife special on how tigers and lions raise their cubs. Discipline is hard and swift and not easily forgotten.

At the moment it would appear that Phix is having no problem intimidating Monica, Jaguar Girl or not. Behold the power of conditioned reflexes. Monica has a subconscious memory of Phix having a business lunch that she will not forget and this will forever give Phix an edge over her. Monica had also already been looking at Phix as authority figure early on. Who did she keep seeking assurance and guidance from throughout the calendar machine project? She wants Phix's approval for her actions even while being stubborn about it.
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/im-honest/

Shelly had already been turning to Phix as a substitute maternal figure in the time forest. The process has merely continued after she returned. She too wants Phix's approval for her actions.

[Heather_Dee]

What I don't get is how Phix figures she can physically intimidate Monica. I mean, Monica responds with instinctive intimidation, but once she just pauses for a moment ...

Phix already killed Monica!

Generally, killed people are not easily intimidated, physically.

Intimidation works best with people who lack initiative or with those you have absolute authority over. If it does work then we'll know Phix runs things pretty much the way an old-time sherrif does outside the library as well as inside it, since neither Monica nor Shelly are particularly lacking in motivation.

[Grantwhy]

So, what is the real reason Phix is angry?

Is it what the MIB will have to do to the 'civilians' to cover this up? --- Mind wipe? False memories? What happens to the people on whom that doesn't work? Imprisonment/Death? Some of those 'civilians' might be friends/acquaintances of Monica and/or Shelly so that puts an even bigger spanner in the works. Phix has shown in the past she doesn't like to harm humans, now she/MIB might have to.

Is is because Monica & Shelly 'broke the rules'? What do the rules say the punishment to those that, to borrow another term, 'break the masquerade'? I suspect the usual punishment for what the girls have done is a bit more than a stern talking to. Physical punishment? Imprisonment? Banishment from the human relm? Death? Worse?

I think Phix is angry, not because of what Monica & Shelly have done, but because of what she has to do to Monica & Shelly and/or, via the MIB, to the people that saw them.

[Opus the Poet]

Generally, killed people are not easily intimidated, physically.

Umm, yeah that has been my experience, too.

Especially after it was confirmed for me. Nothing like finding out your "near death" experience was from both sides of death.

[Dave]

So, what is the real reason Phix is angry?

Another possibility (related to the ones you've laid out, of course) has to do with what Phix said. "We. have. rules. For a reason." (emphasis added).

It could be that there have been cases in the past in which the paranormal world became too visible to mundane society, and bad things (from both groups' point of view) occurred. Mundane humans could easily panic, if it became obvious that There Are Beasties Among Us... and, in fact, mundanes have a bad reputation for doing Bad Things at such times, even in our universe.

Consider the Salem witch hunts, and the European witch hunts which preceded them. Consider vampire and werewolf scares, in centuries past. Consider "witchcraft" panics in Africa, even today... whole villages nearly wiped out by mutual suspicion.

It might not always be other mundanes who are affected by such panics. Paranormals might be mobbed and burned, if detected. We have no reason to believe that all paranormals are as riot-proof as sphinxes seem to be... not everybody can be an apex predator!

The rules may be in place because, when paranormals break them too obviously, and a coverup isn't possible...lots of people die (mundanes and paranormals both).

It's possible that a successful MIB coverup in cases like this may not just be a convenience... it may be a life-saver... and Monica and Shelly may have acted out too blatently to allow for a successful coverup that doesn't involve killing or mindwiping people.

As you say... Phix doesn't like to hurt people. She may be pissed, because she may not have a choice about that in this case.