Nothing More Than That 2013-11-21

[jeffepp]

This may be an insecurity statement about Keven being away so much. He has not broken anything off, but she is seeing his work related absence as such. And, she has probably forgotten that she can visit him any time she wants, by teleport. She does that sometimes.

[jwhouk]

I looked back - y'all realize she's known Kevin for 10 years now?

[DilyV]

This is purely conjecture on my part here but bear with me...

This is a terrifying time for Atsali. She seems fully aware of what she is and how her kind are looked upon by normal and paranormal alike. I'm thinking the trigger in the status of "safe" and unsafe" sirens is puberty. That is when a siren's full abilities begins to develop... safe being a subjective term that I think Kath might agree with me on (at least where Sali is concerned). It could be that puberty is the trigger after which a siren has no self conscious control over the development of her abilities. It may be that the siren's abilities are uncontrollable... but the opposite may be true as well... it just takes long hours of training to clamp down and control them. Atsali obviously fears what most sirens become... or more accurately being seen as what most siren's become as I'm not sure she wants to follow that path.

I find it interesting that Monica seems to be a chaperone on this little paranormal day at the mall...

[TheDOCTOR]

Wow, Two sides of the same coin. Sorry to hear about Kevin. Meh, his loss though.

[Radical_Knight]

Uh... I thought it was Bud who was chaperoning the mall trip with MIB.

[Wdot]

Paul always takes this comic in directions I wouldn't have expected. I would never have expected Atsali to have "puberty" problems, and I thought that the Kevin Monica relationship was pretty solid. This comic always covers a wide range of emotions and is never boring. Well Sali and Mon can be the Boobsey Twins and help each other out, and thats a good thing. *throws wooden nickel into pun jar.

[Boxilar]

As far as Monica talking to Atsali, her insecurity makes her the perfect choice. She'll be able to help her as someone who has been through it, and is still dealing with it.

Assuming the boyfriend being referenced id Kevin, yeah. I won't say I saw it coming, but I will say I'm not surprised.

Kevin was fine with Monica and her involvement with the supernatural when she was a mortal with a few powers. I remember when Monica fully manifested her Jaguar Girl powers there were a few forumites who didn't like the change. Now imagine being in a relationship with her. The sweet girl with a few cool powers and some Supernatural friends suddenly transforms into a Supernatural Apex predator who can burst into flames or fly off the handle at a moments notice. And knowing what we've seen of Kevin, I doubt I was a single incident that sent him running. It was likely a string of events that made him realise he no longer fit in the world Monica has to walk in. Because she IS dangerous.

I'm not blaming M or Kevin for their splitting up. Neither of them had any real control over the events that led up to the split. Sometimes things just don't work out.

There ain't no good guy, there ain't no bad guy, there's just you and me and we just disagree.

[Julie]

Kevin's gone?!?!?!? I want to know more about that conversation! And I may want to smack him around a little for being stupid.

Then again, a few deep breaths later, I guess I can see how he'd be a bit unsettled by someone who is invincible (for all intents and purposes) and can go feral animal in a heartbeat. It has to be hard being a fully human guy attached to a super-being that could incinerate you with a thought...who comfortably runs in circles of paranormals and supernaturals whose lives dwarf the meager span of time you'll roam the Earth and whose social structures and behaviors seem barbaric and ruthless. (And a lot of what Boxilar said about how hard it would be for Kevin to. )

M needs a guy who can hold his own with her. He doesn't necessarily have to be a paranormal/supernatural, but he needs to be very strong and secure...and extremely open-minded/understanding/accepting without being a push-over.

That said, I'm kind of hoping that the folks who think that M is referring to the ghost of a boyfriend long past are on target with their theories. I liked Kevin. He was refreshing for his sheer normalcy and ability to accept a lot of the "WTF that's for REAL?" that M threw his way.

http://wapsisquare.com/comic/no-mean-kids/

This is the last appearance by Kevin. Somehow this does not look like a guy about to run away because Monica is dangerous. So either something happened we never knew about, or this is not a reference to Kevin. She could have scared other boyfriends away previous to Kevin. Our she could have chased Levin away because she felt that way. Either way this is a big kink in the story. Monica would have been quite hurt by that breakup and we saw nothing anywhere about it. It just seemed like Kevin was on another long assignment.

I believe that appearance pre-dates her fully becoming the Jaguar Girl in sub-Titan form...so a lot has changed Monica that could have led to Kevin deciding he couldn't cope with her anymore. I agree that it's a bit of a shock since M would have been hurt by the break-up and it seems that kind of thing would have been illustrated for us...but it could very well have happened around the whole Kat/Atsali adventure story-line, and therefore taken a back seat to a more "major" plot line. *shrugs* We'll learn more eventually, I'm sure.

Uh... I thought it was Bud who was chaperoning the mall trip with MIB.

You're correct. Bud is chaperoning the girls' mall trip. M, however, is being asked to make an appearance to talk to Atsali. She may or may not actually be at the mall at that point.

[jwhouk]

It's not apparent that she's at the mall (is this like one of the "neighborhoods" of MOA or something?) in the right panel.

[zachariah]

It's not apparent that she's at the mall (is this like one of the "neighborhoods" of MOA or something?) in the right panel.

Monica is in a Mall we just don't know which. Sali is in the Parnor Mall Clinc (PMC). Bets it is Bud who is asking her for help, or maybe Brandi. Sali is still talking and it may be Bud, or it might even be Kathy. I'm sure MIB contacted Kathy when Sali fainted. Either way tomorrow we get the meeting I hope. Now Paul could be a stinker and put up a one-shot drawing for Friday, but I am hoping it is Monica and Sali meeting and just staring at each other's chest and saying together, 'Oh you poor thing. How do you cope?' Saying them together would maintain the kind of mirror image of Monica and Sali and their Body issues. Manica adjusted and Sali not. Maybe Monica will see her as a rookie needing to be shown the ropes of coping with BBB(Big Bouncing Boobs). Or at least explain the it is possible to give yourself a black eye if you are not careful. Monica has done that. lol.

[Opus the Poet]

Uh... I thought it was Bud who was chaperoning the mall trip with MIB.

Nope just Atsali and Castela, there were other "adults" to chaperone other young paras.

[Sidhekin]

Now you mention it, the background does look like a mall to me. It's certainly a huge ceiling, and fairly similar to previous backgrounds from the mall, and it looks like there's something (shoes?) on display behind her. Of course, M works with displays. (If she's managed to keep her job, that is.) But this does not look like the museum to me.

All underage paranormals were assigned an MiB agent as chaperone, and I sincerely doubt Monica'd volunteer or be asked to fill that role. If she is at the Paranor Mall, I'd say she's just hanging out, or even taking advantage of the paranormal-friendly environment to do some shopping for kitty.

[Dave]

That said, I'm kind of hoping that the folks who think that M is referring to the ghost of a boyfriend long past are on target with their theories. I liked Kevin. He was refreshing for his sheer normalcy and ability to accept a lot of the "WTF that's for REAL?" that M threw his way.

Agreed... he's been a good dude.

Looking back over the Wapsi chronology, it does seem very possible that Monica is referring to a "first boyfriend" rather than to Kevin. We know that she went through some really hellish years, due in part to paranormal influences... childhood "visions" of her dead grandmother (thanks to Mayahuel), four years (ages 14-18) locked in an asylum (during which we now know she was repeatedly abused and raped by a staff member), and then a difficult recovery period during which she was in therapy and was cutting herself.

That post-asylum period does sound consistent with the "dangerous and unstable" description. She had been horribly traumatized, was struggling to assert her sanity and re-establish her place in the world, and was cutting herself as a means of coping with the trauma. She might easily have been "too much of a mess" for a callow young late-teen-to-early-twenties boyfriend to deal with.

So, Monica could be flashing back on her own life experiences during the age range Atsali is in right now, and suffering a severe attack of the WTFs.

I guess we'll know in a few days.

[txmystic]

Another thought about Kevin…recall part of her "power" is to detect the deepest fear in someone and then conjure it when roused. I recall she was freaked out that she could not control herself from throwing Nudge into a volcano (even though her worst fear turned out to not be anything life-threatening), and the way she dispatched the tar forced her to admit to some sociopathic tendencies. I wonder if, and I'm hoping there's a flashback to explain it, she Jaguared-out and inadvertently conjured Kevin's worst fear and whatever resulted from that made him feel that she was "dangerous and unstable"…

That said, we have to remember she's being asked to guide someone who has fully developed at a young age, and thus Mon could be putting herself at that age and explaining that what happened to her at that age that makes her believe she is not a good role model.

To the confusion corner with a vat of queso...

[Amethyst Shadow]

Wait... what?!

No more Kevin? WTF

[Fairportfan]

Now you mention it, the background does look like a mall to me. It's certainly a huge ceiling, and fairly similar to previous backgrounds from the mall, and it looks like there's something (shoes?) on display behind her. Of course, M works with displays. (If she's managed to keep her job, that is.) But this does not look like the museum to me.

Definitely a shoe store window.

[KnightDelight]

Maybe they should have Shelley do the introductions? "And this dork over here is Monica..."

Yep. All they have to do to bring Jaguar Girl down to a more approachable status for Atsali is for them to just stand there and Monica to say, "I farted." Followed by Shelly's stock reply of "Dude." That should take the sheen off the idol.

[Wapsi]

You nerds. Who said "Kevin"? Just wait until tomorrow.

[kingklash]

Atsali hasn't talked to her mom about her co-worker at the museum, has she?

[Akeche]

You nerds. Who said "Kevin"? Just wait until tomorrow.

Damn it Paul! I guess she is having PTSD-like flashbacks to her childhood then.

Had me, and most of us, worried!