Nothing More Than That 2013-11-21

[jwhouk]

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

TEASE!

[Opus the Poet]

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

TEASE!

I think he found a way to monetize forum posts... we are making Pablo rich.

[DilyV]

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

Look at the background in Monica's half of today's post... she's definitely at a store of some sort... it makes sense that she's involved in this Paranormal day out too.

[scantrontb]

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

Look at the background in Monica's half of today's post... she's definitely at a store of some sort... it makes sense that she's involved in this Paranormal day out too.

then again, this could be a bit of a time-lapse thing where Atsali is still out cold, Bud calls Monica at home (either hers or Georgette's? maybe depending on the time-lines in the comic and if we ever found out the correct location of them napping on the couch) and asks if she would mind stopping over at the Mall for a bit, that she has someone she'd like her to meet... M says OK, and pops in to a Poit-Friendly place at the mall, and ... now we catch up to the current strip... where we get to find out just who she is talking to off-camera. I have a sneaky suspicion that it is NOT Bud... maybe Brandi, Nudge or Tsillah... and if my earlier prediction about Katherine being there in seclusion is true, then maybe her too... and of course, I could be all hosed up and it's NONE of the above...

[GlytchMeister]

That being said, I could see the man of steel/ woman of Kleenex thing being a real problem. Last thing a guy wants is the woman bursting into Eldridge flames and lots of pointy claws popping out during "that" moment.

The article does have some bearing but the points made are totally different from Monica and Kevin. Besides maybe Kevin is turned on by furry? Thought it kinda does raise the question could Monica still have children? Her changes would affect the baby and who know what genetic changes her change might cause. Not too sure if Paul ever intended to deal with this point. I suspect he won't. The wedding would be something else to explain, or how it was planned. lol.

If anyone is interested the article refereed to was written by Larry Niven in 1971. It is very funny and makes lots of interesting points about superheros and humans.

I don't think Monica needs to worry about not being able to interbreed with humans. The Wapsiverse is heavily based on ancient mythology from cultures around the world. According to our Universe's laws of physics, chemistry, and biology, something so distinctly non-human would almost never be capable of interbreeding with humans (ignoring the fact that a Jaguar-Girl couldn't exist in the first place). However, the mythology that the Wapsiverse seems to be based on, from what I've gathered, includes several precedents for paranormal/normal interbreeding: Shelly is an excellent example; she's a Titan/Sphinx/Human hybrid. Also, Greek Mythology has become ever more prominent in the comic... And we all know how frisky those Greek gods were... That mythology was rife with demigods, hybrids, and even the Minotaur was a Human/Bull hybrid. And that's way outside the limits of reality.

In the end, Mr. Taylor can either use the mythological precedents he has at his disposal or he can opt for a more scientifically accurate approach. Or he'll decide to make Kevin paranormal too somehow. Who am I kidding. Paranormals are to Monica like flies are to honey.

[eee]

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

Don't do that! I ran here to post a shocked comment, I'm glad I went through the thread first

BTW - Isn't it about time we saw Kevin again? And what about Jin and Alan? (My bets are Jin has a bun in the oven by now)

Even though Jin is functionally human now, she's still a golem.

They could adopt!

And who knows what Maya might be able to come up with? This WOULD be her grandchild...

[Julie]

That being said, I could see the man of steel/ woman of Kleenex thing being a real problem. Last thing a guy wants is the woman bursting into Eldridge flames and lots of pointy claws popping out during "that" moment.

[/quote]
Nah...If Bia could get pregnant with a human then I think M and Kevin are just fine. And yes...I know that Shelly's dad is half-sphinx, but he is mortal and doesn't have sphinxy strength (since apparently only the female children can go full sphinx form and gain the associated perks)*. Bia, being the Titan who personifies Force, could probably have been just as lethal (if not moreso) to her husband as M might be to Kevin...though I'd guess she has her powers much better under control than M does at this point. Even so, I wouldn't worry too much about Kevin's fragility.

* I don't remember precisely when this fact was disclosed in the comic, but I think it was around the time that Shelly and Bia were chatting in the Library.

[ShirouZhiwu]

That being said, I could see the man of steel/ woman of Kleenex thing being a real problem. Last thing a guy wants is the woman bursting into Eldridge flames and lots of pointy claws popping out during "that" moment.

The article does have some bearing but the points made are totally different from Monica and Kevin. Besides maybe Kevin is turned on by furry? Thought it kinda does raise the question could Monica still have children? Her changes would affect the baby and who know what genetic changes her change might cause. Not too sure if Paul ever intended to deal with this point. I suspect he won't. The wedding would be something else to explain, or how it was planned. lol.

If anyone is interested the article refereed to was written by Larry Niven in 1971. It is very funny and makes lots of interesting points about superheros and humans.

I don't think Monica needs to worry about not being able to interbreed with humans. The Wapsiverse is heavily based on ancient mythology from cultures around the world. According to our Universe's laws of physics, chemistry, and biology, something so distinctly non-human would almost never be capable of interbreeding with humans (ignoring the fact that a Jaguar-Girl couldn't exist in the first place). However, the mythology that the Wapsiverse seems to be based on, from what I've gathered, includes several precedents for paranormal/normal interbreeding: Shelly is an excellent example; she's a Titan/Sphinx/Human hybrid. Also, Greek Mythology has become ever more prominent in the comic... And we all know how frisky those Greek gods were... That mythology was rife with demigods, hybrids, and even the Minotaur was a Human/Bull hybrid. And that's way outside the limits of reality.

In the end, Mr. Taylor can either use the mythological precedents he has at his disposal or he can opt for a more scientifically accurate approach. Or he'll decide to make Kevin paranormal too somehow. Who am I kidding. Paranormals are to Monica like flies are to honey.

I have to agree, any magic/tech that can radically shift living bodies from one shape to another and loose/gain mass without massive pain or urban renewal probably has a very fluid reproductive interface on all levels.

[Wdot]

We are not nerds. All of us are merely strong fans of the Wapsiverse and it's story. While our attachment may seem overly psychotic, er- emotional is a better word it use, it is still well meant.

Quite so. "Nerds" are those who obsess over things like mathematics, astronomy, robotics, geology and other academic stuff. We, on the other hand, obsess over things like Star Trek, Star Wars, anime, comics and other pop culture subjects.
We are "geeks."

To be fair, there is a substantial intersection between the two.

[ShirouZhiwu]

That being said, I could see the man of steel/ woman of Kleenex thing being a real problem. Last thing a guy wants is the woman bursting into Eldridge flames and lots of pointy claws popping out during "that" moment.

The article does have some bearing but the points made are totally different from Monica and Kevin. Besides maybe Kevin is turned on by furry? Thought it kinda does raise the question could Monica still have children? Her changes would affect the baby and who know what genetic changes her change might cause. Not too sure if Paul ever intended to deal with this point. I suspect he won't. The wedding would be something else to explain, or how it was planned. lol.

If anyone is interested the article refereed to was written by Larry Niven in 1971. It is very funny and makes lots of interesting points about superheros and humans.

Their is something similar written by a more contemporary artists dealing with more varied superpowers.
http://www.crystalhall.org/SLPB.html

[Mark N]

I know that Shelly's dad is half-sphinx, but he is mortal and doesn't have sphinxy strength (since apparently only the female children can go full sphinx form and gain the associated perks)*.* I don't remember precisely when this fact was disclosed in the comic, but I think it was around the time that Shelly and Bia were chatting in the Library.

The conversation in question just said that males of Phix's species can't transform but that has nothing to do with strength. Bia said that most hybrids are stronger than human but still mortal (nothing about male vs females). And since Shelly was showing hyper-strength long before her transformations started that does not seem to be an issue to that.

[Sidhekin]

I'm still waiting for Shelly's seven older brothers to work their way into the story. They cannot transform, but they should all be immortal ...

Of course, their début might make it trickier to keep failing the genderbent Bechdel test ...

[Jabberwonky]

I'm still waiting for Shelly's seven older brothers to work their way into the story. They cannot transform, but they should all be immortal ...

Of course, their début might make it trickier to keep failing the genderbent Bechdel test ...

I always had the idea that each one of them had a single 'superpower' (fleet as a deer, strong as a buffalo, eyes like an eagle etc.) and have had the idea for a story that features them on a slow simmer in the back of my brain...

[Fairportfan]

I always had the idea that each one of them had a single 'superpower' (fleet as a deer, strong as a buffalo, eyes like an eagle etc.) and have had the idea for a story that features them on a slow simmer in the back of my brain...

Smell like a skunk ... i mean bloodhound.

[Julie]

I'm still waiting for Shelly's seven older brothers to work their way into the story. They cannot transform, but they should all be immortal ...

Of course, their début might make it trickier to keep failing the genderbent Bechdel test ...

I think they're actually not immortal...I think that there was something said about that (and I mean in comic, not just MarkN pointing that out in the post above yours ).

[Mark N]

I'm still waiting for Shelly's seven older brothers to work their way into the story. They cannot transform, but they should all be immortal ...

Of course, their début might make it trickier to keep failing the genderbent Bechdel test ...

I think they're actually not immortal...I think that there was something said about that (and I mean in comic, not just MarkN pointing that out in the post above yours ).

Yuppers, Phix said that they were Mortal Paranormals.

[Sidhekin]

I'm still waiting for Shelly's seven older brothers to work their way into the story. They cannot transform, but they should all be immortal ...

Of course, their début might make it trickier to keep failing the genderbent Bechdel test ...

I think they're actually not immortal...I think that there was something said about that (and I mean in comic, not just MarkN pointing that out in the post above yours ).

Yuppers, Phix said that they were Mortal Paranormals.

Phix was speaking of Atsali and Pickle there; Julie and I were speaking of Shelly's brothers.

After returning from the time Forest, Shelly thought she was mortal: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/yes-and-no/

Later, we find that Bia is of a different opinion, even while lying about who Shelly's mother is: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/where-you-come-from/

However, just before that, she implied that the Forest was instrumental in removing Shelly's "human side": http://wapsisquare.com/comic/the-life-of-a-ti/

Does that mean that before the Forest, she was mortal? Or would Shelly's "human side" have been removed in time or travail in either case?

If this was Tolkien, the former would be a given. But this is not Tolkien. Titans and Sphinxes hail from classical mythology. Our friendly neighbourhood mortal canopic jar notwithstanding, I've seen no hint of the "Gift of Men" concept in general Wapsi death. Sacrifice, jaguars, quartz, and Nu Guis, yes. Gifts? Not so much.

So I think it should be the latter. Her brothers still have a "human side", presumably, but they also have a "titan side". They should be immortal.

Or so I think.

[ActionKermit]

Does that mean that before the Forest, she was mortal? Or would Shelly's "human side" have been removed in time or travail in either case?

In my headcanon, Shelly's human side was burned away when she got irradiated by the V-cell. Anything that could die in her, died.

[Mark N]

Phix was speaking of Atsali and Pickle there; Julie and I were speaking of Shelly's brothers.

Ooops. I put in a response to another part of the thread... DERP (A lesson to be learned here, do not post while tired. you swerve all over the road .. I mean Board.)

[NOTDilbert]

Does that mean that before the Forest, she was mortal? Or would Shelly's "human side" have been removed in time or travail in either case?

In my headcanon, Shelly's human side was burned away when she got irradiated by the V-cell. Anything that could die in her, died.

That was first-time-loop Shelly that died from the plutonium. 57th-time-loop Shelly was the Sphinx, The Sage of the Time Forest.