Wapsi Square Forum

shadowinthelight wrote:

DilyV wrote:The first thing that went through my mind when I saw the baby was "Thup"... only without the large black eyes. Maybe it's a Thup's distant relative, Thip...

Thap's ridiculous. Maybe next time you should thop and pay more attention.

It's the anti-thup....uurrrpppp. (Mr. Meadows: Dang this was a clean shirt!!!)

Truthfully now how many had to look up what the word Gadzooks meant?? If you still haven't it is the same type of word as Egad. Golly-Wally. Zounds. And the grand champion: Great Ceaser's Ghost.

Odd bodkins! Prithee, who wouldst need elucidation on gadzooks?

Mark N wrote:And now we find that the orphanage may not be as cruelly run as some were thinking. We also now know our new girls name and proof that young Castela is a thorny subject.

(puts a sample of thorn bushes into the punjar)

At least she wasn't named Ocotillo!

and don't forget "Great Googgly Moggly"

I do so hope that it is Dr. Gilchrist that is the one waiting.

"Sobek is, above all else, an aggressive and animalistic deity who lives up to the vicious reputation of his patron animal, the large and violent Nile crocodile. Some of his common epithets betray this nature succinctly, the most notable of which being: "he who loves robbery," "he who eats while he also mates," and "pointed of teeth."[12] However, he also displays grand benevolence in more than one celebrated myth. After his association with Horus and consequent adoption into the Osirian triad of Osiris, Isis, and Horus in the Middle Kingdom, Sobek became associated with Isis as a healer of the deceased Osiris (following his violent murder by Set in the central Osiris myth).[13] In fact, though many scholars believe that the name of Sobek, Sbk, is derived from s-bAk, "to impregnate," others postulate that it is a participial form of the verb sbq,[14] an alternative writing of sAq, "to unite," thereby meaning Sbk could roughly translate to "he who unites (the dismembered limbs of Osiris)."[15]

It is from this association with healing that Sobek was considered a protective deity. His fierceness was able to ward off evil while simultaneously defending the innocent. He was thusly made a subject of personal piety and a common recipient of votive offerings, particularly in the later periods of ancient Egyptian history. It was not uncommon, particularly in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, for crocodiles to be preserved as mummies in order to present at Sobek’s cultic centers.[16] Sobek was also offered mummified crocodile eggs, meant to emphasize the cyclical nature of his solar attributes as Sobek-Ra.[17] Likewise, crocodiles were raised on religious grounds as living incarnations of Sobek. Upon their deaths, they were mummified in a grand ritual display as sacred, but earthly, manifestations of their patron god. This practice was executed specifically at the main temple of Crocodilopolis.[18] It should also be mentioned that these mummified crocodiles have been found with baby crocodiles in their mouths and on their backs. The crocodile – one of the few non-mammals that diligently care for their young – often transports its offspring in this manner. The practice of preserving this aspect of the animal’s behavior via mummification is likely intended to emphasize the protective and nurturing aspects of the fierce Sobek, as he protects the Egyptian people in the same manner that the crocodile protects its young.[19]"

From the aforementioned wiki article. Maybe not a bad choice for an orphanage, especially if the darker parts of his nature were purely mythical.

Dave wrote:

Wyvern wrote:And here's Sobek?

As one can understand from this text alone, Sobek was considered a violent, hyper-sexual, and erratic deity, prone to his primal whims. The origin of his name, Sbk in ancient Egyptian, is debated among scholars, but many believe that it is derived from a causative of the verb "to impregnate."

Somehow, not quite what I would look for in an orphanage staff position. Apotropaic he may be, but not the best choice to protect children... unless perhaps he's gotten a bad rap and his reputation is undeserved?

For once, Paul doesn't sexually objectify a male character, and you have to hunt down a reference?

There are at least three extremely famous infants from mythology that have found protection around the Nile. I've long found lizardfolk to be far more trustworthy than their modern stereotypes would allow.

And I wouldn't be terribly surprised to find we've had another in disguise for awhile. "Fields" and "Meadows"?

Enough distraction. Atsali has visitors from the Library.

NOTDilbert wrote:And Dang! They can swaddle a baby old-school in this place - that young-un ain't goin' anywhere it ain't carried....

Remember the nature of this orphanage's charges. That baby could be completely naked, and simply be in the larval form of whatever critter it may grow up to be.

Atsali and Castela..... HEY ATSALIIIIIII!!!

Catawampus wrote:

NOTDilbert wrote:And Dang! They can swaddle a baby old-school in this place - that young-un ain't goin' anywhere it ain't carried....

Remember the nature of this orphanage's charges. That baby could be completely naked, and simply be in the larval form of whatever critter it may grow up to be.

Ain't Faery beebes born as larvae?

Wow! Paul can make a realistic crocodile headed guy look affable. I'm impressed by that. I think it's how he did the eyes. We are getting a glimpse at a whole ecosystem of preternatural beings and I like it a lot! Jabberwonky and Atomic did some great stuff in the art section. Be sure and take a look.

Isn't a "griffon" a dog species, and "griffin" a mythological creature?

Yamara wrote:
And I wouldn't be terribly surprised to find we've had another in disguise for awhile. "Fields" and "Meadows"?

Nice catch there.

TheDOCTOR wrote:Atsali and Castela..... HEY ATSALIIIIIII!!!

that's just great... now we have to wonder if they're on the orphanage's baseball team.

“How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly he spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in,
With gently smiling jaws!”

(Well, someone had to post it.)


As for the orphanage's location (and the zoo's), maybe around here?
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/squeee-2/

scantrontb wrote:

TheDOCTOR wrote:Atsali and Castela..... HEY ATSALIIIIIII!!!

that's just great... now we have to wonder if they're on the orphanage's baseball team.

And then the question is Who's on First?

sheik wrote:

scantrontb wrote:

TheDOCTOR wrote:Atsali and Castela..... HEY ATSALIIIIIII!!!

that's just great... now we have to wonder if they're on the orphanage's baseball team.

And then the question is Who's on First?

No, Hes in the TARDIS! ...... .... ...

Okay, in regards to Castela, can something be simultaneously the stuff of nightmares, AND just too adorable for words? Seriously, I am getting mixed signals.

Nothing wrong with a well-wrapped bundle o'baby. My Ma did that to all four of us, Kiowa-style. And, we used to have a decorated cradleboard for sale at work, and there are pictures somewhere of both of my nephews all wrapped up and snug in it at different times.

Castela. Good name. Desert plants are tough, and survive a lot.

TheDOCTOR wrote:Atsali and Castela..... HEY ATSALIIIIIII!!!

The pun jar is drumming its pseudopods waiting for its due... I'm old enough to have heard that joke first-hand.