Wapsi Square Forum

Summary from a psychology class:

We learn about the world and automatically categorize things. It's called stereotyping and scripting. If we didn't, it would be like the blond who's always bubbly and excited, because her attention span is so short, the world is constantly shiny and new. Stereotyping is a feature, not a bug. It's how we recognize the letters of the alphabet, for example, though a single letter may have hundreds of different forms (fonts). The same goes for food, tools, signs, books, pets, shoes, and so on.

Scripting is how we interact with things based on our stereotypes. Some stoplights are vertical, some are horizontal, but the red light affects our behavior. Context also counts -- we see a woman dressed in white holding a notepad: Either we order breakfast, or tell the doctor where it hurts, depending on where we are. Scripting is behind the social contract on how we interact with others. Be polite, pick up after yourself, tolerate the behavior of others to a point, etc. Those who don't keep to the scripts or challenge the stereotypes cause distress.

Keep in mind that because the stereotype/script tool is a foundation tool for understanding the world, so it is very intolerant of change. People tend to make excuses rather than change their view, because the view has worked so well for so long. Observant people can notice when the exception starts becoming the rule, and so modify and improve their views. But generally, it tends to take a significant emotional event to drastically alter a worldview.

Monica has been gradually expanding her world view by adding to her stereotypes and scripts. She knew of Sphinxes from her studies, so formed a loose stereotype, because she recognized there were various types of sphinxes. Then she met one, and Phix generally fit the stereotype, which reinforced the stereotype. She assumed, because of scripting, that Phix, while powerful, was also sociable in the same way that Monica and all the others she knew were. The GG's were an exception to this, but that was understandable, and they now complied with acceptable social scripting.

So, M, seeing Phix in her fury doing Sphinx things without reserve blows the script/stereotype she had held dear, and by inference, now applies to Shelly. In short, she's had a significant emotional event which seriously affected her views. Her blind trust in Shelly has been damaged. It will take sometime to recover and develop replacements.

When I was a tot, I reached over a fence gate to open it. I didn't see the wasp on top, which stung me. I felt the pain, heard the buzz, and saw a small dark thing flying toward me. I was quite some time before I stopped wincing at small, dark, buzzy objects, such as flies and june bugs. Fireflies didn't buzz, and they glowed, so they didn't count.

It's the "what did you do in the war, daddy?" problem. We may not want to know.

there you see..... running around with sphinxes, gorgons, demons and golems can be hazardous to your health.... but they have feelings and they are her friends, what, oh what, are you going to do next little Miss M? you know you can't get your nose out of the paranormal arena, and you seek knowledge found only in the library, you can always use the annex, but still have a good chance of meeting someone you want to avoid right now.... I rekon you're in for the ride of your life there sugar cube, hold on to your sports bra 'cause it's going to be a bumpy ride.

I think Euryale is about to deliver a diatribe of sorts to Monica, beginning with the words "Now looka heah, suga!" Telling her about how much Phix has helped her, etc. and how Phix just went through a really bad patch as well. Monica's not the only one hurting greatly here.

Also, can Euryale poit? If not, did someone poit her there or is someone else there waiting just offstage?

M being shaken is understandable. Dropping Phix and Shelly as friends is not.

Echoing other sentiments on this board... Yeah, I think maybe Euryale needs to lead Monica down past the horned creature, the witch and her fire breathing leviathans up to the demons' side, and buy her a f@&%ing sno-cone.

And then remind her that she still has all those cravings for pizza.

I think Monica is having a normal reaction. Just about everyone supernatural in her life - Bud, Jin, Brandi, Phix, Tina, Nudge, and Euryale - have warned her about the danger they represent, the danger another character represents, or both. Monica has been able to handle that for the most part even though she's had a coffee cup destroyed by Bud breathing fire, got a knife stuck in her head, been turned to ice at least twice now, had multiple demons using her as a revolving door, etc. She's been able to let things go though. She's stood up to the dangers of the GGGs because she can probably still control them if need be as a glyph reader. The ice thing has been temporary. She's flaunted her poiting power and used it to stop a fight between Shelly, Nudge, and Tina. Learned to control her demons, etc. but now for the first time, she's seen one of her friends revert to her most basic instincts, having killed something. It just got real.

If I were Monica, I'd be talking to the GGGs about the poiting power as she's used it defensively (and without realizing it) by deflecting bullets and see if there are other ways of using it.

TlalocW

As a person who builds walls and classifies my world via organization and observation, I totally understand Monica's reticence to play with the untrained Sphinx... Shelly is a fantastic person, but even she has admitted to being afraid of herself and what she can do. Monica is a lot less magical-heal-y than some of the people she associates with, I wouldn't be too hard on her for a totally rational fear.

What she needs is a therapist who is in the special powers loop... And maybe some reassurance from her best friend about being a different type of scary critter.

I think Monica's fears are perfectly rational.
Her problem is she's confronted with forces/people who make her feel waaaay out of her depth, so although she can poit preternaturally fast, to the point of avoiding serious injury by bullets, she lacks the confidence to be comfortable in her new world.
What Monica really needs is some kind of Confidence Course to give her a real feel for how she can hold her own.

There are just some things you can't walk off so easily. I understand that Monica has a lot of re-evaluation to do about everything around her. For me, it's been three years since my mother passed away, and I still haven't come completely back together. As individual human beings, we have a need, and a right, to filter the heavy changes in our individual human ways. But she does need something to give her a solid place to stand again, and our snakey-haired southern belle may have a few cards up her sleeves to play.

I know a little about fear in myself and others. I've had to deal with it for work and pleasure. I know that if a beginning rider is thrown from a horse, he or she should be put back on a horse as soon as possible. If this isn't done, the adult or child will in all probability develop a fear of riding and horses. The longer the space between the accident and the remount the harder it is.

Fear is important. Without it an individual would not last long. It, however, is an emotion, and should be controlled by the intellect. Irrational fear or phobia is what keeps people from flying and causes them to run into traffic to escape the little dog on the leash because they have a fear of dogs. Flying is the safest form of transportation there is. Little dogs on leashes are safer than running into traffic. Risk must be evaluated by the intellect. Monica's intellect should tell her that she's been alone with Phix inumerable times and was never hurt and Shelly hasn't demonstrated any cause for alarm. There is no reason to assume anything has changed.

Monica's been tramatized, but she needs to get back on the horse. It will take gradual baby steps, but it must be done, and the sooner the better. I also feel very sorry for her, trama isn't a thing to be taken lightly and it can take a long time to overcome completely.

Today's page does appear to be related to "U296"...

Fairportfan wrote:Today's page does appear to be related to "U296"...

Looks to me as if this scene happens shortly after Monday's pin up. Which means Shelly has cut her hair. It makes her look less like Bia.

scantrontb wrote:

Dave11 wrote:Wait, so it's been two weeks since the "unfortunate incident" in the Bibliothiki? And Monica hasn't bounced back yet?
.

Dude IRL, even TODAY! there are people that think they're still in Saigon... yeah,WAAAYYYY back from when they were in the in the Vietnam Conflict... so two WEEKS, without talking to anybody (did she take a vacation from work and just stayed hidden at home?)... that ain't gonna do squat, to what she's churning over, and over again in her mind...

I think Eurayle was referring to her friends at the library, not everyone in general. Staying hidden at home wouldn't do much good anyway, considering how often Tepoz or Bud just wander through that place.

Thought I didn't have before: Monica can't function without coffee, and has recently started an exercise program. There's no way she dodged Tina for 2 weeks. And since Tina loves to confront people over their auras, why didn't Tina address and/or manipulate Monica into resolving this conflict already? (*crosses fingers* Tina got revenge on Phix at last!)

Boxilar wrote:Which means Shelly has cut her hair. It makes her look less like Bia.

Considering Shelly can extend her hair to waist length with but a sneeze, Paul can pretty much draw Shelly with whatever hairdo he wants now.

I knew this was going to happen if she saw Phix. Damnit! Now i'm all upset and such. I wish i could say i hope Monica comes to her senses but a part of says she already has.

WilliamCA wrote:I knew this was going to happen if she saw Phix. Damnit! Now i'm all upset and such. I wish i could say i hope Monica comes to her senses but a part of says she already has.

I would not say she has come to her senses. If anything she needs some sense knocked into her. Shelly has been her best friend for many years and now she has decided to drop her because of something something that COULD happen. She is selling Shelly and Phix so short. Sure they are wild critters, but are humans much different. The veneer of civility is just skin deep after all. All I can say is if her G'Pa could see her now he would be ashamed. This is a place that a good psychoanalyst would be very helpful (Tina and Nudge would make a good team for this if they could get over the past)

Mark N wrote:I would not say she has come to her senses. If anything she needs some sense knocked into her. Shelly has been her best friend for many years and now she has decided to drop her because of something something that COULD happen. She is selling Shelly and Phix so short. Sure they are wild critters, but are humans much different. The veneer of civility is just skin deep after all. All I can say is if her G'Pa could see her now he would be ashamed.

Especially when you consider the fact that, when the masquerade was revealed to Shelly, Monica was the monster. She's literally an undead/resurrected human with supernatural powers and capable of commanding an actual planet-shattering monster and communicating with demons. Shelly, meanwhile, was just a musclebound grunt with a foot in her mouth and some girl-troubles.

Despite all this, Shelly's stayed by Monica throughout, enduring some bullying by all three GGG, manipulating by Tepoz and Tina and Nudge, threats of violence by Phix, potentially getting killed by Brandi, and exposing herself to a radioactive generator which instead of killing her robbed Shelly of her identity + 80k years of her life & forced her to kill other sentient beings (including humans, aka the other Shellys). Though Shelly's developed a relationship with Tina, Nudge, Bud, and Phix (Jin's still a bit of a grey area) over the course of events, she only subjugated herself to said events because of Monica, her friend.

Mark N wrote:This is a place that a good psychoanalyst would be very helpful (Tina and Nudge would make a good team for this if they could get over the past)

Nah, Tina and Nudge are too connected to the issue (both are friends with Shelly and have personal issues with Phix and Sphinxes). This either needs tough love (Amanda), sunshine out the arse (Jacqui), down-to-earth breakdown (Daren), or depressing comparison (Katherine). Time for the normal mortals to earn their pay.

shadowinthelight wrote:I seriously want to fling a wet noodle at Monica. Shelly is 1/2 titan, 1/4 sphinx, and 1/4 human. She has just as much person in there as she does flesh eating cat. M is concentrating so much on the negative she is ignoring the positive in her friend.

Considering she just saw that 1/4 eating out of a rib cage... I would think it entirely rational to be more than a little worried about that...

sonicthunder wrote:Despite all this, Shelly's stayed by Monica throughout, enduring some bullying by all three GGG, manipulating by Tepoz and Tina and Nudge, threats of violence by Phix, potentially getting killed by Brandi, and exposing herself to a radioactive generator which instead of killing her robbed Shelly of her identity + 80k years of her life & forced her to kill other sentient beings (including humans, aka the other Shellys). Though Shelly's developed a relationship with Tina, Nudge, Bud, and Phix (Jin's still a bit of a grey area) over the course of events, she only subjugated herself to said events because of Monica, her friend.

This is true. Further, it was Monica who got Shelly to hold the generator thingy which caused her to travel to the forest, resulting in the sphinx transformation and 80K year exile in the first place. She owes Shelly. We can't even begin to imagine what that was like for Shelly, especially at first. Don't know how long the transformation took, but there probably was a period of hopelessness and despair as the months and years passed with no sign of rescue. Monica owes it to her to be by her side, no matter the threat to her own well being. It doesn't matter that Monica knew nothing of what was happening, she was still responsible.

Of course we also don't know how much of all that was Bia's doing either. Did she guide Stinky to the sub and get him to bring it to Bud knowing she would find the generator (and survive any mishaps in the process)? After all, that was a mighty big coincidence to have happened purely by chance.

sonicthunder wrote:

Mark N wrote:I would not say she has come to her senses. If anything she needs some sense knocked into her. Shelly has been her best friend for many years and now she has decided to drop her because of something something that COULD happen. She is selling Shelly and Phix so short. Sure they are wild critters, but are humans much different. The veneer of civility is just skin deep after all. All I can say is if her G'Pa could see her now he would be ashamed.

Especially when you consider the fact that, when the masquerade was revealed to Shelly, Monica was the monster. She's literally an undead/resurrected human with supernatural powers and capable of commanding an actual planet-shattering monster and communicating with demons. Shelly, meanwhile, was just a musclebound grunt with a foot in her mouth and some girl-troubles.

Despite all this, Shelly's stayed by Monica throughout, enduring some bullying by all three GGG, manipulating by Tepoz and Tina and Nudge, threats of violence by Phix, potentially getting killed by Brandi, and exposing herself to a radioactive generator which instead of killing her robbed Shelly of her identity + 80k years of her life & forced her to kill other sentient beings (including humans, aka the other Shellys). Though Shelly's developed a relationship with Tina, Nudge, Bud, and Phix (Jin's still a bit of a grey area) over the course of events, she only subjugated herself to said events because of Monica, her friend.

Mark N wrote:This is a place that a good psychoanalyst would be very helpful (Tina and Nudge would make a good team for this if they could get over the past)

Nah, Tina and Nudge are too connected to the issue (both are friends with Shelly and have personal issues with Phix and Sphinxes). This either needs tough love (Amanda), sunshine out the arse (Jacqui), down-to-earth breakdown (Daren), or depressing comparison (Katherine). Time for the normal mortals to earn their pay.

This is relevant.

http://wapsisquare.com/comic/felthelpless/
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/hurtfeelings/

Monica was willing to give her charges a by on the horrible things they did because they "weren't responsible" and "it was their natures". (paraphrazing a bit) I guess the difference here is that,

A; Monica had, and still has, full control over the GGGs if it comes down to it, and

B; Monica never actually witnessed any of the horrors inflicted by Bud, Brandi and Jin.

Still, pycological trauma and PTSD or not, somebody is being a bit of a hypocrite. Its okay for two of my friends to be weapons of mass destruction that can wipe out the solar system, but when my oldest friend turns out to be from a race of supernatural predators, I'm going to kick her to the curb. Because none of those people can be my friend. You know, because everyone from a certain race is responsible for the actions of one. Just saying.

Monica and Shelly have both been warned this day would come.

Phix's little mutter of "Well" is mighty telling:

http://wapsisquare.com/comic/being-childish/


"That's your request? Why would that be hard?"

http://wapsisquare.com/comic/thatsyourrequest/


I hope they pull it through. I'd hate to have the sun rise on December 22nd across a globe of glass.