A Mortal Descendant 2013-05-28

[zachariah]

Brandi and Bia are not fighting each other. Brandi is convinced Bia is wrong in the solution she chose. Brandi followed a different path. Brandi is aiming towards a mortal descendant of Bia, not a heir to Bia. Since Bia is Shelly's mom it means she got busy to have Shelly. It implies she has done this before as well. So there is another line dece3nded from Bia who Brandi is taking control of, or moving into position. They just have not defined what it is they actually have to fix. Charron's initial saying of the prohacy mentioned fixing things, but not what things needed to be fixed.

That part of central Mexico is riddled with volcanoes. In fact Mexico city is surrounded by them. So that is a local eruption, not a super volcano. I saw Mt. Pinatubo blow it's gut's out in 91 and it looked a bit like that. SO it's big but not ginormous.

Brandi is just high on success. Just glad a Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha was not thrown in.

[Mark N]

This is making me think that most if not all the heroes of myth (Hercules, Perseus etc) are Bia's children. She did say that her other children were strong but not immortal. That is until she used Phix.

[Geezer]

So - which Brandi are we seeing here? Is this Brandi-prime, or the other one - the one who won't kill a fly?

There seem to be at least two Brandi personas, almost diametrically opposite in some ways, and in others, with a major overlap. Could be a case of multiple personality disorder, I suppose. But maybe it's not a "disorder," in the usual sense of the word.

For me, at least, this is not telegraphing. And that's fine. I'm here for the duration to see how this all shakes out.

I'll be over in the corner of the monitoring room, with a hot drink near to hand and my eyes fixed on the screen. Let 'er rip!

[chicgeek]

Hee, I remember way back when the calendar machine arc was coming to a close, wondering if that meant Wapsi Square would be ending now that the big plot line was wrapping up.
I haven't a clue what's next, although it's fun to speculate. I'm just fastening my seat belt as the wild ride continues.

[Dave]

So - which Brandi are we seeing here? Is this Brandi-prime, or the other one - the one who won't kill a fly?

This is almost certainly an earlier instance of her "Senior Director Oduya" chess-master persona. Take a look back over the previous few days... here's how I interpret what we see:

• We first see the caring "won't kill a fly" Brandi personality managing the rescue of the endangered humans into the Mapimi crystal system. She's very much "in the moment", worried about the safety of the individuals, and horrified when she realizes that she mis-programmed and didn't account for the possibility of quadruplets. Her facial expression is engaged and concerned.
• We see her turn away and go "urk".
• She turns around with a completely different expression - the coy, almost-seductive smile we've seen on the face of Senior Director Oduya when she was talking with Lily.
• She immediately stops talking about the issue of the mis-routed unborn children, teleports Acacia into storage without any discussion, and is now gloating about her success in lining up pieces in a long-term plan.

This is very similar to the sequence we saw when Brandi was talking with Katherine and Atsali... the concerned/caring/straightforward Brandi, followed by a few moments of speaking in Urk'ish, and then the appearance of a coy smiling Oduya personality with a somewhat different set of knowledge of the situation and a much more manipulative manner.

[shadowinthelight]

It's scary to think that Bradi's enjoyment of the 'splosion may actually be a result of things going right.

What, don't your plans involve things exploding?

[Fairportfan]

Is it just me or is the Senior Director a little scary-crazy?

Just sayin'.

You are incorrect.

Not a little scary-crazy.

A lot.

[Sidhekin]

Since no one else seems to have linked the more relevant pages ...

• Brandi "didn't know that" Shelly's a sphinx: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/best-plan/
• Bia explains "where sphinxes come in": http://wapsisquare.com/comic/where-you-come-from/

So, Brandi's view of Bia's directing has gone from "wrong direction" to "that plan was best"?

Did Bia actually surprise Brandi?

Since Bia is Shelly's mom it means she got busy to have Shelly. It implies she has done this before as well.

Not necessary. It does mean she was trying for an immortal heir, which I assume can come about even without sphinxes, as long as she stays away from humans. (Perhaps she had little luck trying to date Olympians?)

Also: The various Shellies had different parents: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=523&p=9870&hilit=sh ... rest#p9870

"Final draft" Shelly may be the first Sphinx, or the first descendant of Bia. Or not. But I suspect she was the first immortal: Otherwise why did she return from the time forest as the only one?

57 enter; one leaves?

[Yamara]

Is this whole thing just a cat fight between Bia and Brandy?

It's certainly looking that way. Brandi - rather, Ms. Oduya - must have one massive axe to grind, if she's starting this much trouble to keep the Gods & Titans off of Earth...or to keep Bia ON Earth.

Well, Brandi and Bia are both in Bud's nightmare: One is smiling and the other is not smiling.


Often wondered about chessmaster-types describing their plans aloud like that. If they're as intelligent and manipulative as they're supposed to be, then the gloating itself ought to be a distraction for anyone able to listen in.

Brandi is just high on success. Just glad a Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha was not thrown in.

Brandi's not a Republic Serial villain.

[MerchManDan]

It's scary to think that Bradi's enjoyment of the 'splosion may actually be a result of things going right.

What, don't your plans involve things exploding?

"Brandi wants BIG BOOM!!"

[Yamara]

-




I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb-line; hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and waters will overflow your hiding-place.
Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it.

Isaiah 28.17-18




-

[jwhouk]

Well, Brandi and Bia are both in Bud's nightmare: One is smiling and the other is not smiling.

...So you're thinking that's Brandi in her animal-chimera form in that one panel?


And Isaiah wasn't one to mince words. Neither was Jeremiah.

[Opus the Poet]

Having been in sight of (but beyond the blast radius of) an erupting volcano I have to agree with Senior Director Oduya. They are beautiful.

[Wyvern]

Often wondered about chessmaster-types describing their plans aloud like that. If they're as intelligent and manipulative as they're supposed to be, then the gloating itself ought to be a distraction for anyone able to listen in.

There's a line like that in one of the Diskworld books, something like this: A clever spy might learn a lot by listening to what the Patrician said. A really clever spy wouldn't trust anything the Patrician said when he was supposed to be alone.

[davids4250]

I also find myself wondeRing when and how Brandi/Oduya learned os the prophecy about Bia's descendant.

As for the Patrician, if I was trying to spy on him, I would not trust anything he said at any time, and I would grow eyes in the back of my head.

[Fairportfan]

Having been in sight of (but beyond the blast radius of) an erupting volcano I have to agree with Senior Director Oduya. They are beautiful.

Yep. When i was in Sicily Mt Etna (easily visible from the barracks back porch) got a little feisty (one of the biggest eruptions in years, 1971) but not to that extent.

I've always regretted never having had the chance to witness an above-ground nuclear test.

[Dr. Otter]

Having been in sight of (but beyond the blast radius of) an erupting volcano I have to agree with Senior Director Oduya. They are beautiful.

Yep. When i was in Sicily Mt Etna (easily visible from the barracks back porch) got a little feisty (one of the biggest eruptions in years, 1971) but not to that extent.

I've always regretted never having had the chance to witness an above-ground nuclear test.

My father-in-law saw two. He said they were really awesome (in the original sense of the word). However, I will always wonder if it had anything to do with his early death from a bad-ass, totally undifferentiated carcinoma. Maybe you should just be happy with the volcano.

[Yamara]

Well, Brandi and Bia are both in Bud's nightmare: One is smiling and the other is not smiling.

...So you're thinking that's Brandi in her animal-chimera form in that one panel?

If they aren't all sharing the one head early on, the lion's head is Brandi's.

Going by the appearance of Bia's sigil on her face, she must have taken up with her at some point in the intervening millennia. And she's delighted to be playing her as well.

[DilyV]

Oh damn... Brandi's last line... I get the feeling that she's talking about Lily... Lily is Brandi's mortal decendent... well, WAS until she became a vampire...

[jwhouk]

...or IS she?