Wapsi Square Forum

All the myriad ways this can go wrong . . .

--FreeFlier

Hmm. One wonders whether this might be the setup for a situation in which we might finally get an answer to one of the great unanswered questions of the Wapsiverse: does Shelley's father know?

I mean... he is a Sphinx/human hybrid (without the ability to transform), his wife was the next thing to a goddess, his daughter is a hybrid who is probably immortal and is likely powerful enough to turn all of our civilization on its head if she so chose...

... and he runs a garage.

Does he know the score, or does he still think of himself as an ordinary human widower with several human sons and a neat biker-chick daughter?

If Krystle slips up on her Masquerade, or starts talking to Mr. Wahnee on the assumption that he must be para-aware... life could become very interesting.

I guess the shop has a reputation to keep up.

"Aren't you supposed to use a press, or something like that to shape that steel?"

"Na, it takes longer that was. By hand is much better."

"But, you're leaving fingerprints...."

"They'll buff out."

You think she actually talked to Shelly about the job?

Wait - Krystle was at a trade school after graduating high school and worked at an oil-change shop for last two years?
Did we have another timeskip while nobody was looking?

Dave wrote:Hmm. One wonders whether this might be the setup for a situation in which we might finally get an answer to one of the great unanswered questions of the Wapsiverse: does Shelley's father know?

Secret Backstory:

Mr Wahnee is actually Vulcan, on the lam from Aphroditie for his tryst which led to Shelly. When he made the Girdle of Venus, he included a blinding spell which would prevent her from seeing him through a disguise if he ever needed one. Well, he did. So as long as his Ex keeps the girdle, he's safe. Then again, mermaids do tend to gossip...

Is she channeling Shelly in her new look?

tombone wrote:Wait - Krystle was at a trade school after graduating high school and worked at an oil-change shop for last two years?
Did we have another timeskip while nobody was looking?

I'm not sure it was ever specifically stated, whether Jessie and Krystle are the same age/class as Atsali, or older. They may well be older than Atsali, and graduated from high school a couple of years earlier.

Recall that Jessie was already the "queen bee" of Gryphon High when Atsali joined as a freshman, and she was apparently somewhat tired of the role and wasn't unhappy when Atsali's para status elevated her to being "the one in charge".

Atomic wrote:Secret Backstory:

Mr Wahnee is actually Vulcan, on the lam from Aphroditie for his tryst which led to Shelly. When he made the Girdle of Venus, he included a blinding spell which would prevent her from seeing him through a disguise if he ever needed one. Well, he did. So as long as his Ex keeps the girdle, he's safe. Then again, mermaids do tend to gossip...

Fascinating. I don't think we knew he'd spent a lot of time in Uzbekistan, but if you're saying that he's Vulcan of Saarek I certainly won't call you a lyre! (That would be harping on the inconsistencies in your theory...)

Opus the Poet wrote:You think she actually talked to Shelly about the job?

That's "Ms. Wahnee" to you, bub!

Seriously, these kids are really fricken polite for 21st Century. Mr. and Ms. for high school, sure, and maybe Dr. for college, but honorifics for your boss's kid? That's kinda weird.

Dave wrote: I'm not sure it was ever specifically stated, whether Jessie and Krystle are the same age/class as Atsali, or older. They may well be older than Atsali, and graduated from high school a couple of years earlier.

Recall that Jessie was already the "queen bee" of Gryphon High when Atsali joined as a freshman, and she was apparently somewhat tired of the role and wasn't unhappy when Atsali's para status elevated her to being "the one in charge".

Recall also that Jesse and Krystal had the same gym class as Atsali. Mixing different grades in gym classes seems a bit of a stretch. Also I'm pretty sure that Jessie and Krystal showed up during the days of Atsali about to graduate.

We had seniors in my freshman year gym class. And, yeah, these two were seniors when the gang was freshman. We kinda fast forwarded through Atsali's highschool time, with a few exceptions.

Thor wrote:Also I'm pretty sure that Jessie and Krystal showed up during the days of Atsali about to graduate.

Actually, no they did not. All of Atsali's gal-pals were there, but not the two tuna girls.

jeffepp wrote:We had seniors in my freshman year gym class. And, yeah, these two were seniors when the gang was freshman. We kinda fast forwarded through Atsali's highschool time, with a few exceptions.

When I was in high school, no one had to take gym past freshman year. The only seniors who would have been taking gym (as an elective) would be the sports kids, and it was a special strength-building class. Of course that was thirty years ago, so who knows what goes on in gym class now? Probably Nintendo.

In any event, aside from the gym class arc and today's strip, we don't have any solid refs for whether Krystal and Jessie were older or what. I'm just going to wait and see if things get clarified, or if this is just some more asynchronous time-skippage.

I hope it's not indicative of a time skip, because we have this whole "three dorks in a ghost house" storyline starting, and I'd like to see what happens.

Thor wrote:In any event, aside from the gym class arc and today's strip, we don't have any solid refs for whether Krystal and Jessie were older or what. I'm just going to wait and see if things get clarified, or if this is just some more asynchronous time-skippage.

I found one additional datum here. At the Poseidon Resort, Jessie chewed out a bunch of the students who were afraid to talk to Atsali, reminding them that "(she) is a freshman, just like all of you idiots." She didn't say "all of us".

It's not a solid fact, I agree, but her phrasing suggests that Jessie is not a freshman herself at this time.

(Or, at least, that she doesn't see herself as an idiot. )

Thor wrote: . . .

jeffepp wrote:We had seniors in my freshman year gym class. And, yeah, these two were seniors when the gang was freshman. We kinda fast forwarded through Atsali's highschool time, with a few exceptions.

When I was in high school, no one had to take gym past freshman year. The only seniors who would have been taking gym (as an elective) would be the sports kids, and it was a special strength-building class. Of course that was thirty years ago, so who knows what goes on in gym class now? Probably Nintendo. . . .

We had to take two years of PE, usually freshman and sophomore, but we had upperclassmen mixed in too, either to get more gym time or because they'd missed taking their classes "on schedule" . . . sometimes because they transferred from high schools that didn't require as much Physical Education.

Of course, that was nearly 40 years ago now . . .

--FreeFlier

Dave wrote:

Atomic wrote:Secret Backstory:

Mr Wahnee is actually Vulcan, on the lam from Aphroditie for his tryst which led to Shelly. When he made the Girdle of Venus, he included a blinding spell which would prevent her from seeing him through a disguise if he ever needed one. Well, he did. So as long as his Ex keeps the girdle, he's safe. Then again, mermaids do tend to gossip...

Fascinating. I don't think we knew he'd spent a lot of time in Uzbekistan, but if you're saying that he's Vulcan of Saarek I certainly won't call you a lyre! (That would be harping on the inconsistencies in your theory...)

Actually that should be Saarek of Vulcan, yes i do love Star Trek. It looks to me more like shes showing off the bod more than bragging about the job.

I wonder how well Shelly and Krystle knew each other before.

FreeFlier wrote:All the myriad ways this can go wrong . . .

Or right!

Dave wrote:If Krystle slips up on her Masquerade, or starts talking to Mr. Wahnee on the assumption that he must be para-aware... life could become very interesting.

"That new girl's a good worker, but boy is she a bit of a nut!"

"Errrrr, yeah, dad!"

tombone wrote:Wait - Krystle was at a trade school after graduating high school and worked at an oil-change shop for last two years?
Did we have another timeskip while nobody was looking?

It was never explicitly stated what grade Jessie and Krystle were in or whether it was the same as Atsali & Co's. But I think that it's kind of implied that they were several years ahead. Back when Atsali was still a freshman, Krystle was talking about the school prom. When Jessie was scolding Devyn, Abbie, Mallory, and Alexis at the pool, she said that Atsali was a freshman "just like all of you", not "just like all of us". And the last time we saw either Jessie or Krystle at school was when Atsali was just getting started in the Flight Club and was still and underclassman. So nothing really shows that Krystle and Atsali were in the same grade, and a lot implies that they weren't.

Also, for a two-year time skip to happen right now seems very unlikely, what with so much left unresolved regarding so many of the characters.

So the most likely explanation is that Krystle (and probably Jessie) were a couple of years ahead of the rest of the gals in high school. That makes the most sense both in-universe and out.

Catawampus wrote:I wonder how well Shelly and Krystle knew each other before.

Probably not particularly well, at least before Shelly's Manifestation, given that Shelly was probably like ten years older.

So the most likely explanation is that Krystle (and probably Jessie) were a couple of years ahead of the rest of the gals in high school. That makes the most sense both in-universe and out.

Also, with Jessie implied to be in an executive position at the seafood company {even if it is a family business}, 'twould make sense that they've been out of high school a couple years at least.

AnotherFairportfan wrote: . . . Also, with Jessie implied to be in an executive position at the seafood company {even if it is a family business}, 'twould make sense that they've been out of high school a couple years at least.

I don't see that implication . . . she could be a line worker literally sorting and weighing the catch and making sure it makes the flight out.

--FreeFlier

FreeFlier wrote:

AnotherFairportfan wrote: . . . Also, with Jessie implied to be in an executive position at the seafood company {even if it is a family business}, 'twould make sense that they've been out of high school a couple years at least.

I don't see that implication . . . she could be a line worker literally sorting and weighing the catch and making sure it makes the flight out.

--FreeFlier

Not if she's flying home from Sweden for weekends.

{We've seen no implication that Jessie has access to the Library portals. Atsali does because Katherine is important in the Men in Black these days, and because of her connections to Monica, Shelly and Bud..}

AnotherFairportfan wrote:

FreeFlier wrote:

AnotherFairportfan wrote: . . . Also, with Jessie implied to be in an executive position at the seafood company {even if it is a family business}, 'twould make sense that they've been out of high school a couple years at least.

I don't see that implication . . . she could be a line worker literally sorting and weighing the catch and making sure it makes the flight out.

--FreeFlier

Not if she's flying home from Sweden for weekends.

I get the impression that she hasn't been the Minneapolis in quite a while, though, so it may be just this one weekend she managed to make it. It might be an extra long weekend in the fishing industry, with the schools being out. . .