Wapsi Square Forum

On Phix's confinement to the Library:

She was stuck with the librarian job, but not utterly confined there. Clearly she was required to be there enough of the time that her son would have to live there as well if she raised him.

At least part of her "exile" was self-imposed, though, as she alludes to in http://wapsisquare.com/comic/office-phix/. At the time, we hadn't learned the real story about Nudge, Oedipus and the book; I assumed her "self restrictions" were a kind of self-punishment for being as bad as Greek mythology portrayed her.

Now, though, I kind of wonder if visiting Earth became too painful after she virtually exiled her own son there.

OK this has been bugging me all thread. Bia is not Titian, she's a Titan. GRRRRrrrrr!

And I was somewhat right about Shelly's heritage, I was just way off on how many generations the heritage went back. I was thinking roughly 2.5k-3k years at most, not her being second-generation Sphinx hybrid and first-generation Titan hybrid. So basically she's only 1/4 human at most (assuming no supernatural heritage on her paternal grandfather's part, not a good assumption in the Wapsiverse). And it turns out Shelly may have no actual Native American heritage at all, as her mother was the Comanche in the family, only now we find her mom was Titan rather than Comanche. So unless her Grandfather is native she is just another imported hybrid like 99% of the rest of the country.

Wait.

What if... OMG - Grandpa Sullivan is actually Justin's "brother"?

Or crazier yet - he's Justin???

jwhouk wrote:Wait.

What if... OMG - Grandpa Sullivan is actually Justin's "brother"?

Or crazier yet - he's Justin???

Wow, that is some mind bending idea there.

I just realized that there may be a Chekhov's Platoon hanging around.

It's canon that Shelly is not an "only child"! She has seven older brothers.. I don't think we've ever met any of her brothers, and from what Bia has said they might not be able to shape-change... but unless the Wahnee family situation is even more complicated than we've been told, these men would all be half-titan, quarter-sphinx, quarter-human hybrids, would they not?

Somebody was apparently a very busy bee-ah!

jwhouk wrote:Wait.

What if... OMG - Grandpa Sullivan is actually Justin's "brother"?

Or crazier yet - he's Justin???

Fun to think about, but not likely given Monica has memories of G'pa Sullivan. This implies that he aged (since Monica hasn't mentioned that her G'pa looked very young for a grandfather) and that he is not related to Justin (and certainly isn't Justin himself) given Monica has seen both of them and might notice a family resemblance.

Dave wrote:I just realized that there may be a Chekhov's Platoon hanging around.

It's canon that Shelly is not an "only child"! She has seven older brothers.. I don't think we've ever met any of her brothers, and from what Bia has said they might not be able to shape-change... but unless the Wahnee family situation is even more complicated than we've been told, these men would all be half-titan, quarter-sphinx, quarter-human hybrids, would they not?

Interesting point...makes you wonder if the sphinx portion that makes for a stronger "immortal" being involves the ability to transform into the sphinx shape, which would explain why Bia is more interested in her daughter than her sons...and maybe also explains why she went through the trouble of having so many children (had to have a daughter before she was satisfied).

I hate to play devil's Bia's advocate, but due to hints in the comic, this seems to me to be more like a case of A Boy Named Sue,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcQKtl3MGCE than maybe a deliberate desire to be a horrible mother. If Bia's trying to solve a really important dilemma like the Calender Stone problem, she may be justified in using said awful tactics. Just throwing it out for reflection.

Dave wrote:... but unless the Wahnee family situation is even more complicated than we've been told, these men would all be half-titan, quarter-sphinx, quarter-human hybrids, would they not?

Well, let's see. A Griffin is half lion, half eagle. A hippogriff is half griffin, half horse, or in other words, one-quarter eagle. That's $2.50 in gold. The study of mythology is full of surprises. So these guys could be worth a couple of bob at least...



By the dessicated skull of Mogg's grandmother, I'm grateful to have this forum. Otherwise I'd have no clue about what's going on.

The Old Wolf wrote:

Dave wrote:... but unless the Wahnee family situation is even more complicated than we've been told, these men would all be half-titan, quarter-sphinx, quarter-human hybrids, would they not?

Well, let's see. A Griffin is half lion, half eagle. A hippogriff is half griffin, half horse, or in other words, one-quarter eagle. That's $2.50 in gold. The study of mythology is full of surprises. So these guys could be worth a couple of bob at least...



By the dessicated skull of Mogg's grandmother, I'm grateful to have this forum. Otherwise I'd have no clue about what's going on.

*cough* Somebody might want to feed the pun jar a double eagle or three for that....

The Old Wolf wrote:Well, let's see. A Griffin is half lion, half eagle. A hippogriff is half griffin, half horse, or in other words, one-quarter eagle. That's $2.50 in gold. The study of mythology is full of surprises. So these guys could be worth a couple of bob at least...

The Pun Jar wants at least an eagle from you for that, sir. Well played.

Hmmm. We know that sphinxes are very fond of laying down the law to lesser beings... and any titanic member of Bia's bloodline would certainly have the ability to utilize force to get his or her way. Hence, one of those Bobs may be the current editor of Robert's Rules of Order!

I always wondered who Robert was...

Well i don't know about the whole family thing, but i instantly saw what Nudge did to Bia and Phix. Nudge is a aspect demon. This means she is the personification of some kind of ideal or thought process that humans often prescribe a supernatural element to. Her name playfully reveals her true power. Nudge is a lesser aspect of the Demon of Temptation. You might say she is the Demon of Quiet Persuasion. Her power is always active, but she can control it to some extent, but she can never totally shut it off. Nudge is the quiet little voice in your head that reminds you to go ahead and do something, since you were planning on doing it anyway. She cannot force anyone to do anything though. the person must be actively thinking about doing said and would probably do said action even if Nudge wasn't influencing said person.

Nudge purposely used her gift on Bia, most likely because she saw how Shelly was emotionally hurt. And Bia in her arrogance easily kept running her mouth via Nudge's powerful influence. And since Nudge has the ability to read minds, especially when emotions are strong, she was able to 'convince' Bia to keep running her mouth so that we, the readers, could get the whole story. In the end the result was what Nudge wanted, but could only be provided by Phix. Phix was already pissed at Bia, and Nudge's inherent ability/influence just allowed Phix to do what she wanted to do anyway, Bitch Punch Bia out of the Library.

WilliamCA wrote:Well i don't know about the whole family thing, but i instantly saw what Nudge did to Bia and Phix. Nudge is a aspect demon. This means she is the personification of some kind of ideal or thought process that humans often prescribe a supernatural element to. Her name playfully reveals her true power. Nudge is a lesser aspect of the Demon of Temptation. You might say she is the Demon of Quiet Persuasion. Her power is always active, but she can control it to some extent, but she can never totally shut it off. Nudge is the quiet little voice in your head that reminds you to go ahead and do something, since you were planning on doing it anyway. She cannot force anyone to do anything though. the person must be actively thinking about doing said and would probably do said action even if Nudge wasn't influencing said person.

Nudge purposely used her gift on Bia, most likely because she saw how Shelly was emotionally hurt. And Bia in her arrogance easily kept running her mouth via Nudge's powerful influence. And since Nudge has the ability to read minds, especially when emotions are strong, she was able to 'convince' Bia to keep running her mouth so that we, the readers, could get the whole story. In the end the result was what Nudge wanted, but could only be provided by Phix. Phix was already pissed at Bia, and Nudge's inherent ability/influence just allowed Phix to do what she wanted to do anyway, Bitch Punch Bia out of the Library.

I get a feeling that Nudges gentle influence also gave Phix information that she did not have before. I think she did not realize that Bia was her sons wife and that prompted her to feel betrayed by Bia who convinced (forced) her to leave her son on Earth without her. But that is just a guess.

Mark N wrote:I get a feeling that Nudges gentle influence also gave Phix information that she did not have before. I think she did not realize that Bia was her sons wife and that prompted her to feel betrayed by Bia who convinced (forced) her to leave her son on earth without her. But that is just a guess.

That's how I read it, as well.

The Old Wolf wrote:By the dessicated skull of Mogg's grandmother, I'm grateful to have this forum. Otherwise I'd have no clue about what's going on.

Which reminds me: Shall we set up the Confusion Corner in this forum? Say, a thread in which all storyline...uh, threads can be tied together/unravelled at our leisure. Mods & forumites, what say you?

A confusion corner would need to be a discussion board all of it's own. No thread could hold it all and be even partialily readable. I started this one just for a place to discuss what happened during the week comments were disabled on the strip before this forum came active. I am glad I did but let's keep it focused on that week's revelations. lol.

As to being confused welcome to the club. We all have been one time or another.

Thought for the day. When, or if, Shelly has kids she can say Bob's your uncle! Klunk there goes a triple-eagle into the pun jar.

Confusion corner's already been set up - with cookies!

Phix took her frustrations out in the Library's cookbook area.

jwhouk wrote:Confusion corner's already been set up - with cookies!

Phix took her frustrations out in the Library's cookbook area.

Now that would be wonderful. Just don't forget to take them out of the oven because you're thinking too hard about something else. Productive therapy such as chopping wood, kills two birds with one stone.

zachariah wrote:A confusion corner would need to be a discussion board all of it's own. No thread could hold it all and be even partially readable. I started this one just for a place to discuss what happened during the week comments were disabled on the strip before this forum came active. I am glad I did but let's keep it focused on that week's revelations. lol.

Besides, even if we tried to keep the confusion corner organized and comprehensible, its very nature would make it confusing.

Do they make a forum that can express an Escheresque connectivity and multiple-orientation perspective? We'd need one of those.