This Is Better 2013-11-04

[My2Cents]

I could be mistaken, but it looks in panel 2 as if the pot is full of dirt, and pickle appears to have burrowed into the soil.

Probably a vermiculite soilless potting mix.

It is light (low density) and easy to burrow through. Permits air flow while providing excellent anchorage for roots and absorbs and releases nutrients in an optimal manner. Perfect for young plants.

[scantrontb]

"You have a bed"

"This is better!"

Tells you all you need to know about Castela's physiology.

She and Moliere' from the animated Atlantis movie (with Michael J. Fox voicing Milo) would get along just Great!...

[Atomic]

Hmmm... Likely not a relation to Guiron:


Or this guy:


And definitely no relation to this guy -- maybe:


Perhaps a cousin (several times removed) of Ultraman?


Gamera, Rodan, and Monster Zero are right out, too. Nope. Not a clue.

[Fairportfan]

Your last image didn't show on my screen - likely a site that blocks hotlinking. Here he is:

754051_1308782548532_full.jpg (208.63 KiB) Viewed 8358 times

[Skruddgemire]

The look in Atsali's eyes says it all.

<sigh> "Little sisters..."

So have they revealed exactly what Castella is? I know she's a plant of some sort...that's rather obvious. But what is she precisely?

[Grantwhy]

*checks the Wapsi Square Fan Art > Fan Art thread*

What, no "If you won't talk to you children about pot, who will?" fan art from the creative (and talented) people yet?

:-p

[MerchManDan]

Meanwhile, I can't seem to recognize what kind of being it is, talking to Bud in the first panel. Anyone know?

Well, her head is ... uhhh ... i dunno.

Her arms rather resemble a squid's tentacles.

(A squid, like an octopus, has eight arms and also two {longer} tentacles.)

Lulu Cthulhu, perhaps?

But seriously(?), I was thinking the lady rather resembles a catfish, what with the whiskers and fins. As she seems charming enough, she might be related to Chuck the Channel Cat.

I could be mistaken, but it looks in panel 2 as if the pot is full of dirt, and pickle appears to have burrowed into the soil.

Probably a vermiculite soilless potting mix.

It is light (low density) and easy to burrow through. Permits air flow while providing excellent anchorage for roots and absorbs and releases nutrients in an optimal manner. Perfect for young plants.

Castela: "You mean it's GOOD for me?!? NO THANKS!!" *jumps out of pot*

[sheik]

I could be mistaken, but it looks in panel 2 as if the pot is full of dirt, and pickle appears to have burrowed into the soil.

I thought it looked more like ornamental gravel or glass beads, more likely for a decor item. Also I seem to recall a similar situation with a character in the Wotch.

If the pot was that full she would have caused some of the contents to fall out when she dug down into it. She didn't so it is likely the pot was empty and the look is merely shadow. Her face would have been dirty as well in the last panel.

What I saw was a different color glaze on the inside of the pot, seeing as how pot contents of any kind haven't been spilled.

[Boxilar]

I could be mistaken, but it looks in panel 2 as if the pot is full of dirt, and pickle appears to have burrowed into the soil.

I thought it looked more like ornamental gravel or glass beads, more likely for a decor item. Also I seem to recall a similar situation with a character in the Wotch.

If the pot was that full she would have caused some of the contents to fall out when she dug down into it. She didn't so it is likely the pot was empty and the look is merely shadow. Her face would have been dirty as well in the last panel.

Well, we know Pickle is essentially made up of vines that she bundles together to form a human like body, but from the strip where she falls apart (on my phone, can't linky) it looks like she isn't necessarily a solid mass in "human form. The bulk of her coiled vines may be at or on her "skin" with a relatively hollow interior. If that were the case, she wouldn't actually displace much soil, especially if the parts of her in the pot were separated into vines.

Of course, since this is a reality where some folks can add of subtract mass at will (her sister included) it may be a moot point to discuss.

[Grantwhy]

ps: the last couple of pages have reminded me of some of the things I learnt from the times I babysat my niece and nephew when they were little.

• they watch, they learn
• if they can see you, it doesn't matter how focused they are on something (toys etc), they are watching you
• that goes double for listening (eg: learning new and interesting words - or your opinions about another person )
• they are stronger than you think (no, she's only been walking for six months - she's not strong enough to open the fridge yet --> niece runs past with a handful of chocolate from the bottom shelf of the fridge)
• their arms are longer than you think - especially when the thing you 'put out of their reach' is sharp/fragile/heavy/expensive/hot/etc
• they are unexpectedly creative problem solvers [One hot summer day, my nephew (age 2, 2-1/2?) was playing in the lounge room and would go into the kitchen to get a few grapes from the fridge and then go back to the lounge room to play/watch TV. Sometime later his mother heard the fridge "door left open" beep. She walked into the kitchen, stopped, turned around and when off to get a camera to take pictures. My nephew had worked out that he could see the TV from in front of the fridge, so he had pulled over a mattress, opened the fridge, put the mattress in front (so the door could not close) pulled open the drawer with the grapes and made himself comfortable, watching TV, eating cold grapes and with the nice cool air from the fridge falling over him.]
  *edit* forgot one
• they are faster than you think.

[Sidhekin]

I just need to purge this:

"Young lady, what in earth are you doing?"

[shadowinthelight]

*checks the Wapsi Square Fan Art > Fan Art thread*

What, no "If you won't talk to you children about pot, who will?" fan art from the creative (and talented) people yet?

:-p

Here, you happy now?

What I saw was a different color glaze on the inside of the pot, seeing as how pot contents of any kind haven't been spilled.

I didn't see a different color so much as just shading but I agree I don't think it is filled with dirt.

[Bud_Fanboi]

Last panel, never noticed that the pupils of her eyes are little vines. Nice touch. Also, am I the only one who saw the last panel with the fangs and thought "Piranha Pant" from Mario?

[zachariah]

since this is a reality where some folks can add of subtract mass at will (her sister included) it may be a moot point to discuss.

When haven't we discussed moot points on this forum? Over half of our speculation is of that kind at least. Heck I remember a three day extravaganza about PTSS for Kathy from the incident in the desert where the rest of the group was wiped out. That was moot as she has never really shown very many signs she does suffer from it. So moot or not anything is up for grabs here.

At times we more closely resemble an Ent moot more than anything else. It takes a long time to say anything in old wapsish!

[eee]

The pot idea actually makes a lot of sense. They may want to buy a bigger one, though, to give her room to grow. Wouldnt' want her getting root bound.

Meanwhile, I can't seem to recognize what kind of being it is, talking to Bud in the first panel. Anyone know?

She seems to be aquatic, whatever she is. And on intimate enough terms with Bud that she knows her backstory and can comment on the meaning of her name.

Maybe she's Stinky's daughter!

The look in Atsali's eyes says it all.

<sigh> "Little sisters..."

So have they revealed exactly what Castella is? I know she's a plant of some sort...that's rather obvious. But what is she precisely?

She's some sort of animal / plant hybrid. Whose parents apparently didn't want to keep her...

[Jabberwonky]

Also, am I the only one who saw the last panel with the fangs and thought "Piranha Pant" from Mario?

(waves hand high overhead)
I did! I did!
(any follow up is going to have to wait until after work, dammit)

[Atomic]

Also, am I the only one who saw the last panel with the fangs and thought "Piranha Pant" from Mario?

(waves hand high overhead)
I did! I did!
(any follow up is going to have to wait until after work, dammit)

And now I need to make a GIF of a certain someone bobbing up and down out of a pot / pipe / something... heheheheh

<edit - added>
P.S. -- Isn't it likely that the pot was empty, and that pattern was the shadow? I mean, they're in a mall and the pot is for sale, after all. Who sells a pot full of dirt (or whatever) of whatever size that's not in the decorator section?

[Dave]

I could be mistaken, but it looks in panel 2 as if the pot is full of dirt, and pickle appears to have burrowed into the soil.

I thought it looked more like ornamental gravel or glass beads, more likely for a decor item. Also I seem to recall a similar situation with a character in the Wotch.

Definitely glass beads. .. they're both decorative and useful. Decorators cribbed the idea from scientists, who came up with these many years ago. Google-search "boiling beads". They were (and are) used in laboratories, in beakers and flasks that are being heated. By providing surfaces with lots of minute irregularities that act as nucleating sites, they ensure that the liquid comes to a gentle bubbling and gradual simmer when heated. Without them, a liquid can "superheat" without boiling, and then suddenly flash over and spew boiling liquid everywhere... messy and dangerous.

That's why a Wotched pot never boils (over).

(deposits a sterling silver Bunsen burner in the Pun Jar... a rare family heirloom, passed down through many generations of mad scientists)

[DilyV]

I love Atsali's expression in that last panel... almost as if she is saying "She's got you there, Bud."

[Sidhekin]

She seems to be aquatic, whatever she is. And on intimate enough terms with Bud that she knows her backstory and can comment on the meaning of her name.

The meaning of Acacia? Not the most esoteric of lore.

But yeah, "little farm girl" is perhaps more an intimate thing. Not the knowledge. The chimera have been major celebrities among paranormals for thousands of years, even if Bud doesn't really like being reminded why. But the teasing tone ...

Also on whatever-she-is: It never fails. No matter how aquatic, she's unmistakably mammalian.