My Kung Fu Is Strong 2013-12-03

[NOTDilbert]

Ya know, in the Wapsiverse, "young grasshopper" could be a literal reference in some cases.

That just inspired a horrible thought.

They don't get LOCUSTS in Minneapolis, do they?

I think Paul may have decided against including such, in the Wapsiverse canon, out of fairness to the other paranormals.

Wouldn't be cricket, you see.

The Pun Jar would like to speak with you about your account....

[illiad]

trouble is, words get mangled in translation... Gōngfu (功夫) is the word..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_fu_(term)
.. only they forget later... SO many words have been mangled due to 'popular use' even though the original meaning is wrong... (restroom???? I need to pee, not to rest!!!!)

what Monica is really talking about is 文胸的製作技巧 ...

[Bathorys Daughter]

Should it not be something like "Bra-Fu" rather than Kung-Fu in keeping with the meme of naming the ability after the subject? Such as Math-Fu, Parking-Fu or even Meme-Fu. Fortunately for Pickle, her Cute-Fu is as strong as her Blurtout-Fu.

[Atomic]

Adorable!

<wet_blanket>
Even so, it's worth mentioning that women (and sirens) the world over have done just fine without brassieres for millennia. They're not a health item, they're a fashion item - like corsets, bustiers, and so on. Breasts form, fill, and settle on the ribcage with maturity, and the desire to hang 'em high is cultural. I hope part of Monica's guidance includes helping Atsali accept her new form and become independent, rather than becoming dependent on artifice to meet some social fashion.
</wet_blanket>

[zachariah]

Ya know, in the Wapsiverse, "young grasshopper" could be a literal reference in some cases.

That just inspired a horrible thought.

They don't get LOCUSTS in Minneapolis, do they?

Yes they do. Politicians.

[zachariah]

Should it not be something like "Bra-Fu" rather than Kung-Fu in keeping with the meme of naming the ability after the subject? Such as Math-Fu, Parking-Fu or even Meme-Fu. Fortunately for Pickle, her Cute-Fu is as strong as her Blurtout-Fu.

I suspect she is making the movie reference rather than claiming expertise in bra's. Lidia is the one with strong Bra Fu and has strongly upheld her right to the accolade. After all she is a large part of Monica's support staff.

[loxmyth]

That's one of the things I like about Waspi Square ... it's so educational...

(Insert half-<grin/> here. I'm actually serious; despite the bra ninjas and so on, the fact is that we guys rarely think about the fact that bras do have to fit rather better than most clothing if they're to be comfortable. We're aware of how much variation there is in the human body, and the more clueful of us are aware that nobody is perfectly bilaterally symmetric in any regard, but we aren't forced to deal with that quite so directly. And I'm half cat; I'm curious about everything.)

[as363]

Donation to the Pun Vault in advance - - - Would I be wrong in saying that I strongly support this comic ??

Edited one time - stupid fingers

[kingklash]

Now, this is something Monica can apply life-long experience to! She can help Atsali with not only how to properly shop for the Right Bra, but also some smaller details, like if going braless at home, don't spin around too fast, or dance the Time Warp so vigorously.

Also, the Crimson Mantis might just have found a sidekick more agreeable than the Bumbling Bumblebee. An unraveled Castela, the Giggling Squiggle!

[Atomic]

Also, the Crimson Mantis might just have found a sidekick more agreeable than the Bumbling Bumblebee. An unraveled Castela, the Giggling Squiggle!

Can't wait for the movie!

[Aleister Crow]

I wonder if Lidia's ever had a customer that can sprout wings before.

[DilyV]

I wonder if Lidia's ever had a customer that can sprout wings before.

Somehow I'm thinking that won't be much of a problem. It appears that her wings sprout well above the strap line and well inside the shoulder straps... still, she could go with a halter style bra and not have to worry about the interference. With Lidia's knowledge of lingerie and secret un-named government agencies, I think it suffices to say she's at least a contractor for the MiB... if not a paranormal herself. She called Monica Kotehok... has anyone ever figured out if there is a cultural or language reference there?

EDIT:After a little research, I found that Kotehok is Russian. It is a term used for male kittens, however it can be used as a term of endearment for a female too. Interesting... Lidia is Russian... You know how it is in Russia... Our paranormals are better than YOUR paranormals!!! In Russia you do not make bra. Bra makes YOU!!!

Interesting, as that fits in exactly with Lidia's work ethic when it comes to Monica's bras... not to mention that Monica is in essence... a kitten. Of sorts. one must wonder just how much Lidia knew about Monica before her obvious transformation? To be honest, I don't think the concentration of paranormals in Wapsi Square and the surrounding area is coincidence at all... I think that it is a support system put in place to guide and support Monica as she matured into the Jaguar Girl.

[Catawampus]

She called Monica Kotehok... has anyone ever figured out if there is a cultural or language reference there?

Well, it wouldn't be an unheard of sort of nickname for a Russian speaker to use on a young girl, but it could also imply that Lydia had some knowledge of the whole Jaguar Girl thing.

[Dave]

She called Monica Kotehok... has anyone ever figured out if there is a cultural or language reference there?

The lettering in her speech was accented in a way which makes me believe it's Cyrillic text, used in Russian and Ukrainian and related languages... in which case the pronunciation would probably be "kotenok", meaning "kitten" (I think it's a diminuative e.g. "little kitten" or "dear kitten" but my high school study of Russian was over 40 years ago).

So, Lydia may well be of Russian extraction.

It's probably not all that likely that she's actually Baba Yaga but she might possibly be from the same clan? (shrug)

[DilyV]

She called Monica Kotehok... has anyone ever figured out if there is a cultural or language reference there?

Well, it wouldn't be an unheard of sort of nickname for a Russian speaker to use on a young girl, but it could also imply that Lydia had some knowledge of the whole Jaguar Girl thing.

I'd come to the same conclusion and was editing at the time you posted... I'll say this about Paul and this comic... it makes you think

[Dave]

I'd come to the same conclusion and was editing at the time you posted... I'll say this about Paul and this comic... it makes you think

Oh, yeaaaaahhhh! Definitely.

I think that's one part of the answer to the question you raised a few days ago... how it is that Wapsi Square is so able to suck us into the "black hole" of engagement with its characters and story. The characters are a big part of it, of course... their emotional realism amidst a fantastic background, and the fact that a lot of them are people that we'd love to have as friends ourselves. It's all a cartoon, but they don't come across as cartoon characters.

The depth of Paul's storytelling is another big part of it... as here. His ability to layer meaning and complexity into the dialog... in effect, creating a wealth of "back-story" right in front of our eyes, to be revealed as relevant only months or years later... is often quite astonishing. It's a challenge to keep up with going on, and even more of a challenge to occasionally suss out one of his buried clues and get a hint for a future "reveal". (I still get a huge giggle out of the way Shelly knocked Justin's running shoes into the air when she disclosed herself to him as a sphinx, with the "swoosh" and logo revealing them as Nikes... and only a year or more later we learn that Shelly is in fact a half-Titan and a very close relative of Nike's! That was elegant!)

Paul's storytelling requires that you think, if you want to really appreciate the story. That's rare and unusual, in today's world of explicit spoon-feeding of entertainment designed for passive viewers. And, it's damnably addictive.

Please don't throw me into that briar patch, Mr. Pablo!

[JSStryker]

I'd come to the same conclusion and was editing at the time you posted... I'll say this about Paul and this comic... it makes you think

Oh, yeaaaaahhhh! Definitely.

I think that's one part of the answer to the question you raised a few days ago... how it is that Wapsi Square is so able to suck us into the "black hole" of engagement with its characters and story. The characters are a big part of it, of course... their emotional realism amidst a fantastic background, and the fact that a lot of them are people that we'd love to have as friends ourselves. It's all a cartoon, but they don't come across as cartoon characters.

The depth of Paul's storytelling is another big part of it... as here. His ability to layer meaning and complexity into the dialog... in effect, creating a wealth of "back-story" right in front of our eyes, to be revealed as relevant only months or years later... is often quite astonishing. It's a challenge to keep up with going on, and even more of a challenge to occasionally suss out one of his buried clues and get a hint for a future "reveal". (I still get a huge giggle out of the way Shelly knocked Justin's running shoes into the air when she disclosed herself to him as a sphinx, with the "swoosh" and logo revealing them as Nikes... and only a year or more later we learn that Shelly is in fact a half-Titan and a very close relative of Nike's! That was elegant!)

Paul's storytelling requires that you think, if you want to really appreciate the story. That's rare and unusual, in today's world of explicit spoon-feeding of entertainment designed for passive viewers. And, it's damnably addictive.

Please don't throw me into that briar patch, Mr. Pablo!

I agree! I have no idea what makes the Wapsiverse so addicting, all I know is It is the first webcomic I check each day. I've read the archives from beginning to end three times now in the last two months. I enjoy the heck out of reading the forums also, You all are fun to read and you make me think.

[Catawampus]

Or he's just really, really good at taking offhand details and lines that he wrote long ago, looking at them, and deciding, "Hmmm, y'know, I could work that into the next storyline I'm planning. . .".

Though I expect that most of it does actually involve some advanced planning. Perhaps he has copies of the entire run of Wapsi Square from previous times when the Calendar Machine reset, so he just looks ahead to see what he's going to write and then writes what is needed to set that up. Yeah, that explains much.

The other alternative, of course, being that the readers are just reading more into the details than was even intended. But of course that sort of thing never happens anywhere.

[Dave]

Or he's just really, really good at taking offhand details and lines that he wrote long ago, looking at them, and deciding, "Hmmm, y'know, I could work that into the next storyline I'm planning. . .".

Though I expect that most of it does actually involve some advanced planning. Perhaps he has copies of the entire run of Wapsi Square from previous times when the Calendar Machine reset, so he just looks ahead to see what he's going to write and then writes what is needed to set that up. Yeah, that explains much.

The other alternative, of course, being that the readers are just reading more into the details than was even intended. But of course that sort of thing never happens anywhere.

Well, I imagine the "take an offhand detail, and work it in" thing does happen here... sometimes. Always, though? I really doubt it... some of them just fit too damned well to be a "happy serendipity" for a new storyline... they feel too carefully pre-planned to me (and I admit that this is a subjective call on my part). Like the old saying goes... "once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action."

I sense more than a bit of similarity between Paul, and "jms" (J. Michael Straczynski), the creator of the SF television series "Babylon 5". B5 was a very innovative series for its day: it broke out of the then-typical "episodic, stand-alone, reset-after-each-week" structure of most television SF, with a "five year story arc" structure... plotlines covering multiple weeks or months, sub-arcs of story and character, and little "tidbits" planted in early episodes that turned out to be hugely significant months or years later.

jms clearly had the story-structure of the "arc" laid out in his head when he started. The story and story-telling did evolve and change during the five years of the show, due to actors leaving and being replaced, scheduling and network pressure (including a change of networks), and so forth... but the pattern was there even in the early days.

I remember seeing the first episodes, and being interested but less than overwhelmed... mostly "establishing" stories, largely stand-alone, with characters that seemed fairly typical for SF shows.

And then, came "Mind War". Bester, the Psi Corp, the Psi Cops, and hints of their political maneuvering and their attempts to "force" telepaths to even greater power. The first glimpse of the First Ones, and a history dating back millions or billions of years. And, most of all, G'kar, the Narn ambassador... a militaristic, chauvinistic, opportunistic loudmouth... of whom we suddenly see (in his own words) "No one here is exactly what he appears."

I listened to what G'kar said to Catherine Sakai, after she returned from Sigma 957, and it was as if a two-dimensional cartoon world of the future suddenly snapped into sharp focus and three (or more) dimensions. The story and characters suddenly acquired an amazing sense of depth... and it's a depth that the story-telling over the remaining 4+ years continued to establish and use.

Wapsi Square is kinda like that, for me... it has depth.

[DilyV]

Or he's just really, really good at taking offhand details and lines that he wrote long ago, looking at them, and deciding, "Hmmm, y'know, I could work that into the next storyline I'm planning. . .".

Though I expect that most of it does actually involve some advanced planning. Perhaps he has copies of the entire run of Wapsi Square from previous times when the Calendar Machine reset, so he just looks ahead to see what he's going to write and then writes what is needed to set that up. Yeah, that explains much.

The other alternative, of course, being that the readers are just reading more into the details than was even intended. But of course that sort of thing never happens anywhere.

Well, I imagine the "take an offhand detail, and work it in" thing does happen here... sometimes. Always, though? I really doubt it... some of them just fit too damned well to be a "happy serendipity" for a new storyline... they feel too carefully pre-planned to me (and I admit that this is a subjective call on my part). Like the old saying goes... "once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action."

I sense more than a bit of similarity between Paul, and "jms" (J. Michael Straczynski), the creator of the SF television series "Babylon 5". B5 was a very innovative series for its day: it broke out of the then-typical "episodic, stand-alone, reset-after-each-week" structure of most television SF, with a "five year story arc" structure... plotlines covering multiple weeks or months, sub-arcs of story and character, and little "tidbits" planted in early episodes that turned out to be hugely significant months or years later.

jms clearly had the story-structure of the "arc" laid out in his head when he started. The story and story-telling did evolve and change during the five years of the show, due to actors leaving and being replaced, scheduling and network pressure (including a change of networks), and so forth... but the pattern was there even in the early days.

I remember seeing the first episodes, and being interested but less than overwhelmed... mostly "establishing" stories, largely stand-alone, with characters that seemed fairly typical for SF shows.

And then, came "Mind War". Bester, the Psi Corp, the Psi Cops, and hints of their political maneuvering and their attempts to "force" telepaths to even greater power. The first glimpse of the First Ones, and a history dating back millions or billions of years. And, most of all, G'kar, the Narn ambassador... a militaristic, chauvinistic, opportunistic loudmouth... of whom we suddenly see (in his own words) "No one here is exactly what he appears."

I listened to what G'kar said to Catherine Sakai, after she returned from Sigma 957, and it was as if a two-dimensional cartoon world of the future suddenly snapped into sharp focus and three (or more) dimensions. The story and characters suddenly acquired an amazing sense of depth... and it's a depth that the story-telling over the remaining 4+ years continued to establish and use.

Wapsi Square is kinda like that, for me... it has depth.

Or layers disguised as Depth... this comic is forever sending me back through the archives in search of some nugget of information... Then I get all bent out of whack when I can't find it...