Wapsi Square Forum

* Head Desk* * Head Desk* * Head Desk* Pay the pun jar guys!

DinkyInky wrote:* Head Desk* * Head Desk* * Head Desk* Pay the pun jar guys!

This is kinda UnBEARable for you huh???? (The PunVault has me on auto pay now)

DinkyInky wrote:* Head Desk* * Head Desk* * Head Desk* Pay the pun jar guys!

(Drops a gold-tipped bat (Kerivoula papuensis) into the Pun Jar. "Baseball been berry, berry good to me!")

God? Are you there?

Okay, yeah.

Listen, Big Guy, i don't know any of these wiseacres.

No need to toss any lightning bolts this way, okay?

Wyvern wrote:Frame three also includes little Pickle, who's probably learning more from the bigger girls than they realize.

Are you saying that she might grow up and become knotty?

And then, if she waxes nostalgic, she might be naughty, pining for the orphanage.

Throws a can of shellac into the pun jar, lest it give me a shellacking!

Werebears! Ursanthrope? I wonder how Phix feels about werebears? Of course it could be werewolves are also cute when young.

I sincerely hope the folks at SyFy don't read this blog. They'll have a crappy hack movie out about a rabid group of werebears out by next week! A whole new genre of nonsense to exploit. Though the cartoon hacks may beat them to it with a spin on "care bears" using "wear bears" to sell a line of bear clothes for a group of stuffed bears, from a cartoon of the same name. I guess they would be people/gnomes/dogs/cats/Japanese school girls who turn into wear bears to right wrongs, looking stylish while doing so. Then they'll be the "Wear Bear Friends" to expand the line to include other animals and mythical beings.

Bathorys Daughter wrote:Werebears! Ursanthrope? I wonder how Phix feels about werebears? Of course it could be werewolves are also cute when young.

I sincerely hope the folks at SyFy don't read this blog. They'll have a crappy hack movie out about a rabid group of werebears out by next week! A whole new genre of nonsense to exploit. Though the cartoon hacks may beat them to it with a spin on "care bears" using "wear bears" to sell a line of bear clothes for a group of stuffed bears, from a cartoon of the same name. I guess they would be people/gnomes/dogs/cats/Japanese school girls who turn into wear bears to right wrongs, looking stylish while doing so. Then they'll be the "Wear Bear Friends" to expand the line to include other animals and mythical beings.

My concern is with the extreme ones in Furry Fandom. They can come up with some very disturbing ideas for the Bear Twins (Ursa Sisters??) (including ways to leave them bare).

I do have to point out that it's probably a lot easier to be dismissive of others' excessive concern about shape when one's own shape (or appearance, anyway?) is malliable at will... I wonder what the cultural conventions are on just how much one is allowed to adjust/enhance/glamour before it's considered going overboard.

Interesting that we're starting to get a sense of just how large, and organized, the non-human population is.

Blushing thru fur... Maybe Atsali sees some infrared? Fur wouldn't completely hide that.

as363 wrote: Perhaps with Pickle around she can pick up little tidbits that she can ask Atsalia on private . Just saying.

At that age she's just as likely to ask Atsali or Katherine when they're in public, surrounded by other people, and at full volume.

Because there are few places better than a crowded elevator to ask, "What's a push up bra?"

Mark N wrote:My concern is with the extreme ones in Furry Fandom. They can come up with some very disturbing ideas for the Bear Twins (Ursa Sisters??) (including ways to leave them bare).

Outside of the fact that they're underage, I'll admit to curiosity about just how humanoid some of the nonhumans are or aren't. Monkey curiosity combined with the same grooming behavior impulse that makes me spend hours massaging my cats.

Speaking of which, one of the cats says I should get off the keyboard and give her a backrub. She's right.

loxmyth wrote: I wonder what the cultural conventions are on just how much one is allowed to adjust/enhance/glamour before it's considered going overboard.

Heh.

For those not familiar with El Goonish Shive: Susan the taller, black-haired girl is sort of ... well, not exactly prudish but ... reticent might be a better word ... about sexuality in general. Sarah, the blonde, is not particularly reticent, just has a more-or-less normal seventeen-year-old attitude.

The "watch" Sarah has on her left wrist is a magitech gadget invented by their friend Tedd that allows the wearer to make changes in their body. Sarah has the sort of body-image issues many girls her age have, though not to excess.

That should be enough to get on with.

loxmyth wrote:. . .I'll admit to curiosity about just how humanoid some of the nonhumans are or aren't.

I've wondered why rather than how much (well, perhaps an equal amount of each for a few specific characters) they appear humanoid. For ones such as Bud or Tina, it's because they started off as ordinary humans. But then you have the sirens, or Euryale, or squiddish woman, or Nudge, or the Titans. Often the individual parts of them have very non-human features, yet they still are very humanoid overall. Even when they're being their natural selves. Have all of these various species--humans included--simply evolved towards one optimal shape? Or did lots of humans in the past get rather intimate with various other animals, populating the world with creatures such as the sphinxes who have partial human genes? Is there some paranormal ISO standard at work?

Sure, you can say, "It's because the artist decided that it's easier to convey expression", or whatever, but that's cheating. What could be the in-universe reason?

Catawampus wrote:What could be the in-universe reason?

Another possibility is that, like the golems, some of these were once engineered species. And I'm not excluding humans from that possibility. If so, some reuse of useful genes might be expected. As might some bioengineering for shared culture -- everyone having the same sort of hands, for example, avoids having to redesign products drastically for each community. (Same reason polydactyl humans are usually surgically trimmed down to 5 fingers shortly after birth -- not just for appearance, but because otherwise their hands don't fit mass-produced gloves or tools or whatever.)

The fact that some interbreeding was apparently possible, at least in specific cases, is ... interesting. Might need assistance from magic or Lanthian/Titanian science to make that viable, admittedly; we weren't given details.

Maybe we're all shapeshifters and just don't normally have access to that ability?

All the characters are somewhat human shaped because it makes the story easier to tell. It allows us, the readers, to more easily believe the human motivations for what the characters do. Otherwise we might start wondering why a giant squid is acting in a human manner, as it is clearly not human. Basically a way to reduce the amont of exposition down on explaining motives in non-human terms.

Oh, come on!

You think we're gonna believe that some cartoonist just invented this world?

He's gonna make Castela cry if he keeps on like that!

Fairportfan wrote:Oh, come on!

You think we're gonna believe that some cartoonist just invented this world?

I agree, FF. That's just crazy talk!

I think the classical reason for anthropic animals is all them dang classical gods and goddesses sleeping with swans and fish and whatever........

You kids get off my yard.....

Catawampus wrote:Sure, you can say, "It's because the artist decided that it's easier to convey expression", or whatever, but that's cheating. What could be the in-universe reason?

Umm...if we're going to get creative... What if what we're seeing isn't actually their truest of true forms? I mean, yes...they were told that the mall would be closed to the public so they wouldn't have to worry about maintaining a human form, but if they're shopping for clothes that they'd wear around Earth (human form or otherwise), it seems fair to assume that they'd need to try said clothing on...and a humanoid form might be best suited to that task. Not to mention the fact that this mall is used by the unaware human public during non-paranormal-shopping hours, so it's likely designed with humanoid movement needs in mind. It could be tricky to navigate the stores in their true forms. Also, while the humans staffing the place may be paranormal-friendly, it may be more difficult to communicate with them (or even pay for things) if in a non-humanoid form unless MiB is going to assign a humanoid agent as facilitator for each person who wishes to shop on four (or more) legs or with wings instead of arms.

Do those reasons work for you?

...and even the most paranormal-friendly might be a bit non-plussed if a couple of medium-size bears come wandering casually in.