Wapsi Square Forum

Linky: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/used-to-you/

Awwwww... I miss these two... This is the first time a real time frame has been discussed on how long it felt to Bud when she was in the demon realm extricating Mayahuel. Seconds to Jin, Monica and Brandi... almost a week for Bud.

I like Bud's line

Bud wrote:Being with your mom all that time? NAAH! I've been used to living with you!

So, what's the scale factor here? A month of Jin-crazy being roughly comparable to a week of Mayahuel-crazy? More? Less? Are we off into transfinite numbers?

DilyV wrote:This is the first time a real time frame has been discussed on how long it felt to Bud when she was in the demon realm extricating Mayahuel. Seconds to Jin, Monica and Brandi... almost a week for Bud.

And I'll bet that moment when Bud glyphed the ink out of Shelly's tattoo and shut down the portal, felt a lot longer than a moment to Shelly!

That's our Bud!

talk about back handed compliments.

That's interesting. Bud went into the Demon Realm fully clothed and wearing boots, and came out barefoot wearing rags. It must have been an active few days.

Dave wrote:So, what's the scale factor here? A month of Jin-crazy being roughly comparable to a week of Mayahuel-crazy? More? Less? Are we off into transfinite numbers?

May comes across as a much more relaxed person than Jin. Of course, May didn't have to go through 57(?) Calendar Machine cycles, manipulating people and making and losing friends to try to fix the problem. She just hung out in the Demon Realm, probably talking to Demons.

BUD!!! *Squeals* I've missed her so much!!!

eee wrote:That's interesting. Bud went into the Demon Realm fully clothed and wearing boots, and came out barefoot wearing rags. It must have been an active few days.

Well, I got the impression that she was on the run from the Demons there, so that would have probably increased the wear and tear when compared to leisurely strolling through the place to find an exit.

She did better than McClane did. He looked like crap at the end of Die Hard.

Granted, that was a rough night for the guy, but a week tracking down Mayahuel in a spacey-wacey, timey-wimey realm of sentient embodiments of emotions? I'd say the fact that Bud wasn't nude and stark-raving mad was a hell of an accomplishment. To say nothing of Mayahuel, who spent a looooot of time there.

Julie wrote:Well, I got the impression that she was on the run from the Demons there, so that would have probably increased the wear and tear when compared to leisurely strolling through the place to find an exit.

I'd think it might also be part of the "fragile soap bubble" issue for golems. Part of the reason that we mortals don't chew up our clothing more than we do, is that most things that will damage what we're wearing also happen to hurt... often a lot.

In a way, golems are in a situation sort of like humans with congenital analgesia - they simply don't notice certain types of damaging event very easily, and thus don't avoid those sorts of events.

GlytchMeister wrote:She did better than McClane did. He looked like crap at the end of Die Hard.

Granted, that was a rough night for the guy, but a week tracking down Mayahuel in a spacey-wacey, timey-wimey realm of sentient embodiments of emotions? I'd say the fact that Bud wasn't nude and stark-raving mad was a hell of an accomplishment. To say nothing of Mayahuel, who spent a looooot of time there.

I think Mayahuel was already stark-raving mad before she went into the demon realm, but that's just me...

"Her recipe is what included so much of the human from the ash,that we still have all our idiotic quirks."

This sentence sounds weird as it is currently worded and punctuated.

"It was her recipe that included so much of the human from our ashes that we still have all our idiotic quirks" is what I think Paul is trying to say.

Or even better,"Her recipe included so much of the human left in our ashes that we still have all our idiotic quirks."

The original sentence probably made sense in Paul's head given that he can hear Bud's inflections, but it doesn't translate to writ very well.

Sorry to be a grammar nazi, but the English major in me was foaming at the mouth.

Masterof7s wrote:"Her recipe is what included so much of the human from the ash,that we still have all our human quirks."

This sentence makes no sense as it is currently worded.

"It was her recipe that included so much of the human from our ashes, that we still have all our human quirks" is what I think Paul is trying to say.

Or even better,"Her recipe included so much of the human left in our ashes that we still have all our human quirks."

The original sentence probably made sense in Paul's head given that he can hear Bud's inflections, but it doesn't translate to writ very well.

Sorry to be a grammar nazi, but the English major in me was foaming at the mouth.

Actually, I think what Bud said, falls well within the range of "American vernacular" grammar... for spoken language, at least. Granted, it's not what would probably be written down by a precisionist, but that's true of a great deal of spoken language. People often tend to use verbal shortcuts or smear things together when speaking, if it saves words.

I can't speak for everybody, but I had no trouble parsing it and understanding what she meant. And, fundamentally, what we see in the strip isn't intended to be written literature: it's a written transcript of verbal conversations.

I'm reminded a bit of some dialog from E.E. "Doc" Smith's classic "Skylark" space-opera series. Smith was (initially at least) pilloried by critics for the "college-boy" style of the dialog (in particular, the slangy speech style of protagonist Richard Seaton). He got a bit of a dig back at his critics in the text of the second book in the series, "Skylark Three":

"Well, that puts me out of a job. What to do? Don't want to study, like
you. Can't crochet, like Peg. Darned if I'll sit cross-legged on a
pillow and eat candy, like that Titian blonde over there on the floor. I
know what--I'll build me a mechanical educator and teach Shiro to talk
English instead of that mess of language he indulges in. How'd that be,
Mart?"

"Don't do it," put in Dorothy, positively. "He's just too perfect the
way he is. Especially don't do it if he'd talk the way you do--or could
you teach him to talk the way you write?"

"Ouch! That's a dirty dig. However, Mrs. Seaton, I am able and willing
to defend my customary mode of speech. You realize that the spoken word
is ephemeral, whereas the thought, whose nuances have once been
expressed in imperishable print is not subject to revision--its
crudities can never be remodeled into more subtle, more gracious
shading. It is my contention that, due to these inescapable conditions,
the mental effort necessitated by the employment of nice distinctions in
sense and meaning of words and a slavish adherence to the dictates of
the more precise grammarians should be reserved for the print...."

He broke off as Dorothy, in one lithe motion, rose and hurled her pillow
at his head.

"Choke him, somebody! Perhaps you had better build it, Dick, after all."

Also, remember that Bud is not a native speaker of English (American or otherwise). It's probably at least her 10th major language, and Zeus only knows how many dialects she speaks or has spoken. Having individual characters possess grammatical or phrasing quirks is a long tradition in literature. I think I recall that Busby's character Rissa Kergeulen once adopted a disguise persona, distinguished by the fact that when in that role she never once used a verbal contraction.

That's kinda disappointing. Like several adventures these beings have had, I figured her time in the demon realm was for years, relative time. Maybe hundreds or thousands. That's nothing to these guys. But only a week? Besides, how does she know? Time doesn't exist in the demon realm. No sunsets no sunrises. Nothing. She wasn't even wearing a watch. But then, would a watch work there?

KnightDelight wrote:But only a week? Besides, how does she know? Time doesn't exist in the demon realm. No sunsets no sunrises. Nothing. She wasn't even wearing a watch. But then, would a watch work there?

She has a Thunderclock board installed.

(Let's see who gets that.)

AnotherFairportfan wrote:

KnightDelight wrote:But only a week? Besides, how does she know? Time doesn't exist in the demon realm. No sunsets no sunrises. Nothing. She wasn't even wearing a watch. But then, would a watch work there?

She has a Thunderclock board installed.

(Let's see who gets that.)

Goes into the card-edge connector right behind her main access panel, right! The one marked "spleen"?

Dave wrote:

AnotherFairportfan wrote:

KnightDelight wrote:But only a week? Besides, how does she know? Time doesn't exist in the demon realm. No sunsets no sunrises. Nothing. She wasn't even wearing a watch. But then, would a watch work there?

She has a Thunderclock board installed.

(Let's see who gets that.)

Goes into the card-edge connector right behind her main access panel, right! The one marked "spleen"?

I thought the thunderclock board was what held the thundermug... also known as a gazunder

Masterof7s wrote:"Her recipe is what included so much of the human from the ash,that we still have all our idiotic quirks."

This sentence sounds weird as it is currently worded and punctuated.

Damn you for making me notice that. That is a rather awkward, place to put a comma.

AnotherFairportfan wrote:

KnightDelight wrote:But only a week? Besides, how does she know? Time doesn't exist in the demon realm. No sunsets no sunrises. Nothing. She wasn't even wearing a watch. But then, would a watch work there?

She has a Thunderclock board installed.

(Let's see who gets that.)

Or maybe an AST Sixpack...

KnightDelight wrote:That's kinda disappointing. Like several adventures these beings have had, I figured her time in the demon realm was for years, relative time. Maybe hundreds or thousands. That's nothing to these guys. But only a week?

Well, think of it like this: Bud perceived it as less than a week, but since time is relative, the others think it was a few minutes; in that vein, you're free to believe it really was centuries or more.

KnightDelight wrote:Besides, how does she know? Time doesn't exist in the demon realm. No sunsets no sunrises. Nothing. She wasn't even wearing a watch. But then, would a watch work there?

Now there's an interesting thought: A device that measures something that does not exist. I'd presume a watch in the demon realm would do something, such as make noise and display nonsense--much like a PKE meter would do in this world.

AnotherFairportfan wrote:She has a Thunderclock board installed.

(Let's see who gets that.)

If you ever needed your Apple ][ to tell time, you needed one, eh?