I saw that too. It helps to get a few hours rest when it doesn’t update on time.
“Open Sesame”
“Open Sez you”
“Open Sasami”
“Open Season”
“Open Sarsaparilla”
“Open Sundays Only”
“Open Seven to Eleven”
Given that she knows that Monica has used the Annex before, she could just phone Monica and ask how to access it?
However, I got the impression that it was automatic. Justin is a guest of Shelly and she’s not under duress so the question remains why the presence of Justin (Shelly has already been invited) activated the warning? What kind of being is Justin? I suspect that little detail is now very important.
You know as well as I. That it would be way too easy if Shelly where to just call Monica and ask her for directions as to how she can gain access the Library annex.
Besides, for Shelly it has to be a learning experience.
The answer is kinda obvious.. He is on the libarary’s black list already.. The odds on bet is he and Phix have history but must have known her under a different name. Or is it Nudge that bumped nasties in the past?
It looks like there’s a simpler reason. Looking at Sonicthunder’s post (and a quick look back at the archives) suggests that you only get the right to bring guests once you’ve shown yourself to be a responsible user.
Not quite. When Monica went to the annex it apparently looked like a library immediately upon entrance – at least it did “not look like a scary abandoned building”. It was the books that appeared after her request.
Although the POVs are not the same, the “decors” are quite different. For whatever reason – wrong entrance, uninvited guest – I’m afraid Shelly is in an old abandoned warehouse, not the annex.
Monica also said, “I’m invited” as she first walked in. Perhaps announcing that worked the same way as announcing what she wanted to read.
The other thing is that Phix originally told Tina that she trusted Monica to determine who could get in. One would think that the same would apply to Shelly now, but I don’t recall that ever being stated.
At some point Paul is going to have to spell out what all these Sphinx and Library Laws are and what they’re for, or there’s never going to a be a viable Wapsi RPG.
I don’t know if that will work for Shelly… she’s not particularly studious, and I suspect she doesn’t know the Elvish tongue of the latter days of the West. She wouldn’t know how to say “friend” in the correct language.
Monica is clearly better-read, and under similar circumstances I’m sure she would remember to bring her mellons.
In yesterday’s strip Shelly states that Phix gave her the address (panel 1) so that implies that she has access independent of Monica. However, she says that it’s only those invited (panel 2) so maybe Phix didn’t give her the right to bring guests?
That would be my guess. Justin was not invited, so the Annex isn’t there. I wouldn’t be surprised if either Phix or Nudge isn’t alerted by the Library though.
Plus, the Annex would not appear if she was under duress. She was already pretty nervous before entering, possibly the Library’s alarm system counts that as “duress”, especially since she was with an un-invited stranger.
Seems likely. The question is, is it because he hasn’t been welcomed yet by Phix or Monica, or isn’t the right sort of entity (is he even human?), or does he have a …history?
Perhaps Shelley will get dressed down later for being presumptuous.
In theory, Creepy has been to the main Library before, when Shelly was first introduced to Phix. And panel 1 here suggests Shelly may have even had an annex in the Forest, which would have been kins and generous. In any case, Creepy is not likely keeping the annex from manifesting.
On the other hand, if the Library reacts to threat assessments from the apos, Creepy (or even Shelly) may be on their sh!t list. Possibly neither Phix nor Nudge can override that.
But it’s probably either:
1) Justin is an Adventurer known to the Library.
2) Shelly took the East 18th Street entrance instead of the magical Stevens Ave. South one.
Then there’s Nudge. Sure, she had that whole scheme with Shelly-Sphinx over using the forest to work-around the linear-time of Wapsiverse. But Shelly did try to kill Nudge once. Nudge loves to be unpredictable, so this could be a prank of hers (against Shelly, Phix, or both).
Yeah, that’s not likely possible. Hell, I kind of wonder how Nudge would react to Justin, given his ‘magnetic personality’.
*Drops in a pocket full of change*
Hopefully that should cover the next one or two. Sorry, being a regular in the Sluggy Freelance forums sort of makes this behavior impossible to abstain from.
OH, Ye of little faith…. Did any of you LOOK at the address that Phix said to USE vs. the address she said NOT to use? the address that Shelly and Justin are at right now is, i’m assuming from Paul’s link to Google Maps yesterday, the East 18th street entrance… NOT the CORRECT address on STEVEN’S AVE. S. as stated here: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/transfer-of-the-address/ so, ultimately all your theories are moot.
If you go to street level, there sre three buildings at the intersection of Stevens Ave S and East 18th Street. Only one of them has an entrance on Stevens, and it is not the building indicated on Google Maps, at least not when I follow the link.
I would love to live in Minneapolis and try to track down Wapsi Square from the clues Paul gives.
You know, I live in the TCAM (Twin Cities Metro Area), and I’ve always meant to look for it myself. I just Google mapped the Annex’s entrance’s intersection, and there appears to be a park on the fourth corner of the E 18th Street and Stevens Ave intersection. It’s apparently called Stevens Square. Maybe he just swapped Wapsi for Stevens?
Many established Wapsi Square scenes are in that general part of the city, yes; Stephens Square is the northernmost specific site I can recall, the others being Lake Calhoun and some intersections east of it. For example, Mucho Mocha is apparently within walking distance of Lake & Hennepin.
Correct, but if the building doesn’t have it’s MAILING ADDRESS as the one on Stevens, it won’t show it as being on that street even though it has an actual entrance from that street… think about buildings that take up an entire city block… do they have 4 different addresses one for each street?… no, they only have one address even if they have entrances on all four streets. i think that’s what were running into here, Paul gave the address of the nearest building that has it’s mailing address as being on the other street, so that we can follow along as it were, but in-comic it’s just that they went to the wrong building entrance.
I don’t think Shelly is that different to her sphinx side. They both have a habit of acting before thinking. I suspect Phix arranged things (e.g. giving both addresses) so that Shelly has to stop and think when her sphinx side is telling to plough on regardless. I suspect that this is part of her training.
I think everyone is on the same page. Shelly didn’t get an Okay to bring Justin so they walked into an empty building.
Perhaps Shelly DOES need to step in alone, ask to see the Librarian (Phix), get permission to bring in Justin or have Phix step outside,do Introductions and then be invited inside for a nice cup of tea.
1) Not checked with Phix to see if OK to bring Justin (I suspect that library maintains a whitelist as opposed to a blacklist)
2) Used the wrong entrance
3) Did not address library with query
Since I’m paying up, I suppose I might as well stay on-theme, and point out that we haven’t ever seen Justin say “Happy Birthday” to Shelly. He may not even know the month in which she was born. Maybe it’s not too late for him to use that classic pick-up line, “Hey, beautiful, what’s ursine?”
I’d object to these puns flying around here, but after Get Fuzzy this morning (Orange orange roughy smoothie), nothing can phase me. I’m on a whole ‘nother plane of existence.
Perhaps waiting for a query is one of its defence mechanisms — being willing to address it when all the evidence is that it’s not there is the password.
It’s being held there, by the efforts of a large number of very small demons. They have their toe-claws into the metal and their forelimb-claws into the Teflon.
This is an arrangement which is an offshoot of a development effort described some years ago by Dr. Science (“He knows more than you do!”) when someone asked how self-cleaning ovens work. The good Doctor explained that scientists knew that a self-cleaning oven was actually impossible to build, so they contracted with an ancient Egyptian demon named Aman-a-range (translation: “ugly dog on fire”) to take care of the problem. When you set such an oven to “Clean”, the demon materializes inside and licks the oven clean with its flaming tongue.
Therefore, you must never attempt to clean a self-cleaning oven yourself. You would be risking involvement with a jealous and hungry demon, and endangering your immortal soul.
“I can still remember your first visit. You came with that wonderful war chieftess… Boudica. I understand her research here helped her battle the Roman armies very much.”
I think you’re confusing sentience with paranormal abilities.
I think Kevin, Alex, and every other human male in the Wapsi universe (and a few non-human) would disagree with you quire readily.
Your implication that the library may be female and may be inordinately influenced by Justin’s very presence (due to its femininity) is noted; but I doubt it very much.
A sentient object would not necessarily have gender or the need to reproduce. The need to care for others and/or enforce rules/laws is not the singular province of either gender and can be just as readily installed in an object as sentience, itself.
1) Not really. “Poit” is a paranormal ability. Recognizing individuals, reacting to them, and choosing when and how to react (per Phix at the conclusion of Nudge’s intro arc) show signs the library is more than just a simple audio-interface system. I’m just drawing from that idea and wondering if the library’s as complicated a program as, say, the GGG, and not just a glorified smartphone. Pure speculation, I admit, but that’s part of the fun of “Hmm…”ing.
2) Thus the qualifier “most”. Also, Alex?
3) More a quip how everything of any importance in Wapsi-verse is female (sans Tepoz, whom we assume to be male), and how the English language tends to refer to inanimate objects and buildings with female pronouns.
4) The GGG lack the ability to reproduce (so far as we know), being clay pots and all. Clearly Bud and Jin have a sex drive. Why not the library? It is merely a different type of intelligent machine.
“Bare” in the first panel should “bear” but glad to get my daily fix!
I saw that too. It helps to get a few hours rest when it doesn’t update on time.
“Open Sesame”
“Open Sez you”
“Open Sasami”
“Open Season”
“Open Sarsaparilla”
“Open Sundays Only”
“Open Seven to Eleven”
Speak “Friend” and enter!
Mellon!
Open Satsuma
Iftah ya simsim!
Maybe Shelly was making a not-so-subtle joke about what she would rather be doing? 😉
Open Seasame!
Open What-a-me?
Says a ME!
Who’s ME?
No Who’s on first!
Not any more. He was traded.
Phix stop playing and open the damm door.
Hahahaha! Favorite comment ever.
Of course that could be what Shelly really meant to say…
Aww, I had hoped to see the new library entrance, but a mystery involving the entrance is also cool.
Didn’t Monica use the new entrance once…and that was how she found Euryale? Or did I misremember where Monica went?
Yep, here.
So the password is “Hello Library”?
Gandalf would be sympathetic.
😀
Just their luck, they’ll run into four teenagers and a great dane….
Ruh-roh, Raggy
ZOINKS!
and with luck, they’ll recognize our intrepid officer.
Given that she knows that Monica has used the Annex before, she could just phone Monica and ask how to access it?
However, I got the impression that it was automatic. Justin is a guest of Shelly and she’s not under duress so the question remains why the presence of Justin (Shelly has already been invited) activated the warning? What kind of being is Justin? I suspect that little detail is now very important.
You know as well as I. That it would be way too easy if Shelly where to just call Monica and ask her for directions as to how she can gain access the Library annex.
Besides, for Shelly it has to be a learning experience.
The answer is kinda obvious.. He is on the libarary’s black list already.. The odds on bet is he and Phix have history but must have known her under a different name. Or is it Nudge that bumped nasties in the past?
It looks like there’s a simpler reason. Looking at Sonicthunder’s post (and a quick look back at the archives) suggests that you only get the right to bring guests once you’ve shown yourself to be a responsible user.
What I was thinking … Someone is NOT Invited …
How ironic is that, Alanis?
hisssssss!!
The entrance only works to the annex if there is no coercion, maybe he is not feeling too eager about this.
You should also remember the annex didn’t reveal itself to Monica until AFTER she stated her business.
It was just an abandoned warehouse until she said she needed to research V-cells.
Not quite. When Monica went to the annex it apparently looked like a library immediately upon entrance – at least it did “not look like a scary abandoned building”. It was the books that appeared after her request.
Although the POVs are not the same, the “decors” are quite different. For whatever reason – wrong entrance, uninvited guest – I’m afraid Shelly is in an old abandoned warehouse, not the annex.
Monica also said, “I’m invited” as she first walked in. Perhaps announcing that worked the same way as announcing what she wanted to read.
The other thing is that Phix originally told Tina that she trusted Monica to determine who could get in. One would think that the same would apply to Shelly now, but I don’t recall that ever being stated.
well how about..
“hello library, I’m here with my guest?” ..
At some point Paul is going to have to spell out what all these Sphinx and Library Laws are and what they’re for, or there’s never going to a be a viable Wapsi RPG.
That’s a good idea. Might not ever happen, but still a good idea.
a Wapsi RPG?
that is a wonderful idea.
even better is a certain six-letter acronym.
Starts with “MMO” and ends with “RPG”.
Speak Friend, then enter?
I don’t know if that will work for Shelly… she’s not particularly studious, and I suspect she doesn’t know the Elvish tongue of the latter days of the West. She wouldn’t know how to say “friend” in the correct language.
Monica is clearly better-read, and under similar circumstances I’m sure she would remember to bring her mellons.
I beat you by eight hours. . . .
Of course, it’s dark in here.
Hmm. Phix did say “Monica and her guests” and “anyone else […] then the door opens to an empty building”
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/no-need/
Maybe that means access is only granted to Monica and whoever SHE brings through the annex’s gateway, not just anyone who has been to the library.
Fits with Euryale, since she didn’t specify she used the same gateway as Monica and Shelly to enter, yet exited through this gateway alongside Monica.
In yesterday’s strip Shelly states that Phix gave her the address (panel 1) so that implies that she has access independent of Monica. However, she says that it’s only those invited (panel 2) so maybe Phix didn’t give her the right to bring guests?
That would be my guess. Justin was not invited, so the Annex isn’t there. I wouldn’t be surprised if either Phix or Nudge isn’t alerted by the Library though.
I just had a look at the archives and confirmed that the right to bring guests is not automatic.
Also, Phix made no mention of guests when she invited Shelly.
@Atomic. Or maybe she is at the right place and this is part of a test by Phix to get a gauge on her control parameters.
Plus, the Annex would not appear if she was under duress. She was already pretty nervous before entering, possibly the Library’s alarm system counts that as “duress”, especially since she was with an un-invited stranger.
Specifically: Here.
Phix invited Shelly, so… Justin is a Not Welcome person? Shelly got the wrong door? Those seem to be the only options.
So step outside, “Justin, wait here”, step back inside, “Phix, I need to bring my boyfriend in…”
Is it possible that Justin is NOT welcome in the Annex?
Seems likely. The question is, is it because he hasn’t been welcomed yet by Phix or Monica, or isn’t the right sort of entity (is he even human?), or does he have a …history?
Perhaps Shelley will get dressed down later for being presumptuous.
Monica didn’t see the annex until she stated her business.
The annex was just an abandoned warehouse until Monica stated she needed to research V-cells.
Shelly and Justin have not yet addressed the annex and stated their business.
I just looked back at Monica’s entrance to the annex (when she found Euryale) and realized two things.
#1> The door she entered had no side or overhead windows; but once she was inside, did.
#2> as stated by several others… Monica’s entrance (once she was inside) looks NOTHING like Shelly’s and Justin’s.
In theory, Creepy has been to the main Library before, when Shelly was first introduced to Phix. And panel 1 here suggests Shelly may have even had an annex in the Forest, which would have been kins and generous. In any case, Creepy is not likely keeping the annex from manifesting.
On the other hand, if the Library reacts to threat assessments from the apos, Creepy (or even Shelly) may be on their sh!t list. Possibly neither Phix nor Nudge can override that.
But it’s probably either:
1) Justin is an Adventurer known to the Library.
2) Shelly took the East 18th Street entrance instead of the magical Stevens Ave. South one.
Kind and generous.
And Scantrob picked out the entrance cue this morning in a thread below. (noooo sleep)
Then there’s Nudge. Sure, she had that whole scheme with Shelly-Sphinx over using the forest to work-around the linear-time of Wapsiverse. But Shelly did try to kill Nudge once. Nudge loves to be unpredictable, so this could be a prank of hers (against Shelly, Phix, or both).
Yeah, that’s not likely possible. Hell, I kind of wonder how Nudge would react to Justin, given his ‘magnetic personality’.
Is the doorway broken and need Phixing?
-rattles the pun jar- pay up, you 😛
*Drops in a pocket full of change*
Hopefully that should cover the next one or two. Sorry, being a regular in the Sluggy Freelance forums sort of makes this behavior impossible to abstain from.
Expecting a giant, Indiana Jone’s size, ball rolling toward them in 5.. 4.. 3..
OH, Ye of little faith…. Did any of you LOOK at the address that Phix said to USE vs. the address she said NOT to use? the address that Shelly and Justin are at right now is, i’m assuming from Paul’s link to Google Maps yesterday, the East 18th street entrance… NOT the CORRECT address on STEVEN’S AVE. S. as stated here: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/transfer-of-the-address/ so, ultimately all your theories are moot.
If you go to street level, there sre three buildings at the intersection of Stevens Ave S and East 18th Street. Only one of them has an entrance on Stevens, and it is not the building indicated on Google Maps, at least not when I follow the link.
I would love to live in Minneapolis and try to track down Wapsi Square from the clues Paul gives.
it does not have to be the same building, its only a portal…
You know, I live in the TCAM (Twin Cities Metro Area), and I’ve always meant to look for it myself. I just Google mapped the Annex’s entrance’s intersection, and there appears to be a park on the fourth corner of the E 18th Street and Stevens Ave intersection. It’s apparently called Stevens Square. Maybe he just swapped Wapsi for Stevens?
Many established Wapsi Square scenes are in that general part of the city, yes; Stephens Square is the northernmost specific site I can recall, the others being Lake Calhoun and some intersections east of it. For example, Mucho Mocha is apparently within walking distance of Lake & Hennepin.
Correct, but if the building doesn’t have it’s MAILING ADDRESS as the one on Stevens, it won’t show it as being on that street even though it has an actual entrance from that street… think about buildings that take up an entire city block… do they have 4 different addresses one for each street?… no, they only have one address even if they have entrances on all four streets. i think that’s what were running into here, Paul gave the address of the nearest building that has it’s mailing address as being on the other street, so that we can follow along as it were, but in-comic it’s just that they went to the wrong building entrance.
<< checks yesterday's comments for link
Good catch!
However, that doesn't negate the possiblility that she hasn't received permission to bring guests yet. 😉
Very true, and I agree that that is the most likely scenario – Justin does not yet have permission to enter.
I don’t think Shelly is that different to her sphinx side. They both have a habit of acting before thinking. I suspect Phix arranged things (e.g. giving both addresses) so that Shelly has to stop and think when her sphinx side is telling to plough on regardless. I suspect that this is part of her training.
Yes, I think You are right here.
There is a lesson to be learned here. Which lesson will be revealed shortly, me thinks.
Good point
Ooo…that’s an interesting theory. I wonder if that does mean this story ends with Justin’s pals storming in on the trespassers. 🙂
Just a quick message for everyone shouting OPEN SESAME at their screens…
That’s from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, not Aladdin.
😉
Thank you, Aleister. I was just scanning the comments before I pointed that out myself.
Ha! Well noted! 🙂
Popeye said “Open Sez Me!”
I think everyone is on the same page. Shelly didn’t get an Okay to bring Justin so they walked into an empty building.
Perhaps Shelly DOES need to step in alone, ask to see the Librarian (Phix), get permission to bring in Justin or have Phix step outside,do Introductions and then be invited inside for a nice cup of tea.
Or maybe Shelly and Justin need to state their business as Monica did.
Monica saw only empty warehouse until she addressed the annex and announced she desired to research V=cells.
I suspect she’s made several mistakes:
1) Not checked with Phix to see if OK to bring Justin (I suspect that library maintains a whitelist as opposed to a blacklist)
2) Used the wrong entrance
3) Did not address library with query
Next panel: “Boo! And here are some new trousers for you both.”
I wonder if this is how class begins for Shelly.
Well, that’s disappointing. The place they ended up looks rather dull end mundane.
However, when a woman known to be a shapeshifter says “Bear with me” you can be sure that an exciting situation is bruin.
>>>shakes pun jar<<<
/clinkclink/
Since I’m paying up, I suppose I might as well stay on-theme, and point out that we haven’t ever seen Justin say “Happy Birthday” to Shelly. He may not even know the month in which she was born. Maybe it’s not too late for him to use that classic pick-up line, “Hey, beautiful, what’s ursine?”
/clinkclink/
I took it to mean Justin is secretly a descendant of Beorn. …Something about deer walking on their hind legs?
(tosses in string or nothing)
Ahhh… a four-way (Tolkien / Trek / Sports / Woodworking) crossover character.
Beorn Borg. “Tenons, anyone?”
I’d object to these puns flying around here, but after Get Fuzzy this morning (Orange orange roughy smoothie), nothing can phase me. I’m on a whole ‘nother plane of existence.
You? Object to puns flying around? Permit me to doubt that 😉
My objections are purely in self-defense.
:p feline orni?? 😀 😀
/ clink clink /
Both good points! Perhaps the library functions on a “Ask, and ye shall receive” basis.
Perhaps waiting for a query is one of its defence mechanisms — being willing to address it when all the evidence is that it’s not there is the password.
A question! Since before your sun burned hot in space, and before your race was born, I have awaited a question.
Ummm… “Read me Doctor Memory?”
“Why does Teflon(r) stick to the pan?”
It’s locked to the pan, the same way your teeth are locked to your gums.
It’s not sticking to the pan.
It’s being held there, by the efforts of a large number of very small demons. They have their toe-claws into the metal and their forelimb-claws into the Teflon.
This is an arrangement which is an offshoot of a development effort described some years ago by Dr. Science (“He knows more than you do!”) when someone asked how self-cleaning ovens work. The good Doctor explained that scientists knew that a self-cleaning oven was actually impossible to build, so they contracted with an ancient Egyptian demon named Aman-a-range (translation: “ugly dog on fire”) to take care of the problem. When you set such an oven to “Clean”, the demon materializes inside and licks the oven clean with its flaming tongue.
Therefore, you must never attempt to clean a self-cleaning oven yourself. You would be risking involvement with a jealous and hungry demon, and endangering your immortal soul.
Hey, if Dr. Science says it, it must be true!
That settles it. From now on, if I can’t grill it, I don’t fix it.
I think we are all Bozos on this bus…
Shoulda shown up as reply for Dave and his “Read me Doctor Memory?” quip.
“Close B clothes mode.”
Still.. I cannot shake the feeling that invisible Spectacled eyes are watching Fred and Velma..euh..wait…
So has anybody seen Howl’s Moving Castle?
Yes!
(spoiler) The butler did Not do it.
Yes, and have not again due to lack of interest.
Maybe they’ll turn a corner and run into Cole and Brent surveying their empty offices (looking at Monday’s PvP).
I just had a thought (beginner’s luck, I know).
The library is biding its time hurriedly rushing to prepare a proper welcome for his royal highness.
“Hello again your royal highness! It is so nice for your to grace us with your presence.”
“What? You don’t remember the last time you were here… only 350 years ago?”
“I can still remember your first visit. You came with that wonderful war chieftess… Boudica. I understand her research here helped her battle the Roman armies very much.”
“then there was that Merlin fellow. He visited quite often after you brought him here.”
“He was very serious and thorough in his research… good chap all around.”
“SOMEBODY, STOP ME!!!”
Very well *materializes giant ACME hammer* BONK!!
There You go….
>>>grooooaaannn<<<
Anybody else hear/see that in their head as a clip of Jim Carrey from The Mask? Or is it just me? 😀
Hmm…
A) The library is sentient.
B) Most sentient creatures in Wapsiverse are female.
C) Justin attracts weird females.
Hmm…
“What? I’ve already sorted your index cards!! Now you want color coding?? Enough already! No More Paper Cuts!!!!!!”
I think you’re confusing sentience with paranormal abilities.
I think Kevin, Alex, and every other human male in the Wapsi universe (and a few non-human) would disagree with you quire readily.
Your implication that the library may be female and may be inordinately influenced by Justin’s very presence (due to its femininity) is noted; but I doubt it very much.
A sentient object would not necessarily have gender or the need to reproduce. The need to care for others and/or enforce rules/laws is not the singular province of either gender and can be just as readily installed in an object as sentience, itself.
1) Not really. “Poit” is a paranormal ability. Recognizing individuals, reacting to them, and choosing when and how to react (per Phix at the conclusion of Nudge’s intro arc) show signs the library is more than just a simple audio-interface system. I’m just drawing from that idea and wondering if the library’s as complicated a program as, say, the GGG, and not just a glorified smartphone. Pure speculation, I admit, but that’s part of the fun of “Hmm…”ing.
2) Thus the qualifier “most”. Also, Alex?
3) More a quip how everything of any importance in Wapsi-verse is female (sans Tepoz, whom we assume to be male), and how the English language tends to refer to inanimate objects and buildings with female pronouns.
4) The GGG lack the ability to reproduce (so far as we know), being clay pots and all. Clearly Bud and Jin have a sex drive. Why not the library? It is merely a different type of intelligent machine.
Looks like teh update is late again.
Got me thinking of this song:
Paul McCartney and wings; Let ’em in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p4drWtJ0Ug
Oh great.
Now I’m gonna have that wonderful song circling inside my noggin for weeks.