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"Independent Contractors"
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Latest Medusa Comic

Independent Contractors

by Paul Taylor on January 17, 2011 at 12:00 am
Story: Wapsi-Archive
Characters: Nudge, Phix
Location: The Library

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Discussion (82) ¬

  1. Mike
    January 17, 2011, 12:04 am | # | Reply

    Hopefully they get something as a down payment 🙂

  2. Jabberwonky
    January 17, 2011, 12:10 am | # | Reply

    Great architecture, wonder what you see when you look out of the windows of the library?
    Panel 3, cutest Nudge ever…

    • NOTDilbert
      January 17, 2011, 1:23 am | # | Reply

      Maybe a classical garden – hedges, statuary, columns and arches…. At least, I’d like to think that instead of creations largest pantemporal parking lot………..

      • Fatuncle
        January 17, 2011, 4:16 am | #

        I sort of had the idea that the Library didn’t even have an outside, much as if in a pocket universe. But darned if that doesn’t look like clouds. So it’s actually somewhere with air and weather outside.

      • SoWhyMe
        January 17, 2011, 4:57 am | #

        Could be an illusion to give that impression. Make it a trifle easier to have to be traped there for many thousands of years. We can even do the same thing now with a projection device onto a domed area.

        Sometimes I think the entire library is an illusion. A “terminal” of sorts presenting the collection of information in book form so as to make it easier to interface with intelligent creatures. The books have physical properties, thus they can be taken out from the library, yet are really some form of energy-matter bind which can sense it’s sourroundings and disintegrate on cue, to be regenerated from that data once again. Remember, Phix said the library contains copies of everything, not the originals. The place could be like a holodeck, but more advanced in it’s creation of physical objects, and, like a holodeck, it actually does not need to occupy much physical space at all. That’s the great thing about the holodeck concept. You remain in the same place while everything moves past you. The whole thing doesn’t even have to be in another dimension. It could be a large room buried deep in the ground somewhere.

      • W.
        January 17, 2011, 9:49 am | #

        It’s magic; accept it and your life will be simpler. Just kidding, I like your ruminations. 😉

      • Jabberwonky
        January 17, 2011, 8:54 am | #

        What Fatuncle said. I thought it was a pocket universe, too.
        But I used to think that about the Cerberus club. The first visit there gave it a supernatural quality.

        Especially with the comment from the security guy, 4th one in.
        Then later on there was this
        that seems to imply it’s in the TC. The fact that Alan can just walk in takes the supernatural quotient down a notch.

      • Danzier
        January 17, 2011, 9:08 am | #

        It’s a painted backdrop. The library exists in a pocket, but the pocket is bigger than the library, so they put drops around the edges because they knew even sp… I can’t spell it; “Phix and Company ltd” can get claustrophobic. 😀

      • illiad
        January 17, 2011, 4:54 pm | #

        nah, it’s the matrix… nah, the matrix is just the ‘lite’ version of the library!! 🙂

      • ProleBoi
        January 17, 2011, 9:53 pm | #

        Yeah, the odd part is that Nudge (and in the last panel Phix) seem to be just *outside* the Library, standing in front of an open door, as it were. So the Library makes me think (at least at the moment) of that flying party in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, where there is in fact an outside, it’s just that nobody’s interested, or even notices. The outside just isn’t germane, perhaps?

        Having said that, what I thought was a door seems to be, on second look, a hole in the Library wall.

      • Fairportfan
        January 18, 2011, 12:02 am | #

        L-Space

      • Jabberwonky
        January 18, 2011, 8:28 am | #

        Ook.

      • jwhouk
        January 17, 2011, 7:49 am | #

        …or Milly Way’s.

    • bmonk
      January 17, 2011, 11:51 am | # | Reply

      I can think of various possibilities:

      1. It depends on where the librarian sets it, or where the Library needs to be.

      2. It’s some sort of backdrop, as others have suggested.

      3. I like the idea in Jordan’s Wheel of Time for the aelfinn world (IIRC), where the windows gave different views of the same place, likely the building the observers were in. Kind of the Escherian possibility.

      4. There is no option 4.

      5. The windows each open into another plane of existence.

  3. Jim
    January 17, 2011, 12:13 am | # | Reply

    Did we ever figure out who’s Oscar, and who’s Felix?

    • jwhouk
      January 17, 2011, 8:19 am | # | Reply

      I think it’s obvious who’s who in this Odd Couple relationship.

      • Jim
        January 17, 2011, 8:47 pm | #

        Okay. Which one’s Cagney, and which one’s Lacey?

  4. Bucc-i
    January 17, 2011, 12:24 am | # | Reply

    WOW Nudge <3
    is it just me, or does Phix look her hottest when she's about to rip somebodies face off.

  5. Fairportfan
    January 17, 2011, 12:30 am | # | Reply

    Nudge’s tail is wonderfully expressive.

    And i like her dress…

    • jamesskaar
      January 17, 2011, 4:30 pm | # | Reply

      i like the dress too, and i’m sure just about any man would get some odd delight i do, at the thought of seeing their lady running around in a dress that only has a back down to the small of… sorta like bbq aprons and nothin else.

    • Badgerguy
      August 20, 2021, 1:19 am | # | Reply

      I agree, Nice tail! 🤔🥰

  6. Alechsa
    January 17, 2011, 12:33 am | # | Reply

    Lil Sister/Big Sister relationship cue, NOW.

  7. Frelance
    January 17, 2011, 1:12 am | # | Reply

    I’m a Nudge fan, too

    • SoWhyMe
      January 17, 2011, 5:20 pm | # | Reply

      She does seem to be perpetually cheerful like a puppy, so it would be hard not to like her. Unless, of course, she managed to get you locked up in a library for about 80,000 years. I’m sure that would skew your view of her happy go lucky nature. At least Phix doesn’t seem to have a vengful nature as she is not in the process of torturing Nudge for the next 80,000 years. I figure being forced to listen to Barry Manilow day and night would do it.

  8. D. Walker
    January 17, 2011, 1:12 am | # | Reply

    I want to pet Nudge soooo much!

    And cuddle her, and nuzzle her, and find ways to make her wiggle her tail!

    ~D.

    • D. Walker
      January 17, 2011, 1:13 am | # | Reply

      Also, is Nudge wearing one of Phix’s old dresses?!?

      ~D.

      • Jabberwonky
        January 17, 2011, 2:53 am | #

        One of Phix’s old dresses would make a tent for Nudge…

    • RSinAustin
      January 17, 2011, 1:20 am | # | Reply

      Nudge is awesome. Finding ways to make her wiggle her tail would be worthwhile!

    • Dusty668
      January 17, 2011, 2:03 am | # | Reply

      Such a cutie! Freckles for the win!

    • Fairportfan
      January 17, 2011, 2:22 am | # | Reply

      “…and hug her and squeeze her and call her George(ina)…”

    • slywlf
      January 17, 2011, 5:34 pm | # | Reply

      I agree – Nudge is adorable, and looks like a scolded puppy in the last panel 😉

  9. NOTDilbert
    January 17, 2011, 1:27 am | # | Reply

    Bound to be a little friction betwween these two due to A) past history and B) one is on the other’s food chain.

    • Paul Taylor
      January 17, 2011, 1:35 am | # | Reply

      Actually, Nudge isn’t a demon, so Nudge isn’t on the menu. =)

      • NOTDilbert
        January 17, 2011, 2:37 am | #

        Hmm, so she’s a demigodling of Trickery type being. Or possibly a Spirit, but I think that less likely.

      • Fatuncle
        January 17, 2011, 4:19 am | #

        Well, she did exhibit a peculiar ability – she manifests as solid (at least inside the Library) yet she also “inhabited” a body, much as an immaterial spirit does, when she hid inside Tina.

  10. nerf-dweller
    January 17, 2011, 1:38 am | # | Reply

    Nudge seems like she’s a shapeshifter. She seems a lot smaller in that last panel than here last appearance. And is indeed very cute.

    • bramble
      January 18, 2011, 3:45 pm | # | Reply

      Phix’s size seems kind of variable sometimes, too – I assumed that she’d gotten bigger.

  11. nerf-dweller
    January 17, 2011, 1:45 am | # | Reply

    I was going through the archives this week-end. And I found a old comic which was some aftermath of a girls night out at the Cerebus Club. It’s made me question what really happened after reading last weeks comics.

    Tina said that she was stuck in a boiler room with a creepy little girl. Sound familiar? Was Tina somehow stuck in Shelly’s mindscape? And if it was Monica that poit’ed them home, Monica poit’ed Tina into Shelly’s mindscape? If so, what does that say about Monica’s poit’ing ability? How powerful is she really?

    • Fairportfan
      January 17, 2011, 2:20 am | # | Reply

      Yep – that was Creepy.

    • NOTDilbert
      January 17, 2011, 2:39 am | # | Reply

      I thought Tina got there throught the Portal tattoo, but now I’m not sure.

      • SoWhyMe
        January 17, 2011, 12:45 pm | #

        I don’t think it was ever made clear how she got into the boiler room. Just that they had a really wild night in which anything could have happened. After all, the golem girls ended up naked on Monica’s bed. I never did understand that either, nor was it explained.

      • Azrael_Rose
        January 17, 2011, 4:17 pm | #

        The GGs were in Monica’s bed because one or more of the four drunk-poited them there by accident. They were naked because… because… they sleep naked normally? 😕

      • Fairportfan
        January 17, 2011, 4:41 pm | #

        Monica poited them there; that’s how Kevin got there. (She pulled him in by accident.)

        As to the nakidity (or semi-nakidity until the second poit) of Bud, we’ve seen that Monica’s poits often tend to re-arrange garments…

    • Jabberwonky
      January 17, 2011, 3:02 am | # | Reply

      There have been numerous examples of Monica’s teleporting ability not being her strong point. is the most recent example.

    • the Fansheep
      January 17, 2011, 4:24 am | # | Reply

      It is still not sure where she even got the poit ability, i mean she suddenly could do it after the visit in the library

      • Jabberwonky
        January 17, 2011, 7:27 am | #

        This is just a IMHO, but it seems, if you have the ability, you need to be teleported once to get the feel for it. But, as Monica has demonstrated, the fine points can take a little while.

    • SoWhyMe
      January 17, 2011, 5:05 am | # | Reply

      She must be fairly powerful, having teleported a huge amount of snow to somewhere in the other hemesphere. Plus she can teleport another person, independently of herself, and retrieve them.

    • jwhouk
      January 17, 2011, 8:21 am | # | Reply

      I don’t think Monica poited her into Shelley’s “cellar”.

      I think BUD did it.

      • Fairportfan
        January 17, 2011, 4:43 pm | #

        Nope. Monica did it somehow – Bud was just as startled as Shelly when she unlocked the portal and Tina popped out, as i recall – all of the other mis-poits that morning were Monica’s doing…

      • SoWhyMe
        January 17, 2011, 5:06 pm | #

        Don’t believe so. Bud told Shelly not to freak out when she unlocked the portal tat. To me, that would indicate Bud knew what was about to happen. Did she know because she poited Tina there? That I don’t know.

  12. The Old Wolf
    January 17, 2011, 6:08 am | # | Reply

    Phix and Nudge are both awesome in their own way. Surely they can overcome being diametric opposites and work together to help save the universe once again…

    • W.
      January 17, 2011, 9:23 am | # | Reply

      They are opposites. I think by definition they will get along and be tight… eventually; at least that is what I’m guessing. I hypothesize it has something to do with group integrity and maximizing and exploiting potential resources. I trust The Library knows what it is doing.

      • morven
        January 17, 2011, 9:52 pm | #

        Yes, opposites often make the most productive relationships, can can be the best of friends. It’s reaching that point that can be a mess.

  13. Joe Minotaur
    January 17, 2011, 6:57 am | # | Reply

    Once again, somebody’s good mood, is spoiled by somebody’s bad mood.
    I think these two need a vacation, but where could they go that they wouldn’t start a new religion or a war over religion.

    • Eee
      January 17, 2011, 7:54 am | # | Reply

      Greece. People would look at them and say “Been there, done that”. And they could visit old haunts.

      “Last visit”? I’m not sure being imprisoned in the Library for decades at least counts as a visit…

      • W.
        January 17, 2011, 9:32 am | #

        Time scale. Nudge is, how do I put this tactfully? She has seen civilizations rise and fall. Continents drift. On a geologic time scale, it was just a visit.

    • W.
      January 17, 2011, 9:25 am | # | Reply

      They might go to the beach where Monica and company go to relax?

    • SoWhyMe
      January 17, 2011, 4:57 pm | # | Reply

      I wonder if, one day, this sort of creature won’t be all that unusual. It’s only a matter of time before someone uses genetic manipulation to create such beings. The thing to always remember is whatever humankind can do, it will do, eventually. And I think that’s as it should be.

      • W.
        January 18, 2011, 8:32 am | #

        World Enough and Time

  14. Stephen
    January 17, 2011, 7:47 am | # | Reply

    Way to go, Phix. Uses as much threating force You need to laid down the rules … but I would also keep a very close eye on Nudge.
    Once a prankster, always a prankster.

  15. Computer Matthew
    January 17, 2011, 8:57 am | # | Reply

    She looks positively dog like in the second panel there.

  16. Danzier
    January 17, 2011, 9:15 am | # | Reply

    I like Phyx. But Nudge scares me WAAAAYYYY more than Creepy. She reminds me of a messed up football-player-zombie-goat-centaur construct and I would definitely need new pants after a run-in with her.

  17. Dafydd
    January 17, 2011, 9:27 am | # | Reply

    Am I the only one who thinks Nudge’s tail should be wagging? 😛

    • SoWhyMe
      January 17, 2011, 11:53 am | # | Reply

      Well, in the last panel, it should be between her legs. At least it’s down to a respectful level, but not quite the fear-of-Phix position it should be perhaps.

    • bmonk
      January 17, 2011, 12:01 pm | # | Reply

      You are saying it isn’t?

  18. Llewellian
    January 17, 2011, 9:42 am | # | Reply

    Wow. Love Nudge. Make her any cuter and you can team up with Didier Chrispeels (aka “Crisse”, creator of Atalante, Sword of Crystal and Kokaburra) for the next greek Mythology thing.

  19. Ziggy Stardust
    January 17, 2011, 10:22 am | # | Reply

    Whoah. How did she get that dress on over them horns? And how does Phix work around the wings…

    • Tina
      January 17, 2011, 12:00 pm | # | Reply

      Zippers, methinks. A truly wonderful invention that allow women’s garments to fit a bit closer to the figure than they perhaps should, but they also allow said garments to slide comfortably over protrusions of many ummm …. types…. during the dressing phase.

    • SoWhyMe
      January 17, 2011, 12:08 pm | # | Reply

      Probably stepped into it and pulled it up. I wonder how her neck is? If long hair can cause problems, think what massive horns can do. Her neck is so slim. It seems out of proportion to the mass on her head. I wonder if she could saw them off? Probably wouldn’t want to, though. The big question now is can she make herself look human like Phix? Weren’t for the horns she could go abroad in a full burka if nothing else.

  20. txmystic
    January 17, 2011, 11:10 am | # | Reply

    I’m very happy to have a good comic to read, along with the comments. I somehow managed to become infected simultaneously with a stomach virus and a hideous sinus bug. Trust me, if ever there was a day to sit at the computer and stare straight ahead, this is it…

  21. SoWhyMe
    January 17, 2011, 12:29 pm | # | Reply

    I wonder if this will be a turning point for Nudge. For, perhaps, the first time ever, someone has put her in a real position of authority and given her a kind of respect she never had before this. In her words, she’s “valuable.” This clearly pleases her. She may show more responsibility for her actions in order to keep her position. Maybe she will show others a new point of view through the selection of books for them, as opposed to sheer trickery. Or she may pull a cream pie from out of nowhere, plastering Phix, and running like crazy.

    • Fairportfan
      January 17, 2011, 4:45 pm | # | Reply

      Tricksters are always “valuable” – they keep things moving.

      • Fatuncle
        January 17, 2011, 7:29 pm | #

        In a very literal sense, sometimes. Look at this. It took a trickster to come up with this one. Or maybe just an evil-minded bastard …

      • Paul Taylor
        January 17, 2011, 7:49 pm | #

        WhaHoo! I did it! It turned from blue to green 🙂

      • Platonix
        January 17, 2011, 8:06 pm | #

        I’ve gotten it three times so far. It started out blue and then went to orange, then red, and finally a very dark olive green.

        …what I want to know is why Nudge is bothering to wear a dress. Is clothing something she picked up from Tina? Or maybe Phix?

      • Fairportfan
        January 18, 2011, 12:04 am | #

        Red.

        Evil.

      • morven
        January 17, 2011, 9:57 pm | #

        Tricksters are valuable–but they are also irritating for those who don’t like the change they provoke. And so it’s not just that Nudge is suddenly valuable–but now she feels it, she’s being appreciated and respected. It’s a heady experience–and as SoWhyMe said, we don’t know how she will respond.

  22. kingklash
    January 17, 2011, 10:26 pm | # | Reply

    Wow! Two of my favorite Mythics, getting the hang of their new situation. Looks like the head librarian needs some catnip tea and a nice scratch between the wings to calm her a bit. Nudge’s eagerness is just adorable. The big expressive eyes in panel 3 are cool.

  23. rich
    June 28, 2012, 12:19 am | # | Reply

    a while back i said my observation is failing, now i think i should add my memory to that list. i just now realized that back when tina first went with the girls to the cerberus club, the make-up style she had then reflects nudge’s…facial markings(?)

  24. SteveNance
    July 6, 2012, 11:16 am | # | Reply

    Great strip, as always! I like how the form of Nudge seems to combine elements of Egyptian deities, Loki, Pan, and the Coyote Trickster of Native American mythology…and probably other references that I’m missing.

  25. Centaur71
    January 16, 2024, 10:13 am | # | Reply

    Methinks Phil is gonna carry her ‘Nudge-grudge’ until the end of time…

  26. Centaur71
    January 16, 2024, 10:17 am | # | Reply

    Goddam spellcheck can rest well down in Hell! I meant to say Phix

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