We’re pretty sure that Fairportfan is just one person with an unreasonable number of avatars. Then again, this is the internet; you can never be certain. *grin*
Actually I just went back to check. Nudge wasn’t there for that metal jug squishing test. The next time Nudge is seen is in the strip from 1/17/11…and she’s already at the Library with Phix.
Sooo…that test was totally Tina The Collective. Sphinxie must know Tina…or that test was done in a different time-line and Shelly said something about it last time she faced Sphinxie.
Tina’s demons conspired with a previous loop’s Shelly independently of Nudge, so it’s certainly possible. Phix also seemed to have some respect for Tina, at least when she wasn’t hunting Nudge.
I don’t think that the “You” is Nudge. My first thought was Sphinxie was referring to Shelly from a previous CM cycle. But I may be over thinking it. Grrr. Arrgh. (heh).
And I agree. I’m so glad it’s not the Friday comic.
Exactly – Shelly told her this from an earlier time loop – which means, somehow, they did the ‘fix Jin’ quest before the attempted Calendar Machine fix in at least one loop.
Curious, ne?
Yes, this is my take as well…Shelley actually gave this sphinx the script in a previous cycle, which is why the Sphinx was so exasperated at Shelly’s dim responses…
but perhaps it was only greyed when nudge was speaking independantly.
like when she was ordering anchovies.
when it was black maybe its when the others all agreed with her?
From the expression and where they are is must have been Shelly in a previous cycle who told here. Get Shelly PO’s and up goes the strength. Really, really up. She did that one handed!
Can make a case either way. That could very easily be the pommel showing a little bit above and below the arm. The first slice was one handed clearly. Why change the grip just because she is mad? I think we should agree to dis-agree. lol.
No, she’s right handed. If she’s using her left hand, she must be using both. Besides, in the bottom panel, you can make out the fingers or knuckles of the right hand underneath. It’s strange that her left hand would be a little further out, though.
And you know something? I just realized that Bud didn’t totally lie to the Police Officers. Bud’s “cat”, aka Brandy, did see what happened. Even though Bud may have exaggerated things a bit.
Off-topic, Mark Siegel of “Sailor Twain” has done a great period cameo sketch of me, and I’m too ashamed to admit that I don’t know how to make it be the picture. Or that I’m scared of breaking the internet if I mess with it myself. …Could someone point me in the right direction for that?
Fron Adrian Plass his book is ‘readings from a sacred diary’ and during a book reading in a later diary he is introduced as ‘the authout who wrote readings from a scared dairy’
Especially the smoke bomb on a chain. You know it’s a really important day when they trot out the smoke bomb. I read once that they started that ritual as a counter to the really bad odor the “common folk” tended to exude. A medieval room deodorizer of sorts.
I forgot to mention the world is going to end on May 21st of this year. At least according to these folks: http://www.familyradio.com/index2.html
They guarantee it (complete with Biblical quotes), so you might as well go ahead and spend that mid-month paycheck and your life savings, having a whale of a good time before it’s too late. For those of you who have no real life savings, have a minnow of a good time.
Ahh–re: the “smoke bomb on a chain”: don’t forget that Psalm 141 speaks of prayers rising “like incense” and “like the evening sacrifice”–and incense was also used extensively in the Jerusalem temple.
And re: End of the World–it’s been predicted before. And so far been wrong every single time, as far as anybody can tell.
The only good advice Christians have been given about the end of the world is: don’t worry about when it will happen. Be ready always, and it won’t matter when it comes.
have they missed the point of the rainbows?
wasnt that god promise he wouldnt do that again?
that and well..jesus is sposed to come back and the devil is sposed to go nuts on the planet before all the doom and distruction.
oh well i will appologise if im dead on 22nd may but well…so many holes in that prediction its almost a netting.
George Noory interviewed a spokesmodel for that bunch recently on Coast to Coast AM. (I absolutely LOVE that woo-woo show) He tried to get them to promise to come back on the 22nd if things didn’t work out they way they planned, they refused.
A few day after the interview, Mr. Noory got an envelope in the mail from them asking for a donation to the ‘church’. It included a monthly tithing option….
Actually God didn’t promise to never destroy the world again. He only promised He would not destroy the world by water again. The next time is supposed to be by fire. Considering the amount of fire-power in the world that seems likely.
It could just be a sizeable branch; it LOOKS like they’re standing on ground, but it could be an enormous horizontal branch. If Yggdrasil, it’s big enough to wind around the Nine Worlds…..
Today’s installation is titled ‘Outta the park’…
I am probably dumb, drunk and/or stuck in Hangoverland, but I don’t understand why. Any ideas out there?
And now that the tree has been cut down, and after Shelly is done with doing whatever else she needs to do to it, the various “park rangers” of wherever she is will need to remove the remains… in other words, take it out of the park.
I assumed from Bud that Shelly is just strong NOT abnormally strong.
From Tina you got she was abnormally strong.
From this tree slice you get the feeling she might be a tad abnormally strong.
Was Bud trying to placate her into Shelly not freaking out or well, is she just normally strong?
People in that muscle programme pull huge things so I spose its possible for someone to do that and still not have super powers?
I did once, with an old 2cv boxer-engine. Ruptured a muscle in the process. It is possible, but not very smart. And a V8?? Never seen that done, even with the aluminum variation.
I guess Bud wanted to teach Shelly that being super-strong, without being invulnerable is something that has to be carefully balanced.
Remember that Shelly hurt herself when crushing the coffee-pot, and smashing the alarm-clock.
The more I think of it, the wiser Bud gets(with some lapses here&there that are more due to her inate clumsiness). She’s the actual brains of the GG, despite Brandi’s -considerable- intellectual forte.
Shelly IS abnormally strong, but not abnormally “breakable”. So, when Bud tweaked her arm, it still hurt like it would for anyone. Also, some of those kind of holds and tweaks are as affective on large and strong men, as on small and weak men. Unless they are in a “feel no pain” kind of state, that is.
She’s pretty strong. Not only did she cleave through the tree, the force caused the upper section to spring three feet into the air. The only problem is; where will the thing come down? She may be strong but she isn’t crush proof.
My take on her strength is that she has superhuman strength in a human body, but she’s not invulnerable, nor is she nearly as strong as Bud. She might be She-Hulk, but Bud is SuperGirl…
Yeah, I think Bud’s idea of “abnormally strong” may have been a bit off. The strength difference between M and Shelly may be huge, but throw Bud in the mix and there’s suddenly a parabolic curve on the graph.
Time-cycles could be completely different in the sphinx’ realm.
Either that, ot it has been 7 cycles ago that a Shelly cut the tree, and it started growing again from there-on.
Orrr..It’s somewhat impossible to draw a couple of million circles, or howeverlong it was when the tree started to grow “at the beginning of time”
Really Really weird thought. What if the time cycle is not caused by the calendar machine? It doesn’t make sense following these clues would have happened before fixing the machine as they don’t seem to contribute anything to that problem. Following the immortal politicians is something done after the calender, not before. We haven’t reached 2012 yet in real world or story line either. Is it possible that the true event that causes the reset is has still yet to occur? Was fixing, breaking, the calender merely one step along the path to the recycle happening?
Pure speculation I know, but isn’t that what we are all doing anyway?
IMHO the Calendar machine would hit a hitch in the gears on Dec. 21, 2012 and skip backwards, like a needle on a record, to approximately the same time 1450 years earlier….
“They say that right now over in France, as we speak, Louis Pasteur is developing a cure for anthrax. Imagine – hoof and mouth disease a thing of the past.”
Actually, there was at least one LP turntable that used a laser to read the groove – its base was a slab of marble and it weighed something like a hundred pounds.
Fairportfan, a friend of mine sold those laser-head record players (among other electronics) years ago; she tells me both the sound quality and reliability were remarkable. Well worth the money, if you were willing to drop that much on a turntable.
Remember from this comic the sphinx saying “It was a less then a cycle when you were last here.” Assuming that the girls had been occupied with CM preparations during this time from previous CM cycles, they are ahead of schedule from the last CM cycle. Even if flows at a different rate in this nether realm, it’s been less then 1 CM cycle of time since the last iteration.
Given what’s been going on, I’m beginning to think Stinky’s fetching of the sub was no accident or coincidence. Someone seems to be pulling strings here and they may have pulled Stinky’s as well. Just waited for a golem girl to be alone on the island and sent him in. Of course, with time loops, it could, paradoxically, well be the girls themselves setting things up somehow so they play out this way on the next cycle.
Hehe maybe its weaved circles. So theres not just one but 2 or more Callender-machines. The first callender could just be a loop within a loop. If the girls would have learned that it could really be that they did set that up.
I ascribed Stinky bringing the sub to our cast becoming ‘weirdness magnets’. In many different stories, from many different authors, once you’re on to the weird, the weird is on to you. And is likely to show up on your doorstep at 3am on a random Tuesday morning.
“When you stare into the weird, the weird stares back at you.” – Freddy Nietzsche
“YOU told ME that would work…” (emphasis mine) … OK, so, Shelley has clearly been here before, in another Time Loop. Hmmm, I wonder if there’s another book out there, with Shelley’s writing in it this time?
Shelly has probably been there before, but that doesn’t mean the sphinx is talking about her. She may just be muttering to herself, thinking about whoever it was who told her.
More like the sphinx being herself the second book. If the Sword has its own inner continuity it could be that shelly turns up in a rather periodical way.
Since everyone is speculating on who the sphinx is referring to, has anyone given thought to the fact that it’s a magic sword, and therefore may have some form of consciousness, and ability to communicate telepathically?
Perhaps it told the sphinx by being able to “read” Shelly through her wielding it?
While this falls into the category of a Nudge-style manipulation, Nudge wasn’t there for the coffee pot crush (at least, not in this time cycle), and we don’t know yet if Nudge can travel to this place.
Heck, it’s just as likely that Phix visited her “sister” guardian at some point and mentioned Shelly’s temper.
It might be the same “someone” who told Nudge to lead Shelly into the woods. Whoever that was, Nudge felt compelled to obey.
I would like to point out that the Library has authority over sphinxes. Has it been a moving force in this entire tale?
Hmmm..You could be on to something. Since the library holds ALL books of all time (=all knowledge, so to speak) it is a major mover&shaker that could even override demons and demi-gods..
You’re saying this nether realm just just a branch (of sorts) of The Library? That is an interesting idea. Especially is if you that into other stories and ledgends like the Grail Quest. Quite interesting indeed.
I’m still calling previous Brandi on that. The previous cycle Brandi conspired with Tina’s demons to make Tina, and make Monica a door. Also conspired with Nudge (I believe) to give Shelly Conscience (probably in exchange to hide out in Tina). Basically Brandi set up the whole destruction of the calendar machine. She probably knew about Jin and was ready for that too. But NOW I’m thinking that previous Shelly was in on it, too. This Sphinx said Previous Shelly met her in the prevous cycle. She was just early this cycle (Kevin’s idea of taking care of the machine right away probably wasn’t planned on). This means she knew this cycle’s Shelly would be super strong (maybe because of what was going to happen with her demons), or Shelly was already super strong and just couldn’t destroy the tree till the Calendar Machine was all broke. Either way she knew what would make herself unleash her strength.
Brandi conspired with a previous, I think the time before this one, to get Monica and Tina together. That way Tina could slip Monica the clock key without alerting Jin to it. It’s Jin’s body block on Monica, and the bus, that caused the accident that killed Tina. Nudge broke in then and got the demons to re-animate the body.
As I recall it…
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/littlevisit/
This whole conversation points to Brandi setting up a conspiracy between Monica’s demons and Tina’s demons to drive Monica in front of the bus, thus breaking the rules about hurting other people. Maybe Nudge was intended to join them to get them animated since the demons wouldn’t remember what they were after they broke the rules. Then new Tina could give the key later. (remember getting Monica to be a full doorway was needed so Bud could jump into monica and save Jin’s mom.) My hypothesis is that Previous Brandi is a huge Puppet-Mistress and worked out the save-Jin mission, too.
Okay on the 2nd frame she just used one hand with any effort and it made the blade sank in with a *Thock!* and after the intimidation from “other” sphinx (who i have a feeling we shall soon see in human form) she uses 2 hands and cuts the tree in half from a stationary position. Shelly either has a really sharp blade or Shelly is truly super human and I think its the latter. Oh I just love a girl who can handle herself! ^_^
I think it’s a combination of both. Super strength and magic sword which can cut through anything. I doubt a regular sword could do it, even in Shelly’s hands.
That Sphinx sounds like shes been to a couple of games at PNC Park. (Thats where the Pirates play Baseball) Thats right Shelly, just pretend thats a engine block and “Scha-Winnggg!”
Who told Sphinxie that implying Shelley was weak would get the job done? And where is all of this taking place? Another spacetime? Shelley’s imagination? Yikes ô Yikes, inquiring minds want to know.
Hmmm i think that this sword hast to be reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally sharp if you try something like this with a normal real sword you wont get quite deep no matter how strong I mean eaven with a axe you need many chops to get through a tree that thick.
Altrough that isnt the real word or even wapsi so who knows what rules goes there?
The blade is pretty sharp but also has to be frictionless, otherwise it will bind in the cut. The fact that Shelly was able to release it from the first cut without serious effort argues for a frictionless blade.
I don’t see why everyone assumes Nudge had to be the one to tell the Sphinx how to motivate Shelly to summon her super strength. Shelly may be dim when presented with stuff for the first time, but she has also shown she can figure stuff out as well…
According to the family stories, my Ma was like this as a young girl. Many of her boy cousins were punched silly after getting her mad enough. Today’s lesson: Try not to accuse Shelly of being a sissy.
Nudge is an individual. Sphinxes are a species. Phix is a Sphinx, and there are other Sphinxes, but only one Phix. Nudge is a umm trickster coyote ram thingie. There might be other trickster coyote ram thingies, but only one Nudge.
well, this is interesting. clearly Shelly has an unfathomably deep pool of strength at her disposal. A tree that old and large would be very dense. Plus she didn’t even have a swinging start. After being stopped by the tree, and the Sphinx’s comment, she simply applied more pressure and followed through….like it was melted butter….slicing the branch clean off…
…wow… O_O
Best swing since Babe Ruth!
People in St. Cloud actually heard that one!!
St Cloud Missouri ?
Yep I think I did. Though I’m only up St. Cloud Minnesota.
ROFL Now, how do you re-phrase ” I only wanted to blow the doors off” ???
You were only supposed to chop the bloody leaves off!!
That line got chosen in a (British) poll as “Best Line Ever”.
Personally, i prefer the very similar “Think you used enough dynamite, Butch?”
You just keep thinkin’, Butch. That’s what you’re good at.
“Do the dishes, Shelly!”
*sccchhwiicraclaatterroingroingroing”
“Done!”
It’s in the third deck!
It’s in Wisconsin!
No, I’m in Wisconsin.
Shelly’s in Minnesota.
No, I’m in Wisconsin.
Oh wait, no, I’m in the Great North Woods. I guess it’s still Wisconsin, but I’m closer to Minnesota.
I’m over here in Maryland. What was that loud thump I heard this morning? Sounded like a tree falling.
Hmmm. Methinks this sphinx knows Nuidge, too.
Me also thinks that, just perhaps, sphinxie has so far been a bit less than open with Shelly.
are you two different people??
i actually thought purple cat fairpointfan was the same as turtle fairpointfan but with a different gravtar???
Same person. And it’s “Fairportfan”, from the British elecric fold (a genre they pretty much invented) band “Fairport Convention“.
I have four gravatars i cycle through at random. Currently they’re all cats. That’s subject to change.
Arrrgh.
“electric folk“
ah yes
rereading you are the same person
early morning reading it read to me as though you were agreeing with yourself
Jeremy is far cooler than a random cat.
We’re pretty sure that Fairportfan is just one person with an unreasonable number of avatars. Then again, this is the internet; you can never be certain. *grin*
Hey – i only have four; Jabberwonky has three…
Jabberwonky
only
has
3?
So i missed one.
Not Nudge. Tina. She’s the one who knows what it takes to get Shelly to bring her full strength to bear, and the sphinx just employed it.
I’m thinking it was the collective Tina. Paul usually puts a light grey color on text that Nudge specifically says and I don’t see that here
Well, yeah.
But Nudge was there, so she knew about/was part of the test.
And she was the part of the Collective that knew sphinxes personally…
True enough about Nudge being there anyway and even if Nudge was not the driver of the test she could have passed on what she found out.
Actually I just went back to check. Nudge wasn’t there for that metal jug squishing test. The next time Nudge is seen is in the strip from 1/17/11…and she’s already at the Library with Phix.
Sooo…that test was totally Tina The Collective. Sphinxie must know Tina…or that test was done in a different time-line and Shelly said something about it last time she faced Sphinxie.
Tina’s demons conspired with a previous loop’s Shelly independently of Nudge, so it’s certainly possible. Phix also seemed to have some respect for Tina, at least when she wasn’t hunting Nudge.
I meant Brandi, not Shelly.
I don’t think that the “You” is Nudge. My first thought was Sphinxie was referring to Shelly from a previous CM cycle. But I may be over thinking it. Grrr. Arrgh. (heh).
And I agree. I’m so glad it’s not the Friday comic.
Exactly – Shelly told her this from an earlier time loop – which means, somehow, they did the ‘fix Jin’ quest before the attempted Calendar Machine fix in at least one loop.
Curious, ne?
Yes, this is my take as well…Shelley actually gave this sphinx the script in a previous cycle, which is why the Sphinx was so exasperated at Shelly’s dim responses…
i thought nudge also
but perhaps it was only greyed when nudge was speaking independantly.
like when she was ordering anchovies.
when it was black maybe its when the others all agreed with her?
From the expression and where they are is must have been Shelly in a previous cycle who told here. Get Shelly PO’s and up goes the strength. Really, really up. She did that one handed!
No – it’s two-handed. Look closely.
Can make a case either way. That could very easily be the pommel showing a little bit above and below the arm. The first slice was one handed clearly. Why change the grip just because she is mad? I think we should agree to dis-agree. lol.
“Why change the grip just because she is mad?”
Because it’s what a person normally does when their tool gets stuck.?
No, she’s right handed. If she’s using her left hand, she must be using both. Besides, in the bottom panel, you can make out the fingers or knuckles of the right hand underneath. It’s strange that her left hand would be a little further out, though.
Panel 1 is two-handed. Panels 2 and 3 are one-handed for the initial swing and during contact. Panel 6 is two-handed.
No problem. They can always plant another Yggdrasil to replace this one.
im begining to think its not the world tree
One would hope not.
Wait wait wait…
“You told me that would work…”
…I am so glad today isn’t Friday.
Time for a quick cut-away to Amanda’s gallery! And maybe back to this plot thread Friday… (no, I’m just being silly…)
Oops, ‘studio’. Don’t know why I typed ‘gallery’. Don’t you hate it when you hit several wrong keys, all in a row?
It’s especially bad when they form, for no apparent reason, actual words. Worse sill when those words even seem to fit the sentence.
I think its called a Freudian slip…
…and very nice lace trim it has, too.
Slippery little suckers…
You’ll find the punishment jar for Julia Roberts quotables right behind the Right Said Fred “I’m too sexy” dance jar…
So you’re saying I should take up residence by these jars?
Isn’t a Freudian slip when you say one thing but mean your mother?
You must be thinking of some other mother…
@Julie I’m too sexy for the “I’m too sexy” jar…
you know… I’m beginning to think that the Calender isn’t quite fixed after all.
Maybe.
Its possible they did this quest pre-reset on some of the go-arounds before fixing the calendar.
It’s fixed. Paul said so but I can’t remember where.
It never was fixed, it was destroyed.
Meh. Close enough
and boomed into the sun where it frazzled
Not only was it destroyed but it went phBBBbbb!
And you know something? I just realized that Bud didn’t totally lie to the Police Officers. Bud’s “cat”, aka Brandy, did see what happened. Even though Bud may have exaggerated things a bit.
Off-topic, Mark Siegel of “Sailor Twain” has done a great period cameo sketch of me, and I’m too ashamed to admit that I don’t know how to make it be the picture. Or that I’m scared of breaking the internet if I mess with it myself. …Could someone point me in the right direction for that?
If you mean you want to use it as your avatar – go to Gravatar.com, register, and the site will walk you through uploading it.
*grumps*
i changed my avatar and deleted the other from gravtar site but its still showing the old one?
nm worked now
The change has to propagate through a lot of servers.
Yay, it appears to have worked!
Thanks guys!
Wait. If nudge is involved, was this a good idea?
I mean, Shelly just acted on her own without Monica’s (relatively) cooler head.
I don’t think Nudge is involved at all.
An aside to who? Is this all going according to plan?
It was never said that this tree was Yggdrasil. Just the Sacred Tree.
Oh, I’m a Lumberjack and I’m okay…
Why you streaker you! I never would have guessed!
Sorry,
But that closet is still closed.
Ummm… Wouldn’t that be kinda dangerous to swing that thing around while doing dishes?
Ginsu must be thinking, “How can we get a patent on that?”
Holy quacamole! The whole tree? This must not be real or it’s not THE Yggdrasil (but it plays one in the netherworld).
It’s “sacred”. That’s all we know so far.
Perhaps it’s the oak where the best mistletoe grows.
True. Must not have been very sacred though. Scared trees must grow all over there. Maybe it’s a sacred tree farm.
Scared trees? Scared if what, sword-wielding overmuscled guitarists?
“Scared OF what”…. frikkin keyboard gremlins….
“Sacred” or “Scared”?
Both, when Shelly is around with that dirty big sword…
love those typos
Fron Adrian Plass his book is ‘readings from a sacred diary’ and during a book reading in a later diary he is introduced as ‘the authout who wrote readings from a scared dairy’
It’s been my experience that many sacred things can be quite scary…
Especially the smoke bomb on a chain. You know it’s a really important day when they trot out the smoke bomb. I read once that they started that ritual as a counter to the really bad odor the “common folk” tended to exude. A medieval room deodorizer of sorts.
I forgot to mention the world is going to end on May 21st of this year. At least according to these folks:
http://www.familyradio.com/index2.html
They guarantee it (complete with Biblical quotes), so you might as well go ahead and spend that mid-month paycheck and your life savings, having a whale of a good time before it’s too late. For those of you who have no real life savings, have a minnow of a good time.
It’s the end of the world, and I can eat out at McDonald’s.
Ahh–re: the “smoke bomb on a chain”: don’t forget that Psalm 141 speaks of prayers rising “like incense” and “like the evening sacrifice”–and incense was also used extensively in the Jerusalem temple.
And re: End of the World–it’s been predicted before. And so far been wrong every single time, as far as anybody can tell.
The only good advice Christians have been given about the end of the world is: don’t worry about when it will happen. Be ready always, and it won’t matter when it comes.
have they missed the point of the rainbows?
wasnt that god promise he wouldnt do that again?
that and well..jesus is sposed to come back and the devil is sposed to go nuts on the planet before all the doom and distruction.
oh well i will appologise if im dead on 22nd may but well…so many holes in that prediction its almost a netting.
George Noory interviewed a spokesmodel for that bunch recently on Coast to Coast AM. (I absolutely LOVE that woo-woo show) He tried to get them to promise to come back on the 22nd if things didn’t work out they way they planned, they refused.
A few day after the interview, Mr. Noory got an envelope in the mail from them asking for a donation to the ‘church’. It included a monthly tithing option….
Actually God didn’t promise to never destroy the world again. He only promised He would not destroy the world by water again. The next time is supposed to be by fire. Considering the amount of fire-power in the world that seems likely.
Noory could have said he would be happy to send an offering. He’ll send it June first.
Or perhaps “scarred”?
No, Shelly IS that strong.
Don’t make Shelly angry. You wouldn’t like her when she’s angry…
The Sensational Muscle-Butt!!
(formerly the Savage Muscle-Butt)
Make Mine Wapsi
It could just be a sizeable branch; it LOOKS like they’re standing on ground, but it could be an enormous horizontal branch. If Yggdrasil, it’s big enough to wind around the Nine Worlds…..
It has roots.
I don’t think so, it looks like the branch is just spreading into a bigger part of the tree…
Okay. I’ll say it.
TIMMMBERRRRRRR!!!
Today’s installation is titled ‘Outta the park’…
I am probably dumb, drunk and/or stuck in Hangoverland, but I don’t understand why. Any ideas out there?
Ever played baseball?
Shaaawinggggg batta batta!
http://youtu.be/9EdkdaPW2Kg
And now that the tree has been cut down, and after Shelly is done with doing whatever else she needs to do to it, the various “park rangers” of wherever she is will need to remove the remains… in other words, take it out of the park.
‘kay, maybe not.
Just to be perfectly clear for those not of this fandom:
It refers to a home run hit out of the (ball) park.
Oh oh… methinks that the Sphinx has tricked Shelly into cutting the tree thereby unleashing the beast!! O.o
Z
Interesting
I assumed from Bud that Shelly is just strong NOT abnormally strong.
From Tina you got she was abnormally strong.
From this tree slice you get the feeling she might be a tad abnormally strong.
Was Bud trying to placate her into Shelly not freaking out or well, is she just normally strong?
People in that muscle programme pull huge things so I spose its possible for someone to do that and still not have super powers?
Flinging a V8 block across the shop is definite in the “abnormally” class of strong.
I wouldn’t want to try it with my old Sprite’s 1100cc four’s block.
Flinging a V8 block across the shop is definitely in the “abnormally” class of strong.
I wouldn’t want to try it with my old Sprite’s 1100cc four’s block.
(Submitted once with invalid e-mail, trapped in moderation hell.)
I did once, with an old 2cv boxer-engine. Ruptured a muscle in the process. It is possible, but not very smart. And a V8?? Never seen that done, even with the aluminum variation.
I guess Bud wanted to teach Shelly that being super-strong, without being invulnerable is something that has to be carefully balanced.
Remember that Shelly hurt herself when crushing the coffee-pot, and smashing the alarm-clock.
The more I think of it, the wiser Bud gets(with some lapses here&there that are more due to her inate clumsiness). She’s the actual brains of the GG, despite Brandi’s -considerable- intellectual forte.
I think Bud is smarter on a tactical level, Brandi strategic.
Shelly IS abnormally strong, but not abnormally “breakable”. So, when Bud tweaked her arm, it still hurt like it would for anyone. Also, some of those kind of holds and tweaks are as affective on large and strong men, as on small and weak men. Unless they are in a “feel no pain” kind of state, that is.
She’s pretty strong. Not only did she cleave through the tree, the force caused the upper section to spring three feet into the air. The only problem is; where will the thing come down? She may be strong but she isn’t crush proof.
My take on her strength is that she has superhuman strength in a human body, but she’s not invulnerable, nor is she nearly as strong as Bud. She might be She-Hulk, but Bud is SuperGirl…
Yeah, I think Bud’s idea of “abnormally strong” may have been a bit off. The strength difference between M and Shelly may be huge, but throw Bud in the mix and there’s suddenly a parabolic curve on the graph.
Do the tree rings mean anything or just tree filler?
I count 7
Time-cycles could be completely different in the sphinx’ realm.
Either that, ot it has been 7 cycles ago that a Shelly cut the tree, and it started growing again from there-on.
Orrr..It’s somewhat impossible to draw a couple of million circles, or howeverlong it was when the tree started to grow “at the beginning of time”
XD This entire interaction has had me grinning the entire time
Really Really weird thought. What if the time cycle is not caused by the calendar machine? It doesn’t make sense following these clues would have happened before fixing the machine as they don’t seem to contribute anything to that problem. Following the immortal politicians is something done after the calender, not before. We haven’t reached 2012 yet in real world or story line either. Is it possible that the true event that causes the reset is has still yet to occur? Was fixing, breaking, the calender merely one step along the path to the recycle happening?
Pure speculation I know, but isn’t that what we are all doing anyway?
i always assumed that Jin had to physically reset the calender machine each time.
it didn’t do it itself?
IMHO the Calendar machine would hit a hitch in the gears on Dec. 21, 2012 and skip backwards, like a needle on a record, to approximately the same time 1450 years earlier….
For you yung ‘uns, a record was a vinyl disc with a long spiral groove in it that would reproduce sounds…
The hell you say!? What size laser spot did it use?
SoWhyMe: It didn’t — it used a diamond-tipped needle. Very analog.
You mean they don’t use the wax-covered cylinders anymore? Golly! What won’t they come up with next?
“They say that right now over in France, as we speak, Louis Pasteur is developing a cure for anthrax. Imagine – hoof and mouth disease a thing of the past.”
A needle!? So it was basically a sewing machine with speakers?
Oh, that’s nothing. When we have a cure for foot in mouth disease, than we’ll have something really useful.
Actually, there was at least one LP turntable that used a laser to read the groove – its base was a slab of marble and it weighed something like a hundred pounds.
Fairportfan, a friend of mine sold those laser-head record players (among other electronics) years ago; she tells me both the sound quality and reliability were remarkable. Well worth the money, if you were willing to drop that much on a turntable.
if you watch the film ‘the crow’ it has a scene where the girl uses one
and naturally the record keeps repeating at one stage..like they used to.
If you make a record skip at the same spot enough times, doesn’t it make a permanent skip? Would that happen with the CM?
Remember from this comic the sphinx saying “It was a less then a cycle when you were last here.” Assuming that the girls had been occupied with CM preparations during this time from previous CM cycles, they are ahead of schedule from the last CM cycle. Even if flows at a different rate in this nether realm, it’s been less then 1 CM cycle of time since the last iteration.
Given what’s been going on, I’m beginning to think Stinky’s fetching of the sub was no accident or coincidence. Someone seems to be pulling strings here and they may have pulled Stinky’s as well. Just waited for a golem girl to be alone on the island and sent him in. Of course, with time loops, it could, paradoxically, well be the girls themselves setting things up somehow so they play out this way on the next cycle.
Hehe maybe its weaved circles. So theres not just one but 2 or more Callender-machines. The first callender could just be a loop within a loop. If the girls would have learned that it could really be that they did set that up.
“plans within plans”
Stupidity within stupidity … hyperstupidity
Shush, Baron! And tell your twisted Mentat to shush too!
I ascribed Stinky bringing the sub to our cast becoming ‘weirdness magnets’. In many different stories, from many different authors, once you’re on to the weird, the weird is on to you. And is likely to show up on your doorstep at 3am on a random Tuesday morning.
“When you stare into the weird, the weird stares back at you.” – Freddy Nietzsche
Oh, we do that every time we look into a mirror.
THAT’S how the weird keeps finding me….
Never, never, never, never stare into the IRS.
“YOU told ME that would work…” (emphasis mine) … OK, so, Shelley has clearly been here before, in another Time Loop. Hmmm, I wonder if there’s another book out there, with Shelley’s writing in it this time?
Shelly has probably been there before, but that doesn’t mean the sphinx is talking about her. She may just be muttering to herself, thinking about whoever it was who told her.
More like the sphinx being herself the second book. If the Sword has its own inner continuity it could be that shelly turns up in a rather periodical way.
They have magazines in the neither world?
“neither world”..hmm..I like that!
Well, it’s neither our world nor Asgard…
Can’t claim to be the originator of that term. “Beetle Juice”s purgatory was called that…
It’s bad when you get manipulated by someone else, it must really bad if you get manipulated by a pst version of yourself.
Well, hell, if you don’t now how to push your buttons, who would?
Since everyone is speculating on who the sphinx is referring to, has anyone given thought to the fact that it’s a magic sword, and therefore may have some form of consciousness, and ability to communicate telepathically?
Perhaps it told the sphinx by being able to “read” Shelly through her wielding it?
it’ll start singing soon
http://www.herointrainingcomic.com/?date=2007-08-10
“Let me guess, you’ve never met a talking sword before.”
I…I really like this sphinx.
“You” told me that would work????….I smell Nudge, and I am not the only one.
That can’t be pleasant.
it does seem reminiscent of when she conned shelly into breaking the coffee pot
phix was watching tina for a while she said. perhaps phix saw the exchange and told the sphinx?
While this falls into the category of a Nudge-style manipulation, Nudge wasn’t there for the coffee pot crush (at least, not in this time cycle), and we don’t know yet if Nudge can travel to this place.
Heck, it’s just as likely that Phix visited her “sister” guardian at some point and mentioned Shelly’s temper.
I don’t swing my dishes around like I’m playing baseball when I’m doing the dishes. I must be doing it wrong. XD
Also, I wonder who that “you” is. Is it Shelley, or is this Spinx getting her information from a third party?
It might be the same “someone” who told Nudge to lead Shelly into the woods. Whoever that was, Nudge felt compelled to obey.
I would like to point out that the Library has authority over sphinxes. Has it been a moving force in this entire tale?
Hmmm..You could be on to something. Since the library holds ALL books of all time (=all knowledge, so to speak) it is a major mover&shaker that could even override demons and demi-gods..
You’re saying this nether realm just just a branch (of sorts) of The Library? That is an interesting idea. Especially is if you that into other stories and ledgends like the Grail Quest. Quite interesting indeed.
If Shelly’s there, it must be the children’s section…
Technical manuals or sheet music sections also come to mind.
Oooh. Hadn’t thought of that.
Oh that’s a neat thought!
I’m still calling previous Brandi on that. The previous cycle Brandi conspired with Tina’s demons to make Tina, and make Monica a door. Also conspired with Nudge (I believe) to give Shelly Conscience (probably in exchange to hide out in Tina). Basically Brandi set up the whole destruction of the calendar machine. She probably knew about Jin and was ready for that too. But NOW I’m thinking that previous Shelly was in on it, too. This Sphinx said Previous Shelly met her in the prevous cycle. She was just early this cycle (Kevin’s idea of taking care of the machine right away probably wasn’t planned on). This means she knew this cycle’s Shelly would be super strong (maybe because of what was going to happen with her demons), or Shelly was already super strong and just couldn’t destroy the tree till the Calendar Machine was all broke. Either way she knew what would make herself unleash her strength.
Brandi conspired with a previous, I think the time before this one, to get Monica and Tina together. That way Tina could slip Monica the clock key without alerting Jin to it. It’s Jin’s body block on Monica, and the bus, that caused the accident that killed Tina. Nudge broke in then and got the demons to re-animate the body.
As I recall it…
Brandi conspired with a previous TINA…
I swear that Post Comment button presses itself.
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/littlevisit/
This whole conversation points to Brandi setting up a conspiracy between Monica’s demons and Tina’s demons to drive Monica in front of the bus, thus breaking the rules about hurting other people. Maybe Nudge was intended to join them to get them animated since the demons wouldn’t remember what they were after they broke the rules. Then new Tina could give the key later. (remember getting Monica to be a full doorway was needed so Bud could jump into monica and save Jin’s mom.) My hypothesis is that Previous Brandi is a huge Puppet-Mistress and worked out the save-Jin mission, too.
Oh, this IS fun!
Now who is the Sphinx talking to?
Okay on the 2nd frame she just used one hand with any effort and it made the blade sank in with a *Thock!* and after the intimidation from “other” sphinx (who i have a feeling we shall soon see in human form) she uses 2 hands and cuts the tree in half from a stationary position. Shelly either has a really sharp blade or Shelly is truly super human and I think its the latter. Oh I just love a girl who can handle herself! ^_^
I think it’s a combination of both. Super strength and magic sword which can cut through anything. I doubt a regular sword could do it, even in Shelly’s hands.
I agree.
No matter how sharp the blade is there has to be enough power behind the blade to compress the wood out of the way or the blade gets trapped.
That Sphinx sounds like shes been to a couple of games at PNC Park. (Thats where the Pirates play Baseball) Thats right Shelly, just pretend thats a engine block and “Scha-Winnggg!”
Who told Sphinxie that implying Shelley was weak would get the job done? And where is all of this taking place? Another spacetime? Shelley’s imagination? Yikes ô Yikes, inquiring minds want to know.
Nah…it wasn’t the commentary on weakness that did it. It was the reference to doing the dishes. She hates doing the dishes.
What do you mean I shouldn’t impose my own prejudices on other people???
Hmmm i think that this sword hast to be reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally sharp if you try something like this with a normal real sword you wont get quite deep no matter how strong
I mean eaven with a axe you need many chops to get through a tree that thick.
Altrough that isnt the real word or even wapsi so who knows what rules goes there?
The blade is pretty sharp but also has to be frictionless, otherwise it will bind in the cut. The fact that Shelly was able to release it from the first cut without serious effort argues for a frictionless blade.
It’s a Vorpal sword.
I don’t see why everyone assumes Nudge had to be the one to tell the Sphinx how to motivate Shelly to summon her super strength. Shelly may be dim when presented with stuff for the first time, but she has also shown she can figure stuff out as well…
According to the family stories, my Ma was like this as a young girl. Many of her boy cousins were punched silly after getting her mad enough. Today’s lesson: Try not to accuse Shelly of being a sissy.
Considering we clearly have more than one Sphinx, is there more than one nudge?
I think Shelly went and told her in a past time loop regardless.
Nudge is an individual. Sphinxes are a species. Phix is a Sphinx, and there are other Sphinxes, but only one Phix. Nudge is a umm trickster coyote ram thingie. There might be other trickster coyote ram thingies, but only one Nudge.
OTOH, Nudge may be all the tricksters…
Given the chance, Nudge will probably tell you that she’s all the tricksters.
Or not, if you’re mad at someone else. Or some other thing. Whatever seems amusing at the moment.
Trickster gods are not really known for their adherence to strict truthfulness, nor for giving straight answers to simple questions.
cant imagine loki with horns really…
No need to imagine Paula have a picture.
A few days ago, (the 6th) Paul remarked about the thingie on the sphinx’s nose:
Christ! Utter effin’ HTML fail…
What Paul said:
“Nope, that’s the little mark that cats have just inside the area between their eyes and the bridge of their nose.”
Jeeze. And people think human cougars can be scary…
You could ask Gregory. He might know. But as a gentleman, he wouldn’t gossip about any sphinx rubbing he gets.
Would those resemble erotic tombstone rubbings?
Um. Isn’t it bad that Shelly has just severed the TREE OF LIFE at the base? Or have I missed something?
Nice swing there. Wonder if Shelly want to go golf-pro now that she got a coach screaming at her ;D
well, this is interesting. clearly Shelly has an unfathomably deep pool of strength at her disposal. A tree that old and large would be very dense. Plus she didn’t even have a swinging start. After being stopped by the tree, and the Sphinx’s comment, she simply applied more pressure and followed through….like it was melted butter….slicing the branch clean off…
…wow… O_O
Did she just CUT DOWN YGGDRASIL?
That’s it. We’re all f*cked.
Please, don’t let a Lorax appear…