Yet, even a domesticated animal can lash-out dangerously. Dogs in a panic, do crazy things, even kill, domesticated or not.
Buuut to be honest, I’d never consider a black bear, a wolf, or a cougar “domesticated” they can act “tame”, but still are unpredictable. Ask a zoo keeper.
Tina is, indeed, dangerous like that, especially when angered, or scared.
I dunno..I just sent it to the central laundry….It (usually) came back cleansed of blood stains. Dunno how they did that. Noticed that my government-provided handkerchiefs DID have a habit of falling apart after coming back from the central laundry..must ‘ve been some nasty variation of Alklanet..
“the bit about the wall was a lot of work”
hmmm, does she mean she spent a lot of time and energy, painting that wall ‘just right’ ???
And would you not say the same thing(even knowing its not THAT much of a problem) to your mate who is just about to spew/ throw something/ whatever at the wall???
- and of course, there is the cleaning after.. it would be a lot simpler if they just covered the floor with it….
Apparently one of the demons is an interior decorator… or really hates menial labor and would like very much to NOT have to clean/paint the walls again.
And yeah… called it. M is sick of the wild behavior and wanted everyone to fecking stop being animals already.
@ CrashFu: She AGREED with it, and she was the one to tell Monica that in the first place. She has no problem with it whatsoever.
I kind of want a panel that shows said wall now, just to see what all the fuss is about. I mean, what’s so special about the paint? There’s no way it’s a simple single-color unpatterned wall with all this fuss.
The honeymoon is over. It’s all out in the open now. For all their trying to include Tina in things as a fellow human, it still comes down to this. She isn’t and Monica harbors no illusions about her. Possibly now neither does Shelly. It’s going to be just civil now, but not the same. As Roy was reminded, big cats are not pets. They’re dangerous and can turn on you in an instant. This time it was Nudge, but next time it could be Monica or Shelly or whoever. Tina is not one of the girls. She’s not a “person.” It’s sad really, but inevitable. I guess Monica or Shelly could handle an attack. Monica by poiting and Shelly by strength. Bud will be pleased. She viewed Tina that way all along.
Exactly! Bud was the one that apparently couldn’t see Tina’s illusionary-human shape. She only saw the ever-shifting demon-exterior that’s the TRUE Tina. Brilliantly, ( and beautiful in a disturbing way) drawn by Paul.
Phix isn’t human, either. Or Nudge. Or Tepoz, for that matter. Friendship – at least Monica’s friendship – has little to do with humanity, and being her friend doesn’t blind her to the reality of people’s situation or make her think them less a person. Tina is a demon conglomerate in control of a human body, and has admitted herself she’s dangerous to others. Monica is just reminding everyone of that. No reason to exclude her from normal group interactions or loyalties. Or at least what’s normal for THIS group. Jin is a much greater danger than Tina, and they’re still all for one, one for all for her.
And if the wall’s one of those with lots of detail work on it, I can see Tina’s point…
I’m still wondering what they will do with Nudge. How will they keep Nudge contained if she is dangerous like a wild animal. This story has me gripping my chair.
As far as we know, Nudge is benign where violence is concerned. She has never once even fought back, let alone attacked anyone. Tina is the cause for concern.
True, but she is not allowed to directly harm them. Doesn’t mean she physically can’t, though the consequences to the universe seem rather much. Although I think that’s just if she outright kills someone. But, like you say, turning on them would probably be via way of “suggestion.”
I’d be wiling to bet there is a sphinx just poised and waiting should she ever start to kill a human. Given the consequences to everyone and everything, she is likely closely monitored 24/7/364.25.
And we still don’t know if the Demon Law is actually still working for Trina there she is already punished and well not completely normal demon anymore.
*grumps*
I still like Tina and Monica is being deliberatly mean to her
Even if Tina is okay with it..Brandi had a discussion with shelly yonks ago about how Bud doesn’t enjoy the fact of being reminded of the fact that she could distroy the planet with a wish and that people are scared of her. Maybe she should have the same discussion with Monica.
This is a special case. For the first time Tina has physically lashed out and, worse yet, suggested that Shelly kill Nudge. She’s not trying to be mean or hurtful. She’s trying to get across to Shelly that she was being manipulated by Tina and how it could happen again. This is not a time for pussyfooting around the facts. Monica is trying to impress on Shelly just how bad the situation really was.
It occurs to me, belatedly, that up to just recently the Tina we knew was a conglomeration in which Nudge had a vote, and behaved much as a gatekeeper. And Nudge appears to be non violent.
Is Tina model #3, sans Nudge, less constrained? More feral?
Early on, Tina was inconsistent, but I think that was more a matter of being mentally broken, which seemed to go away after time. Since she couldn’t help it, I wouldn’t consider that to be manipulation.
The one example I can think of off the top of my head with a Nudge vs. Collective dialog is when Nudge orders anchovies on her pizza, and the Collective seemed resigned to Nudge, then. The Collective (at least up ’till now) has always given me the impression of being deliberative, sort of a counterbalance to Nudge. I guess we’ll see? Maybe it’s just that with Nudge gone, the brakes are off.
I think that Monica exaggerated yesterday, but I don’t think it’s out of meanness. She’s upset, too. She still may launch into Shelly and Nudge and even things out.
Yes, it’s not accurate to say that Shelly would have killed Nudge because of anything Tina said. The incident with the frothing cup proved that Shelly doesn’t have to obey what Tina says and Tina didn’t do anything this time to manipulate Shelly’s anger. If anything, talking to Shelly about the walls would have distracted Shelly from her anger. It’s possible that Monica didn’t know any better, but I think she was just exaggerating.
I can’t blame Monica for talking about Tina being a wild animal, though. Tina has said so herself and it’s something she probably wants her friends to know.
Even if Tina didn’t make Shelly want to kill Nudge, she certainly didn’t try to stop her. I think that at that moment, she would have been happy to see it happen, even if she wouldn’t have been responsible for it. I can’t blame Monica for blowing up at her for that.
Peculiar that Shelly, for all her brawn and violent tendencies, is not able to see the TRUE violent nature that Tina’s demon-collective represents.
I guess that, at some level, Shelly -despite having grown quite a bit- is still too much stuck inside her own wall of violent defenses to comprehend the warning signs of true mayhem around her.
In other words, she’s so stuck in her own anger and violence, that she fails to see it in others. Almost like a violent kind of asperger.
Even her forcefull pushing away of Nudge and Tina, illustrates her hardly contained continuous anger towards the world around her, an anger that rises from her non-comprehension and lack of control in this world around her.
As someone with a knack for engines and machinery (completely contollable and understandable), real,surprisingly uncontrollable, life is challenging, and quite a bit at that too.
Monica, on the other hand, has a deep understanding of people, and the typical long-term, flexible mind of a good academic. She also isn’t too perturbed by things she cannot directly wholly understand, her sub-conscious just figures that there is always time to learn&accept something new.
A mind-set that emerged the moment she accepted all magic and mayhem around her, and quit finding scientific explanations for all.
Re: “Peculiar that Shelly, for all her brawn and violent tendencies, is not able to see the TRUE violent nature that Tina’s demon-collective represents.”
And I flashed on Star Trek – A Taste of Armageddon:
Kirk: We’re human beings with the blood of a million savage years on our hands! But we can stop it. We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! Knowing that we’re not going to kill – today!
Poor Tina no one likes to have their flaws and failings rubbed under their nose. However, everyone has his or her breaking point; Nudge was Tina’s. It is not like this is going to be an everyday occurrence.
Shelly needed the information about Tina’s nature reinforced and that is what Monica has done here. You can socialize with a wolf, and be friendly with a wolf, and even play with a wolf– as long as you keep in mind that it is a wolf and not a dog. This event does not make Tina a bad dog, but reinforces that she is a good wolf.
I said a while back that without Nudge Tina isn’t the Tina that we knew. Adding or subtracting members to a committee changes the committee– the dynamics are no longer the same. How much it changes depends on how active the committee member was. If Nudge was like Joe Biden and President of the Senate it won’t be as much of a change as if Nudge was like the President Pro Tempore
Daniel K. Inouye. I am beginning to think Nudge was a Joe Biden, though, because Tina hasn’t really changed that much in my opinion.
The fact that Tina is a good wolf makes it all the more imperative to understand her rules and establish the right relationship–like being the alpha member of the pack, to continue your metaphor. However, with wolves, it’s even more critical not to show weakness, or to be willing and ready to act when you are weakened, lest you wake up with your wolf at your throat one day.
Yes, Tina’s demon collective might be more feral without Nudge to counteract them, but were they not spurred by Brandi to cause the accident that led to tina’s demise to begin with? Could she have been the force that led Shelly into the forest?
No, Nudge did it, but I assume that it was Brandi who told Nudge what to do. Nudge said, “I was told to.” Once she handled that, I think her next assignment was to get Tina out of the morgue.
…well, maybe not next assignment. She might have had to get the key or do some other things. Who knows? Once Nudge was inside Tina, Brandi had Nudge nudge Tina to bring the key to Wapsi Square. I don’t know what else Nudge did for the previous Brandi, though.
I think it means that putting in the wall was a lot of work. I don’t think there had been a wall behind where Nudge was before (to the left when you came in the door). Unfortunately, it’s rare for Paul to use that direction for a background and I didn’t want to take too much time looking, but I’m remembering it being a big open area in that direction. It must not be that way now.
I think it means that putting in the wall was a lot of work. I don’t think there had been a wall behind where Nudge was before (to the left when you came in the door). There seems to be a big open area in that direction. It must not be that way now.
Oops! Later I found the page and I forgot that I had already submitted my comment. I must have hit the back button which made it look as if I hadn’t submitted it yet.
Hmmm. The question of invisibility or flight has been posed–I suppose here it should be POITING or THIPPING? (That is, teleporting like Monica et.al., or shape changing like Nudge)?
After reading a lot of the comments. I think I’m gonna have to an opposing point of view to everyone, including Tina and Monica. I think Tina is acting in a most human fashion. Nudge invaded Tina 2.0 and manipulation her thoughts and action in a most intrusive manner for a long time. That’s an incredible violation of one’s self. It’s quite understandable for Tina to lash out against Nudge. And Shelly going off half-cocked (as usual) upon finding out about what Nudge did to her.
Tina is much more than just a collection of demons in a human puppet body. Sh’e not a wild animal. She’s much more than that. Look a look at what recent events that Tina has been through and the aftermath of those events. Tina in her own way is becoming human even by her own words,
I think that Shelly (in a flash of wisdom) is seeing that as well. Don’t forget the conversion that Shelly and Tina were having prior to Nudge showing up. Shelly was trying to get Tina to see the change in herself as well.
I’m really looking forward to see how all of this plays out. Some many interesting plot threads started for this new story cycle.
You may be right in some ways. The demons who make up Tina are different in that they do not remember their past. They are not encumbered by that past and have a fairly clean slate upon which to build. Their instincts as demons are still there, but not amplified by eons of being demons. Sort of like a wild animan being raised by a human. They don’t really know how to be an animal among other animals of their kind. Therefore, they will behave in a somewhat different manner, save for their instincts. So I suppose Tina’s demons would build a collective “personality” that would be different from other demon collectives. They will never be human, but they can become a close approximation. Assuming they can remain free of the corrupting influence of other demons. This could be especially true if they can ever combine into one al la Shelly’s.
Poor Tina… The demi-Urge to hit Nudge struck and so she did as well, completely understandable. But encouraging cleanliness was Urge overkill I guess. Hard to know where to draw the line…
I have to wonder though, since Tina has great powers of persuation on humans, would he be with her because he really wanted to be or because of her “suggestions?” Would his own demons counter some of her power, or would they join in and intensify it? And, of course, she’s hot, further befuddling the poor male.
Why would it be unreasonable for Tina not to discover the self-restraint to cultivate a romantic relationship? Jin has shown much less self-control, and she has (apparently) a good relationship… and Tina is indeed slowly developing a coherent personality, or so it seems. In the series so far, not everyone appears to have demons; specifically, none of the boyfriends (someone correct me if I’m wrong here). Nor do Monica’s parents, her boss, Amanda, etc.
…So the Collective would likely be free from interference, I think, at least in the romantic world. She is hot, though. I know I’d be befuddled
It’s not a question of restraint. Anything she says has much more influence on humans than another human. It comes with being demons. I get the impression she can even have more influence over them than their own demons, but I’m not sure about that. Also, the story line is that every human has a collection of demons associated with them. Some groups of demons can even be attached to more than one human at a time. Monica and Shelly are unique in that they have a direct connection their demons. They can see and converse with them as needed. Everyone else just sort of feels the influence of their own demons without actually realizing their presence.
Tina and Shelly were talking about sex once, and Tina indicated she wasn’t sure how the rats in charge of the ship would – or even if they could – handle that. Demons are normally just along for the ride when things get romantic; if called upon to make the decisions and moves themselves, who knows what’s going to happen…
All right Mr linguist, since nobody else wants to point out the lack of royal attire, I’ll ask: Who or what is a golemot? Even the entire web does not seem to know.
I can understand that. Shelly’s new haircut, to me, seems to make her more “street” and even less of an intellectual being. Maybe that’s part of the point. She just comes across as a street brawler these days, this strip notwithstanding. The kind who would engage in a girl-fight at the slightest drop of a slur. Youtube is full of examples of this sort of individual.
As to Nudge, I think it’s just a matter of getting introductions over with. I mean, she has to come into it at some point if she is to play a pivotal point later. Paul can’t just spring her out of nowhere at the crucial moment. She’s not my favorite character (that would be Jin) but she’s ok with me and brings along some new information as to what happened in the past. In that regard she may be just a plot device, but I find it all interesting nonetheless. I’m still waiting to see what name she gets tagged with. Surely they can’t just call her Nudge in the presence of others.
For that matter, I wonder what Phix’s actual name would have been in her native language? Hopefullly she wasn’t simply Sphinx #894553550-721-666. I also wonder if Sphinxes are bred/created for this job or do they enlist in the Library Corps? “Join the corps! See the universe. All the demons you can eat!”
Monica seems more in charge as time goes by. Day by day if she said “JUMP”, most of the girls would ask “How High?”, although Shelly’d probably Bitch about it..at first. Is it just me or when Monica gets angry.. she… gets…. HOTTER!
I, for one, cannot comprehend coupling anger and “hotness.” I’ve never have understood this sick fetish of associating ruthless, homicidal females with extra attractivness. They just neauseate me.
@SoWhyMe: I agree with you up to a point. I don’t think that anyone is suggesting that M is ruthless or homicidal, and I’m pretty sure TheDoctor was indulging in hyperbole. The guys I’ve seen (in real life) who talk about angry women being hot are not referring to (their) real life, although I suppose it could be a super-small niche fetish. Is it sick, or a form of social commentary, a sort of living Swiftian satire? If I encounter a guy who’s mischeivous and aggressive, and slightly annoying, I’ll be infatuated all day long (grins), but one who’s obnoxious and angry is just going to get a visit from someone uniformed…
Yeah….painting can be a pain. Especially getting ivory to cover A+ in one coat.
The Walls! There closing in!!
“They’re”, as in they are. (I’m not domesticated either.)
Aw, c’mon, Uncle. Would a wild animal wear a snappy hat like yours?
*sigh* No one picks up on the clue of the really stinky cigar …
I noticed it…
I have a photo of you and some friends playing poker, but you are smoking a cigarette…
A really stinky cigar IS behavior I’d expect of a wild animal…
I personally thought of good old steadfast Winston, or the English bulldog in general. But I saw no particular reason to mention it.
Owch. Right or not, I think we know it must hurt Tina to hear things like that.
I wouldn’t be so sure… Irritating, sure, but she knows and is fine with it (even though she’s hoping for better).
Fortunately, she’s a civilized wild animal, unlike other demons (and as opposed to domestic).
Indeed! A leopard can’t change it’s spots. However, with time and training, you can have a well mannered leopard! Just remember, it’s still a leopard.
I had a long and ultimately fruitless discussion with my son-in-law trying to get across the difference between “tame” and “domesticated”.
Yet, even a domesticated animal can lash-out dangerously. Dogs in a panic, do crazy things, even kill, domesticated or not.
Buuut to be honest, I’d never consider a black bear, a wolf, or a cougar “domesticated” they can act “tame”, but still are unpredictable. Ask a zoo keeper.
Tina is, indeed, dangerous like that, especially when angered, or scared.
Tina brought it up, herself.
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/wild-animals/
And I agree with her comment from the last panel today. Covering up bloodstains is hard work…
Use the appropriate paint and it washes right off.
Hydrogen peroxide works. Used to use it to get bloodstains out of my uniforms.
I dunno..I just sent it to the central laundry….It (usually) came back cleansed of blood stains. Dunno how they did that. Noticed that my government-provided handkerchiefs DID have a habit of falling apart after coming back from the central laundry..must ‘ve been some nasty variation of Alklanet..
“the bit about the wall was a lot of work”
hmmm, does she mean she spent a lot of time and energy, painting that wall ‘just right’ ???
And would you not say the same thing(even knowing its not THAT much of a problem) to your mate who is just about to spew/ throw something/ whatever at the wall???
- and of course, there is the cleaning after.. it would be a lot simpler if they just covered the floor with it….
There’s a period between “wall” and “it” – or maybe a comma.
Apparently one of the demons is an interior decorator… or really hates menial labor and would like very much to NOT have to clean/paint the walls again.
And yeah… called it. M is sick of the wild behavior and wanted everyone to fecking stop being animals already.
@ CrashFu: She AGREED with it, and she was the one to tell Monica that in the first place. She has no problem with it whatsoever.
And it all comes back to the paint
I kind of want a panel that shows said wall now, just to see what all the fuss is about. I mean, what’s so special about the paint? There’s no way it’s a simple single-color unpatterned wall with all this fuss.
“But the bit about the wall, it was a lot of work.”
Heheheh. Awww, my poor Tina.
That is the sort of reaction you flash on in a moment of stress…
The honeymoon is over. It’s all out in the open now. For all their trying to include Tina in things as a fellow human, it still comes down to this. She isn’t and Monica harbors no illusions about her. Possibly now neither does Shelly. It’s going to be just civil now, but not the same. As Roy was reminded, big cats are not pets. They’re dangerous and can turn on you in an instant. This time it was Nudge, but next time it could be Monica or Shelly or whoever. Tina is not one of the girls. She’s not a “person.” It’s sad really, but inevitable. I guess Monica or Shelly could handle an attack. Monica by poiting and Shelly by strength. Bud will be pleased. She viewed Tina that way all along.
Exactly! Bud was the one that apparently couldn’t see Tina’s illusionary-human shape. She only saw the ever-shifting demon-exterior that’s the TRUE Tina. Brilliantly, ( and beautiful in a disturbing way) drawn by Paul.
Indeed–thank you, Mr. William Steig (and if you don’t know what that means, I bet Paul does).
Phix isn’t human, either. Or Nudge. Or Tepoz, for that matter. Friendship – at least Monica’s friendship – has little to do with humanity, and being her friend doesn’t blind her to the reality of people’s situation or make her think them less a person. Tina is a demon conglomerate in control of a human body, and has admitted herself she’s dangerous to others. Monica is just reminding everyone of that. No reason to exclude her from normal group interactions or loyalties. Or at least what’s normal for THIS group. Jin is a much greater danger than Tina, and they’re still all for one, one for all for her.
And if the wall’s one of those with lots of detail work on it, I can see Tina’s point…
I’m still wondering what they will do with Nudge. How will they keep Nudge contained if she is dangerous like a wild animal. This story has me gripping my chair.
As far as we know, Nudge is benign where violence is concerned. She has never once even fought back, let alone attacked anyone. Tina is the cause for concern.
Nah – as the character in Sprague deCamp’s novel Lest Darkness Fall says about his banker: “He’s honest – you just have to watch him.”
Tina cannot directly harm them; all they have to do is watch out for her trying to get them to harm themselves, if she backslides…
True, but she is not allowed to directly harm them. Doesn’t mean she physically can’t, though the consequences to the universe seem rather much. Although I think that’s just if she outright kills someone. But, like you say, turning on them would probably be via way of “suggestion.”
I’d be wiling to bet there is a sphinx just poised and waiting should she ever start to kill a human. Given the consequences to everyone and everything, she is likely closely monitored 24/7/364.25.
yes, maybe another bit of a ‘scratch’ from phix may help to remind her!!
And we still don’t know if the Demon Law is actually still working for Trina there she is already punished and well not completely normal demon anymore.
Indeed it would be nice if Phix popped over from the annex and weighed in on this…
*grumps*
I still like Tina and Monica is being deliberatly mean to her
Even if Tina is okay with it..Brandi had a discussion with shelly yonks ago about how Bud doesn’t enjoy the fact of being reminded of the fact that she could distroy the planet with a wish and that people are scared of her. Maybe she should have the same discussion with Monica.
This is a special case. For the first time Tina has physically lashed out and, worse yet, suggested that Shelly kill Nudge. She’s not trying to be mean or hurtful. She’s trying to get across to Shelly that she was being manipulated by Tina and how it could happen again. This is not a time for pussyfooting around the facts. Monica is trying to impress on Shelly just how bad the situation really was.
hm, I feel another poit may be coming… If only to a desert island…
It occurs to me, belatedly, that up to just recently the Tina we knew was a conglomeration in which Nudge had a vote, and behaved much as a gatekeeper. And Nudge appears to be non violent.
Is Tina model #3, sans Nudge, less constrained? More feral?
That could very well be.
Hmm..now You mention it. Tina is more honest now,(=less manipulative with the trickster removed) but much more dangerous in a physical way.
Tina and Monica are both aware that time will stop dead if Tina let’s her anger take over and hurts a person in the process.
Some time back, part of Tina’s demon-collective even went into total panic-mode when she thought she accidentally hurt someone.
(Aaaand then here are sphinxes, waiting in the wings, just itching to off a demon or two….)
I had the opposite impression. Tina seemed to be more honest before Nudge left. Tina trickily manipulated Shelly to crush the frothing cup (by saying that Shelly couldn’t do it) after Nudge was gone. I don’t think she would have done that earlier.
Early on, Tina was inconsistent, but I think that was more a matter of being mentally broken, which seemed to go away after time. Since she couldn’t help it, I wouldn’t consider that to be manipulation.
The one example I can think of off the top of my head with a Nudge vs. Collective dialog is when Nudge orders anchovies on her pizza, and the Collective seemed resigned to Nudge, then. The Collective (at least up ’till now) has always given me the impression of being deliberative, sort of a counterbalance to Nudge. I guess we’ll see? Maybe it’s just that with Nudge gone, the brakes are off.
I think that Monica exaggerated yesterday, but I don’t think it’s out of meanness. She’s upset, too. She still may launch into Shelly and Nudge and even things out.
Yes, it’s not accurate to say that Shelly would have killed Nudge because of anything Tina said. The incident with the frothing cup proved that Shelly doesn’t have to obey what Tina says and Tina didn’t do anything this time to manipulate Shelly’s anger. If anything, talking to Shelly about the walls would have distracted Shelly from her anger. It’s possible that Monica didn’t know any better, but I think she was just exaggerating.
I can’t blame Monica for talking about Tina being a wild animal, though. Tina has said so herself and it’s something she probably wants her friends to know.
Even if Tina didn’t make Shelly want to kill Nudge, she certainly didn’t try to stop her. I think that at that moment, she would have been happy to see it happen, even if she wouldn’t have been responsible for it. I can’t blame Monica for blowing up at her for that.
Poor Nudge – stuck in the middle…
…
All of a sudden, I don’t think they want to poke around at that cemetery with the Coptic Cross.
There might be dangerous things hidden there.
Oh, that was a given from the beginning.
Nudge looks cute in the first panel…I don’t know why…
Peculiar that Shelly, for all her brawn and violent tendencies, is not able to see the TRUE violent nature that Tina’s demon-collective represents.
I guess that, at some level, Shelly -despite having grown quite a bit- is still too much stuck inside her own wall of violent defenses to comprehend the warning signs of true mayhem around her.
In other words, she’s so stuck in her own anger and violence, that she fails to see it in others. Almost like a violent kind of asperger.
Even her forcefull pushing away of Nudge and Tina, illustrates her hardly contained continuous anger towards the world around her, an anger that rises from her non-comprehension and lack of control in this world around her.
As someone with a knack for engines and machinery (completely contollable and understandable), real,surprisingly uncontrollable, life is challenging, and quite a bit at that too.
Monica, on the other hand, has a deep understanding of people, and the typical long-term, flexible mind of a good academic. She also isn’t too perturbed by things she cannot directly wholly understand, her sub-conscious just figures that there is always time to learn&accept something new.
A mind-set that emerged the moment she accepted all magic and mayhem around her, and quit finding scientific explanations for all.
jus’ my $0.02
very well said…
definitely worth more than $0.02.
=P
Re: “Peculiar that Shelly, for all her brawn and violent tendencies, is not able to see the TRUE violent nature that Tina’s demon-collective represents.”
And I flashed on Star Trek – A Taste of Armageddon:
Kirk: We’re human beings with the blood of a million savage years on our hands! But we can stop it. We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! Knowing that we’re not going to kill – today!
And so is Tina?
On a side note: I love the last remark of Tina : “But the bit about the wall, it was a lot of work” had me snickering..
Gotta love her, demon-collective or not.
Poor Tina no one likes to have their flaws and failings rubbed under their nose. However, everyone has his or her breaking point; Nudge was Tina’s. It is not like this is going to be an everyday occurrence.
Shelly needed the information about Tina’s nature reinforced and that is what Monica has done here. You can socialize with a wolf, and be friendly with a wolf, and even play with a wolf– as long as you keep in mind that it is a wolf and not a dog. This event does not make Tina a bad dog, but reinforces that she is a good wolf.
I said a while back that without Nudge Tina isn’t the Tina that we knew. Adding or subtracting members to a committee changes the committee– the dynamics are no longer the same. How much it changes depends on how active the committee member was. If Nudge was like Joe Biden and President of the Senate it won’t be as much of a change as if Nudge was like the President Pro Tempore
Daniel K. Inouye. I am beginning to think Nudge was a Joe Biden, though, because Tina hasn’t really changed that much in my opinion.
The fact that Tina is a good wolf makes it all the more imperative to understand her rules and establish the right relationship–like being the alpha member of the pack, to continue your metaphor. However, with wolves, it’s even more critical not to show weakness, or to be willing and ready to act when you are weakened, lest you wake up with your wolf at your throat one day.
Yes, Tina’s demon collective might be more feral without Nudge to counteract them, but were they not spurred by Brandi to cause the accident that led to tina’s demise to begin with? Could she have been the force that led Shelly into the forest?
No, Nudge did it, but I assume that it was Brandi who told Nudge what to do. Nudge said, “I was told to.” Once she handled that, I think her next assignment was to get Tina out of the morgue.
…well, maybe not next assignment. She might have had to get the key or do some other things. Who knows? Once Nudge was inside Tina, Brandi had Nudge nudge Tina to bring the key to Wapsi Square. I don’t know what else Nudge did for the previous Brandi, though.
So, I’m wondering. Does Tina’s last statement “It was a lot of work”, mean that she’s ALREADY covered up bloodstains on her walls?
I think it means that putting in the wall was a lot of work. I don’t think there had been a wall behind where Nudge was before (to the left when you came in the door). Unfortunately, it’s rare for Paul to use that direction for a background and I didn’t want to take too much time looking, but I’m remembering it being a big open area in that direction. It must not be that way now.
I think it means that putting in the wall was a lot of work. I don’t think there had been a wall behind where Nudge was before (to the left when you came in the door). There seems to be a big open area in that direction. It must not be that way now.
Oops! Later I found the page and I forgot that I had already submitted my comment. I must have hit the back button which made it look as if I hadn’t submitted it yet.
Nothing unites opposing beings like a common threat. Or an peeved Latina with telepoiting skills.
Trust me, nothing like a peeved Latina in the room to attract ALL the attention…
Especially a peeved four-foot-eleven latina who wears a 32GG bra…
Hmmm. The question of invisibility or flight has been posed–I suppose here it should be POITING or THIPPING? (That is, teleporting like Monica et.al., or shape changing like Nudge)?
After reading a lot of the comments. I think I’m gonna have to an opposing point of view to everyone, including Tina and Monica. I think Tina is acting in a most human fashion. Nudge invaded Tina 2.0 and manipulation her thoughts and action in a most intrusive manner for a long time. That’s an incredible violation of one’s self. It’s quite understandable for Tina to lash out against Nudge. And Shelly going off half-cocked (as usual) upon finding out about what Nudge did to her.
Tina is much more than just a collection of demons in a human puppet body. Sh’e not a wild animal. She’s much more than that. Look a look at what recent events that Tina has been through and the aftermath of those events. Tina in her own way is becoming human even by her own words,
I think that Shelly (in a flash of wisdom) is seeing that as well. Don’t forget the conversion that Shelly and Tina were having prior to Nudge showing up. Shelly was trying to get Tina to see the change in herself as well.
I’m really looking forward to see how all of this plays out. Some many interesting plot threads started for this new story cycle.
Very well put
You may be right in some ways. The demons who make up Tina are different in that they do not remember their past. They are not encumbered by that past and have a fairly clean slate upon which to build. Their instincts as demons are still there, but not amplified by eons of being demons. Sort of like a wild animan being raised by a human. They don’t really know how to be an animal among other animals of their kind. Therefore, they will behave in a somewhat different manner, save for their instincts. So I suppose Tina’s demons would build a collective “personality” that would be different from other demon collectives. They will never be human, but they can become a close approximation. Assuming they can remain free of the corrupting influence of other demons. This could be especially true if they can ever combine into one al la Shelly’s.
Poor Tina… The demi-Urge to hit Nudge struck and so she did as well, completely understandable. But encouraging cleanliness was Urge overkill I guess. Hard to know where to draw the line…
I find it hard to believe that a year has gone by, and no one has called you on those puns and demanded a huge Pun Jar payment??
You owe big interest, on the order of the United States national debt
One by one, all of these girls and golemot are hooking up with good guys. Isn’t it time for Tina to get some joy?
I have to wonder though, since Tina has great powers of persuation on humans, would he be with her because he really wanted to be or because of her “suggestions?” Would his own demons counter some of her power, or would they join in and intensify it? And, of course, she’s hot, further befuddling the poor male.
Why would it be unreasonable for Tina not to discover the self-restraint to cultivate a romantic relationship? Jin has shown much less self-control, and she has (apparently) a good relationship… and Tina is indeed slowly developing a coherent personality, or so it seems. In the series so far, not everyone appears to have demons; specifically, none of the boyfriends (someone correct me if I’m wrong here). Nor do Monica’s parents, her boss, Amanda, etc.
…So the Collective would likely be free from interference, I think, at least in the romantic world. She is hot, though. I know I’d be befuddled
It’s not a question of restraint. Anything she says has much more influence on humans than another human. It comes with being demons. I get the impression she can even have more influence over them than their own demons, but I’m not sure about that. Also, the story line is that every human has a collection of demons associated with them. Some groups of demons can even be attached to more than one human at a time. Monica and Shelly are unique in that they have a direct connection their demons. They can see and converse with them as needed. Everyone else just sort of feels the influence of their own demons without actually realizing their presence.
Tina and Shelly were talking about sex once, and Tina indicated she wasn’t sure how the rats in charge of the ship would – or even if they could – handle that. Demons are normally just along for the ride when things get romantic; if called upon to make the decisions and moves themselves, who knows what’s going to happen…
Although the Tina Collective spoke with one voice on Nudge, can you imagine the debates over a possible romantic partner?
All right Mr linguist, since nobody else wants to point out the lack of royal attire, I’ll ask: Who or what is a golemot? Even the entire web does not seem to know.
Golemot is Serbian for “the large.”
So, large girls?
I can understand that. Shelly’s new haircut, to me, seems to make her more “street” and even less of an intellectual being. Maybe that’s part of the point. She just comes across as a street brawler these days, this strip notwithstanding. The kind who would engage in a girl-fight at the slightest drop of a slur. Youtube is full of examples of this sort of individual.
As to Nudge, I think it’s just a matter of getting introductions over with. I mean, she has to come into it at some point if she is to play a pivotal point later. Paul can’t just spring her out of nowhere at the crucial moment. She’s not my favorite character (that would be Jin) but she’s ok with me and brings along some new information as to what happened in the past. In that regard she may be just a plot device, but I find it all interesting nonetheless. I’m still waiting to see what name she gets tagged with. Surely they can’t just call her Nudge in the presence of others.
For that matter, I wonder what Phix’s actual name would have been in her native language? Hopefullly she wasn’t simply Sphinx #894553550-721-666. I also wonder if Sphinxes are bred/created for this job or do they enlist in the Library Corps? “Join the corps! See the universe. All the demons you can eat!”
scoff scoff
Monica seems more in charge as time goes by. Day by day if she said “JUMP”, most of the girls would ask “How High?”, although Shelly’d probably Bitch about it..at first. Is it just me or when Monica gets angry.. she… gets…. HOTTER!
I, for one, cannot comprehend coupling anger and “hotness.” I’ve never have understood this sick fetish of associating ruthless, homicidal females with extra attractivness. They just neauseate me.
@SoWhyMe: I agree with you up to a point. I don’t think that anyone is suggesting that M is ruthless or homicidal, and I’m pretty sure TheDoctor was indulging in hyperbole. The guys I’ve seen (in real life) who talk about angry women being hot are not referring to (their) real life, although I suppose it could be a super-small niche fetish. Is it sick, or a form of social commentary, a sort of living Swiftian satire? If I encounter a guy who’s mischeivous and aggressive, and slightly annoying, I’ll be infatuated all day long (grins), but one who’s obnoxious and angry is just going to get a visit from someone uniformed…