Well played, Bud. Maybe this adventure will get the insecurity out of Shelly about her superhuman strength… She should revel in it, not be afraid of it…
I think both Jin and Monica knew exactly what Bud was referring to with their knowing looks and words…
The good news is that you can probably use animals. The bad news is you will end up with someone like Tepoz.
Of course, instead of owning one, you could use yourself and become one. Immortality, unlimited power, poiting ability, make diamonds in your bare hands. Not too bad.
Jin was already insane before becoming a golem. Brandi & Bud made the destruction of the world bit happen because they were tortured before being made golems, so they were emotionally broken and dangerous.
Contrarily, May (Jin’s mom) became a golem with neither destructive impulses nor insanity. Thus, becoming a golem might be desirable to any who are not unstable and wish to have the laundry list of “perks” that go with being non-human (and don’t mind the negative side to it of being around forever and watching the people you love die…not being able to change unless you grasp whatever nifty bit of knowledge Jin has to alter her appearance…etc).
One more caveat to consider: no children. Before you shrug that off, go and read “A Voice is Heard in Ramah…” by Spider Robinson; it’s in the first “Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon” collection. And the odds of loneliness are very, very high.
So, it’s coming down to Shelly now? Just about time for the “dun, dun, dunnnn” notes. All in all, whoever goes will still have the support of the others via cell or satelite phone. I’m sure Jin could afford to outfit someone with either as needed. Heck, one of them could poit in and out as requiired with whatever is needed. Just meet up away from the graveyard. For that matter, can one of them poit Shelly back and forth? Sort of like Monica did to Amanda.
I’ve heard military types say the ideal minimum number for a small mission is 3 – if there’s a casualty, the other two can evac the third.
This also allows for one specialist and two bodyguards, etc.
So has bud been chatting with the other golem girls or because of their great age they’re just so attuned to each other they instantly understood what she was hinting at?
Brandi is, I fear, a lot like me. People rave on and on about how brainy she is (I suspect when they talk about me, they are lying to make me feel better. I know how stupid I am! ), but doesn’t quite catch up with everyone else until a few minutes later. The “Waitaminute…” moment.
So yeah, She didn’t catch it even if Jin did. She’ll get it later.
the main thing to remember is…
brainy/ intelligence whatever is *relative*..
You know there are people smarter than you, but many dont find it possible to do what you do… so help them out, with words of caution, and they will feel good that there is someone nice to help them, and you will feel good being able to help!!
There will *always* be some more learned than you, that is why the caution!!
The GG’s have shown the ability to answer thought balloons, and even Monica’s, on at least one occasion.
I don’t think Monica realizes, but Jin has known everyone for a looong time, and may know from past experience.
That might have been back when Jin could read Monica’s thoughts because their Doubts were linked. Now that Jin’s Doubt is stuck in Demonland, I don’t think she can do that anymore…
This is a great strip for two reasons: Bud replying to Jin’s thought, and the explosive punch. I love how it shows off what the golem girls are physically capable of: Bud’s one of the very few entities in existence that can throw a punch capable of staggering Jin, and Jin’s one of the very few who could take that punch and be lucid almost immediately afterward (in the next strip).
Bud removed (and splattered against the wall) Shelly’s tattoo during the Calender Machine business, sealing the Tapestry Gate forever before the Demons could use it to escape their Realm. She had the outline of her tattoo where the ink had been for a while, but I assume that’s tanned out, since.
OK, I’ll admit that the comment immediately above really was an appreciation of Amanda’s blocking in particular. I agree that she is most smokin’ in this view…
Doesn’t Monica’s bra designer have an engineering degree? She probably used carbon fiber straps to prevent just that. The cups may be fiber-belted radials.
(augh.. my entry diaolg is at the bottom, not by the post I am replying to???)
about that strip – I think she narrowly avoided spinning herself across the floor..:D be careful how much muscle you put into it, girl!! just a small bit for the ’8 ball’ is enough!
Mon has stated before that her swimsuits could have catastrophic failures, so it’s possible (and even likely) that her bra designer doesn’t also create swimwear.
Pablo, you have always been good for the occasional fan service. This arc has been especially good.
Not ignoring the story or anything else, that is all up to the usual excellent standards. But today is quite possibly the most epic piece of fan service in the history of web comics.
I think they have become friends. Well, as much as it is possible for an immortal indestructible being to be friends with a “soap bubble.”(and vice versa) And that’s just Bud. Imagine Jin’s problem having gone through it some 56 times. Jin’s world view would be severely skewed without being actually schizophrenic.
She thrives on manipulation. Come to think of it, all females do, Jin, however, has turned it into a quest. It’s what she knows best after tens of thousands of years of practice.
That’s true, of course, but I think Jin is the only one of the girls to have actually been around for a long, long time. For the other two, they had their years up until they were transformed into golems, then their time as guardians. I’m not sure how long the latter was, but I don’t believe it was all that long. After the “big bang” which destroyed nearly everything in their civilization, they were deactivated by someone (I’m not clear on that) and put on the shelf for thousands of years, only recently being revived once again.
Jin’s also had the added benefit of living all of the iterations the calendar machine produced, whereas everyone else who’s become immortal (aside or just IS like Phix and/or Nudge…and perhaps the demons, who aren’t talking about it) only knows the current timeline.
I like how you can compare proportions and height of the girls here. Jin is one head smaller than Brandi! And Monica IS really short while having the biggest bra-size of them all.
I predict Amanda is about to go on her first adventure (besides the beach). The rest are dancing around it quite nicely. She found it in the first place, right? Sometimes a photographer’s eye is what you need in an investigation.
1: Coffee (especially Tina’s)
2: Tattoos (by suggestion/mention of other fans, also mentioned by characters)
3: Liquor (by the way where the hell is Tepoz, they could have sent HIM)
4: Personal Demons (and the noogies they give)
5: Friendship (go team M?)
Pizza has to be on the list, somewhere.
I’d drop Personal Demons. Although they, I think, were pervasive, very, very few could see or interact with them.
Am I the only one that thinks that they should just hang around in their bikinis and discuss this for a few more weeks? Did I mention ‘in bikinis’? Did I mention it enough? In Bikinis.
There, that oughta do it.
Bud’s already ‘thinking on her feet’…
My first thought exactly…
Are you two on your feet?
I do my best thinkin’ in a reclining position…
I do my best while on my side with a pillow propped under my head. ^_^
Kusaragi, is that uttering the sacred mantra, “Sngngngngngnk!”?
Well played, Bud. Maybe this adventure will get the insecurity out of Shelly about her superhuman strength… She should revel in it, not be afraid of it…
I think both Jin and Monica knew exactly what Bud was referring to with their knowing looks and words…
Words? What words?
Word.
Don’t know if Monica gets it, but Jin seems to.
Bud is evil… and Jin is enjoying Shelly’s discomfort.
I so heart these girls! <3
It’s much easier to appreciate the cruelty of females when it’s not being directed at you.
Oooo … Writing that dowm.
I knew you would.
Same can be said of a woman’s anger… And usually is.
A well-known fact…
NICE content drop on that one.
I love me some Kipling…
Where can I buy a “fancy machine” like that!?
can’t buy, only produce, and the ehrm…soul you use would have to be emotionally active when you extract it from it’s host.
The good news is that you can probably use animals. The bad news is you will end up with someone like Tepoz.
Of course, instead of owning one, you could use yourself and become one. Immortality, unlimited power, poiting ability, make diamonds in your bare hands. Not too bad.
Go insane. Destroy the world…Yeah, there are some caveats involved.
Jin was already insane before becoming a golem. Brandi & Bud made the destruction of the world bit happen because they were tortured before being made golems, so they were emotionally broken and dangerous.
Contrarily, May (Jin’s mom) became a golem with neither destructive impulses nor insanity. Thus, becoming a golem might be desirable to any who are not unstable and wish to have the laundry list of “perks” that go with being non-human (and don’t mind the negative side to it of being around forever and watching the people you love die…not being able to change unless you grasp whatever nifty bit of knowledge Jin has to alter her appearance…etc).
One more caveat to consider: no children. Before you shrug that off, go and read “A Voice is Heard in Ramah…” by Spider Robinson; it’s in the first “Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon” collection. And the odds of loneliness are very, very high.
So, it’s coming down to Shelly now? Just about time for the “dun, dun, dunnnn” notes. All in all, whoever goes will still have the support of the others via cell or satelite phone. I’m sure Jin could afford to outfit someone with either as needed. Heck, one of them could poit in and out as requiired with whatever is needed. Just meet up away from the graveyard. For that matter, can one of them poit Shelly back and forth? Sort of like Monica did to Amanda.
I’ve heard military types say the ideal minimum number for a small mission is 3 – if there’s a casualty, the other two can evac the third.
This also allows for one specialist and two bodyguards, etc.
Of course, if both can poit, that number would reduce to 2–either could still extract the other.
At the risk of a wardrobe malfunction, it must be added.
Is Pablo still being coy about Shelly’s suit?
If you had the chance to tweak us like that, you wouldn’t?
Well, of course.
So the brawny are wearing one-piece swimsuits? Jin maybe crazy, but she is cute when she is teasing.
PBH
So has bud been chatting with the other golem girls or because of their great age they’re just so attuned to each other they instantly understood what she was hinting at?
well Jin did even if Brandi didn’t
Brandi is, I fear, a lot like me. People rave on and on about how brainy she is (I suspect when they talk about me, they are lying to make me feel better. I know how stupid I am!
), but doesn’t quite catch up with everyone else until a few minutes later. The “Waitaminute…” moment.
So yeah, She didn’t catch it even if Jin did. She’ll get it later.
the main thing to remember is…
brainy/ intelligence whatever is *relative*..
You know there are people smarter than you, but many dont find it possible to do what you do… so help them out, with words of caution, and they will feel good that there is someone nice to help them, and you will feel good being able to help!!
There will *always* be some more learned than you, that is why the caution!!
The GG’s have shown the ability to answer thought balloons, and even Monica’s, on at least one occasion.
I don’t think Monica realizes, but Jin has known everyone for a looong time, and may know from past experience.
For reference:
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/theutmostfinesse/
And, I couldn’t find the one I know I’ve seen where Jin finished a sentence from Monica’s thoughts.
That might have been back when Jin could read Monica’s thoughts because their Doubts were linked. Now that Jin’s Doubt is stuck in Demonland, I don’t think she can do that anymore…
They’ve thought at each other…where Monica and Jin talked to each other via thought bubble…not a gift Monica seems to have normally.
This is a great strip for two reasons: Bud replying to Jin’s thought, and the explosive punch. I love how it shows off what the golem girls are physically capable of: Bud’s one of the very few entities in existence that can throw a punch capable of staggering Jin, and Jin’s one of the very few who could take that punch and be lucid almost immediately afterward (in the next strip).
If they were using telepathy to communicate about getting Bud to do it, she would have known that since she can read their minds as well.
Thanks for a great week of fanservice, Pablo!
WHere’s amanda’s tattoo thingy?
Heheheh. Bud taking the mickey out of Shelly.
Where’d her tattoo go?
Bud removed (and splattered against the wall) Shelly’s tattoo during the Calender Machine business, sealing the Tapestry Gate forever before the Demons could use it to escape their Realm. She had the outline of her tattoo where the ink had been for a while, but I assume that’s tanned out, since.
For Reference:
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/ink-be-gone/
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/hard-core/
“Tapestry Gate”: what a lovely phrase, and so descriptive! Kudos for the coining!
Or, if you’re referring to Amanda’s tattoo, there’s a SLIGHT obstruction in the way… But it’s possible Mr. Taylor just forgot to draw it.
He did at least once before…
Yeah – now you mention it, it ought to be at least partially visible.
Oh, look there…
{grin}
“oh, do you know the 5 sacred items in the Wapsiverse?”
Tell me more. ^^
Kudos to Paul on the blocking of the characters in today’s edition…
Wow…I think this is the first really good view we’ve gotten of Amanda’s bod. She looks NICE.
I feel very well served this week, if you know what I mean.
OK, I’ll admit that the comment immediately above really was an appreciation of Amanda’s blocking in particular. I agree that she is most smokin’ in this view…
She looks TALL. Most people do, standing next to Monica. But very nice, too.
I was checking out Brandi, myself. Yummy.
On to-quick turnaround and Monica’s girls are gonna escape that alleged top.
Doesn’t Monica’s bra designer have an engineering degree? She probably used carbon fiber straps to prevent just that. The cups may be fiber-belted radials.
Nah – it looks like that top wouldn’t do much to prevent the sort of unpleasant result seen in this strip…
(Or even this one…)
ah, I was looking for that!
(augh.. my entry diaolg is at the bottom, not by the post I am replying to???)
about that strip – I think she narrowly avoided spinning herself across the floor..:D be careful how much muscle you put into it, girl!! just a small bit for the ’8 ball’ is enough!
Mon has stated before that her swimsuits could have catastrophic failures, so it’s possible (and even likely) that her bra designer doesn’t also create swimwear.
I hope this becomes a annual thing, the beach meetings.
Pablo, you have always been good for the occasional fan service. This arc has been especially good.
Not ignoring the story or anything else, that is all up to the usual excellent standards. But today is quite possibly the most epic piece of fan service in the history of web comics.
Thanks for making my morning.
Despite Shelly’s (unintentional) cruelty to Bud early in their acquaintance, Shelly and Bud have gotten pretty simpatico…
This is true. I think they really bonded while being the secret keepers of how Tina’s key would be used in the temple…
I think they have become friends. Well, as much as it is possible for an immortal indestructible being to be friends with a “soap bubble.”(and vice versa) And that’s just Bud. Imagine Jin’s problem having gone through it some 56 times. Jin’s world view would be severely skewed without being actually schizophrenic.
I wonder if she ever gave that case of beer to Bud that she owes her?
I like Shelly’s hair like that best of all.
I think my favorite hairstyle for Shelly was the DBZ hair from the time of W’s link above. But this style suits her very well.
Right – that was what i was referring to.
Ooooo. i see Amanda’s tattoo is back. Gave me another excuse to stare…for…a…minute……….
I see Jin still thrives on Shelly’s discomfort.
Jin thrives on anyone’s discomfort.
She thrives on manipulation. Come to think of it, all females do, Jin, however, has turned it into a quest. It’s what she knows best after tens of thousands of years of practice.
“Immortals have time to get very good at things. In fact, they have time to get very good at everything!”
That’s true, of course, but I think Jin is the only one of the girls to have actually been around for a long, long time. For the other two, they had their years up until they were transformed into golems, then their time as guardians. I’m not sure how long the latter was, but I don’t believe it was all that long. After the “big bang” which destroyed nearly everything in their civilization, they were deactivated by someone (I’m not clear on that) and put on the shelf for thousands of years, only recently being revived once again.
Jin’s also had the added benefit of living all of the iterations the calendar machine produced, whereas everyone else who’s become immortal (aside or just IS like Phix and/or Nudge…and perhaps the demons, who aren’t talking about it) only knows the current timeline.
With something like 81,000 extra years of manipulating the world to get the fix on the time machine, it’d be a hard habit to stop cold turkey.
And even more of a challenge since the others know she’s a master manipulator.
I like how you can compare proportions and height of the girls here. Jin is one head smaller than Brandi! And Monica IS really short while having the biggest bra-size of them all.
All that height she doesn’t have had to go somewhere.
Yeah. Monica is actually rather tall … sideways.
I thought it was taken up by all the curves…
Has anyone calculated Monica’s fractal dimension?
Yes, one might say she has horizontal height.
I adore Bud’s pose in this.
I predict Amanda is about to go on her first adventure (besides the beach). The rest are dancing around it quite nicely. She found it in the first place, right? Sometimes a photographer’s eye is what you need in an investigation.
5 Sacred Things in Wapsiverse:
1: Coffee (especially Tina’s)
2: Tattoos (by suggestion/mention of other fans, also mentioned by characters)
3: Liquor (by the way where the hell is Tepoz, they could have sent HIM)
4: Personal Demons (and the noogies they give)
5: Friendship (go team M?)
Probably totally off, but eh.
Pizza has to be on the list, somewhere.
I’d drop Personal Demons. Although they, I think, were pervasive, very, very few could see or interact with them.
And beer!
Don’t beer and liquor come together under Tepoz’s bailiwick?
I’d suggest:
1. Coffee
2. Alcohol, both beer and spirits
3. Tattoos
4. Personal demons
5. Pizza.
Nope. Beer is food.
According to my friends the beer I drink is food…but I still think of it as a beverage.
Am I the only one that thinks that they should just hang around in their bikinis and discuss this for a few more weeks? Did I mention ‘in bikinis’? Did I mention it enough? In Bikinis.
There, that oughta do it.
Don’t know if it’s been mentioned yet but Amanda is HOT!