I agree with your assessment on the Shelly comments, but she started with 100% negative on Monica and pulled back to her own personal opinion, which is positive.
I feel better about Tina knowing that she was just overwhelmed with what she was reading in their auras and blurting it out, rather than trying to be a huge jerk.
Hmmm, interesting tactics Tina — first hit ‘em with the stick, then give ‘em a carrot and shove ‘em out the door while they’re still confused as hell. Much harder for them to simply wall themselves off in denial from the truths that they both know.
You gotta think… having a horde of different voices/personalities running through your head constantly must make for some interesting impulse control issues.
Or, to misappropriate the old joke “Tina said ‘I’m not schizophrenic… and neither am I”
how does “that was your auras doing the talking” constitute this being a 180? it would seem that in the previous strip she was interpreting what their auras were telling her.. and now she’s saying what SHE (they?) feels… and I love Monica & Shelly’s “zuh?!” expressions.
Okay, Tina, the collective, actually likes Monica’s new do. That leads to the question “how much do the demons affect one’s aura”? How much of what she read from Monica’s was the demon’s influence, especially Doubt?
I think the demons are fairly social, but Monica’s and Jin’s demons went beyond what was normal. Bud put Monica’s Doubt inside Jin. That created a bridge the demons could use to travel between hosts and read the other host’s mind.
I suspect that Tina, basically being a collection of demons, is aware of the same things that a person’s personal demons see. She was able to interact with other demons. We saw her doing that at the Cerberus Club. She obviously knew what the demons were saying to each other. Maybe she is allowed to use the information about people she gets from other demons, as long as it isn’t used against the other person. Maybe due to her special status, she can communicate with other demons better than they usually can communicate with each other. That could, in part, have to do with Tina 1.0, along with Monica and Shelly, naturally being what Jin’s demon called “port holes” for the demon world.
I’m not sure what to make of Tina’s “closer link” comment. Does it mean Tina is feeling Monica’s and Shelly’s auras more intensely or that she is aware of more detail than with other people? My guess is that it’s both.
Ah, interesting, very interesting. Maybe this is what’s meant by being “conflicted.” My mind believes/feels _this_, but my aura believes/feels _that_… Mental (logical) vs. emotional? I guess, in some way, we truly could talk out of both sides of our mouths, and still, in some sort of dualistic way, make sense – and be consistent…
Confused now … how does Tina’s “that hairstyle looks like crap and doesn’t suit you at all” equate with “you look cute as a ladybug?” The first statement is hurtful and the second one almost directly contradicts the first. And the whole “that was your auras doing the talking” bit? Hmmm … maybe confused is too weak a word to describe what i’m feeling …
A nice bean, thickly coated with good chocolate, ain’t cheap. Coffee People (now-gone, alas) started the custom in this neck of the woods; if you knew the barista, you usually got a handful, but as a freebie with every drink, it wasn’t anyuthing to sneeze at.
Mmm, coffee with espresso added…sounds good! Of course, I drink espresso by the full size mug at home, so there’s really no such thing as coffee jitters for me these days.
When I was working as a help desk operator the company had a free automatic espresso machine, that I visited about 4 times a shift and filled my quart coffee mug. Some days I didn’t need my headlight on my bike on the way home, I had eyelights kinda like M and the GG. Did you know caffeine improves your night vision?
(Also, beginning at 1:35 you can hear my long-time acquaintance Fred LeBlanc and Cowboy Mouth doing “This Much Fun” – which sadly does *not* appear in the film {at least the part i was able to watch before i gave up}.)
Any one remember Jolt cola? I used to work in a 1 hour photo lab. The temperature required for color negatives & prints makes it very hot & humid. So I was finishing my second can & yawning while reaching for another can and my co-worker ask me how many have I drunk so far. She tells me she once had less than half a can at 7:pm one night and was wired and could get to sleep till 2:am! I must be caffeine resistant or something.
Well, even if Monica and Shelly still look a little less than thrilled, I’m relieved to see Tina clarify things a bit. I am definitely looking forward to what they have to say about it tomorrow though.
I just saw this quote: “True friends stab you in the front. – Oscar Wilde.” It figures it would be a day late.
I’m confused about the disconnect between their auras and their body language. I don’t think we’ve seen a disconnect like that before. Perhaps what they had walled off in their subconscious was screaming louder to Tina than what wasn’t.
I think I remember that we have seen a disconnect in auras and someone’s feelings before. Monica came into the shop, and Tina was impressed by how her aura was shining brightly and she interpreted that to mean all was going well on the Calendar Machine project, but Monica was feeling uncertain and lost about it at the time.
I’ll leave it to someone else to find the actual comic and link it.
OK, you got me curious, so I found it. At least, that’s what I think you were talking about.
That one is a little strange and I’m not sure how much I trust what Tina is saying there. Monica’s Doubt and her other personal demons were part of the conspiracy, and I think Tina was, too. Monica’s demons were being quiet, I think, to make it easier to blindside Monica and Jin’s demons in the temple. I think that Tina was influenced by the fake quietness of Monica’s demons, or perhaps she was playing along. Beyond that, there is a strange disconnect between Tina’s positive words and the spookiness of the art. Also there is irony in the “if it kills you” phrase. I see what you were talking about, but the other stuff going on makes it seem like that wasn’t normal.
So, the first thing Tina said to them was actually “reading” what Monica and Shelly’s auras were screaming at her. The auras were so powerful because she is now friends with them and this makes them easier to read. So what she said today is what the Tina collective actually believes, Monica is as “…cute as a ladybug.” Tina was being a mirror to Shelly and Monica’s fears. Neat!
Sounds like the Tina committee disagrees about the changes. These girls need to remember that Tina is actually a half dozen or so individuals in one package. It’s less confusing.
The committee only disagrees with what the girls’ auras were saying. If there were disagreements in the committee, I imagine we’d see some lovely gray text pop up when one demon spoke out of turn to voice its differing opinion.
…has email always been a required field…? I don’t recall that happening to me before…
Anyway, as I just typed a minute ago, Nudge is the only Tina-demon we’ve seen speaking with grey text. We’ve seen a bunch of them all speaking in a single panel before and they all had pretty much the same text. That said, though, their text was more varied a few days later when several of them were thinking (or possibly conversing silently?) while the collective as a whole was also speaking as Tina.
We have no way of knowing that Nudge is the *only* one to speak out of turn. I think that presumption gets so much airtime because Nudge is the only one that has a name thus far.
So, they come in, and they are broadcasting so much happy-buzzy, Tina’s reaction was off the charts, and basically describes the glows (Tina-Vision{tm} would probably show one hell of a psychic conglomeration of Extraordinary Magnitude) before the filters could react.
BTW, Moni isn’t cute as a ladybug, she’s as cute as a (crimson) mantis! And Shelly? Like any good Comanche, she throws herself into all aspects of life, love, and stuff that would kill normal people.
I was pretty certain it was their own insecurities talking through their auras, and not necessarily Tina’s opinion that we saw the other day…but I wonder if their favorite coffee drinks are going to compensate for having their respective bubbles burst…
This reminds me of a comment made in “Good Omens” about Death, comparing him to having a tax collector on your softball team. It’s good to have him on your side but he’s never really ‘one of the guys’. That’s Tina. It’s good to have he on your side but she’ll never be one of the girls.
Anyone out there thinking that maybe Tina’s “aura reading” capabilities aren’t what they used to be, since Nudge has apparently taken over the collective?
anyone else think that SHELLY might need to get a haircut? she’s looking a bit sloppy there with her hair all messed up! Monica looks like a soccer-mom with that hairdo, but Shelly is looking like someone really DID cut her hair with a lawn mower.
Wow Girl ! 180 much ???
Whiplash, anyone?
Whiplash 180 with a Lemon Zest! Tina’s going to be winning some Gold at next year’s X-Games!
Tina was right both times. Not 180, just a different way of saying the same thing. First honest, then caring.
but would telling an easy lie be a caring answer. Both are Caring but 1 is a tougher to handle.
One blanked the minds, and made them more willing to listen, I suppose. Clarified, her earlier statements make sense.
I agree with your assessment on the Shelly comments, but she started with 100% negative on Monica and pulled back to her own personal opinion, which is positive.
I don’t know whether today or yesterday confused Shelly and M worse…
wow that was odd. Didn’t know auras were so talkative…
Ah , a little soothing salve for their scuffed egos .
Ha, totally knew Tina wouldn’t just shoot them down. She’s a good friend, after all.
Wow!! Totally flipped!!
Still love Tina though. I wish I knew her in real life.
I feel better about Tina knowing that she was just overwhelmed with what she was reading in their auras and blurting it out, rather than trying to be a huge jerk.
Sorry ladies, your time is up. Your next session will be same time, tomorrow morning.
Hmmm, interesting tactics Tina — first hit ‘em with the stick, then give ‘em a carrot and shove ‘em out the door while they’re still confused as hell. Much harder for them to simply wall themselves off in denial from the truths that they both know.
You gotta think… having a horde of different voices/personalities running through your head constantly must make for some interesting impulse control issues.
Or, to misappropriate the old joke “Tina said ‘I’m not schizophrenic… and neither am I”
how does “that was your auras doing the talking” constitute this being a 180? it would seem that in the previous strip she was interpreting what their auras were telling her.. and now she’s saying what SHE (they?) feels… and I love Monica & Shelly’s “zuh?!” expressions.
Okay, Tina, the collective, actually likes Monica’s new do. That leads to the question “how much do the demons affect one’s aura”? How much of what she read from Monica’s was the demon’s influence, especially Doubt?
How much of Doubt is just Monica herself?
Ooo…good questions… *wanders off to ponder…I mean…work*
Isn’t Doubt social, though? Or is it Just Monica and Jin’s that get together?
I think the demons are fairly social, but Monica’s and Jin’s demons went beyond what was normal. Bud put Monica’s Doubt inside Jin. That created a bridge the demons could use to travel between hosts and read the other host’s mind.
I suspect that Tina, basically being a collection of demons, is aware of the same things that a person’s personal demons see. She was able to interact with other demons. We saw her doing that at the Cerberus Club. She obviously knew what the demons were saying to each other. Maybe she is allowed to use the information about people she gets from other demons, as long as it isn’t used against the other person. Maybe due to her special status, she can communicate with other demons better than they usually can communicate with each other. That could, in part, have to do with Tina 1.0, along with Monica and Shelly, naturally being what Jin’s demon called “port holes” for the demon world.
I’m not sure what to make of Tina’s “closer link” comment. Does it mean Tina is feeling Monica’s and Shelly’s auras more intensely or that she is aware of more detail than with other people? My guess is that it’s both.
DARK.
and … those hands. Kind of old(ish) looking … up close.
Aren’t everyone’s hands oldish-looking, up close? At least, everyone old enough to own a coffee shop
Not mine!
M and Shelly look so sad.
Ah, interesting, very interesting. Maybe this is what’s meant by being “conflicted.” My mind believes/feels _this_, but my aura believes/feels _that_… Mental (logical) vs. emotional? I guess, in some way, we truly could talk out of both sides of our mouths, and still, in some sort of dualistic way, make sense – and be consistent…
Confused now … how does Tina’s “that hairstyle looks like crap and doesn’t suit you at all” equate with “you look cute as a ladybug?” The first statement is hurtful and the second one almost directly contradicts the first. And the whole “that was your auras doing the talking” bit? Hmmm … maybe confused is too weak a word to describe what i’m feeling …
She was quoting Monica and Shelly’s own worries yesterday.
Today she’s telling them what she (for want of a better term) thinks herself.
“My aura should stfu.”
Mine would say stfu
…and the truth comes out.
Sumatra with depth charge…?
A coffe with a coffe-ale???
Do ppl realy serve this in the USA?
I am known for quadruple espresso, and in most coffee places you can get espresso shots added to ANY coffee to kick up the caffeine.
There is no Goddess but Caffeinia and Juan Valdez is her prophet.
Hoo-wah ! I’ve gotten four shots stacked up , too . After all , that’s about the amount I make in my home set-up .
Yep; at least over here in Oregon
Yes .
Hold a sec is it a coffe with added whole beans?
Some coffee shops here throw in a chocolate-coated bean as garnish… I first encountered this in the early 90′s. Tasty and crunchy!
One bean? How generous.
A nice bean, thickly coated with good chocolate, ain’t cheap. Coffee People (now-gone, alas) started the custom in this neck of the woods; if you knew the barista, you usually got a handful, but as a freebie with every drink, it wasn’t anyuthing to sneeze at.
Yep . I’ve ordered a five pound bag of ‘em , from Amazon , before .
Took me awhile to finish them .
a “Depth charge” is a coffee with a shot of espresso, and yes, it’s really served and people really drink it. Makes me a little too jittery though.
Mmm, coffee with espresso added…sounds good! Of course, I drink espresso by the full size mug at home, so there’s really no such thing as coffee jitters for me these days.
Well-spoken indeed! I’ll enjoy a 12-cup carafe from my drip coffee maker before I leave for work, and… more coffee!
When I was working as a help desk operator the company had a free automatic espresso machine, that I visited about 4 times a shift and filled my quart coffee mug. Some days I didn’t need my headlight on my bike on the way home, I had eyelights kinda like M and the GG. Did you know caffeine improves your night vision?
Is there such a thing as “calm” for you?
More like barely controlled free-fall, but in a good-natured way (grins)
Heh. Check this trailer at about 1:55.
(Also, beginning at 1:35 you can hear my long-time acquaintance Fred LeBlanc and Cowboy Mouth doing “This Much Fun” – which sadly does *not* appear in the film {at least the part i was able to watch before i gave up}.)
Yep . Same here . Using a home machine or mocha pot .
*$ calls it a “Redeye”. If you get two shots, it’s a “Black eye”…
I’ve been waking up with so many red eyes lately…
Any one remember Jolt cola? I used to work in a 1 hour photo lab. The temperature required for color negatives & prints makes it very hot & humid. So I was finishing my second can & yawning while reaching for another can and my co-worker ask me how many have I drunk so far. She tells me she once had less than half a can at 7:pm one night and was wired and could get to sleep till 2:am! I must be caffeine resistant or something.
Resistance, no . . . one sumbitch of a built-up tolerance, damn straight, based on your description.
Jolt Cola ! Yes !
I once, for no apparent reason, did a fanzine issue entitled “Caffeine-Free Diet Jolt Cola”.
I think i swiped it from a bottle on the back bar in “Buck Godot”.
Personally, i thought the stuff was icky – too much like slightly-flat Royal Crown.
Yay! I wasn’t the only one that thought the taste was reminiscent of RC!
Well, even if Monica and Shelly still look a little less than thrilled, I’m relieved to see Tina clarify things a bit. I am definitely looking forward to what they have to say about it tomorrow though.
Don’t count on it. Paul has a penchant for leaving things like this hanging and moving laterally to something else.
I think Shelly looks really well-drawn in that second panel. And I think the overgrown cowlick is cute!
Kinda makes her head look like a pumpkin with it’s stem still attached.
Actually…kinda does make me think of like a jack-o-lantern now that you mention it XD
I just saw this quote: “True friends stab you in the front. – Oscar Wilde.” It figures it would be a day late.
I’m confused about the disconnect between their auras and their body language. I don’t think we’ve seen a disconnect like that before. Perhaps what they had walled off in their subconscious was screaming louder to Tina than what wasn’t.
Good observation. Being friends and more comfortable with someone may lower aura barriers that one normally erects towards everyone else.
I think I remember that we have seen a disconnect in auras and someone’s feelings before. Monica came into the shop, and Tina was impressed by how her aura was shining brightly and she interpreted that to mean all was going well on the Calendar Machine project, but Monica was feeling uncertain and lost about it at the time.
I’ll leave it to someone else to find the actual comic and link it.
OK, you got me curious, so I found it. At least, that’s what I think you were talking about.
That one is a little strange and I’m not sure how much I trust what Tina is saying there. Monica’s Doubt and her other personal demons were part of the conspiracy, and I think Tina was, too. Monica’s demons were being quiet, I think, to make it easier to blindside Monica and Jin’s demons in the temple. I think that Tina was influenced by the fake quietness of Monica’s demons, or perhaps she was playing along. Beyond that, there is a strange disconnect between Tina’s positive words and the spookiness of the art. Also there is irony in the “if it kills you” phrase. I see what you were talking about, but the other stuff going on makes it seem like that wasn’t normal.
Grats on the working Gravitar, BTW.
So, the first thing Tina said to them was actually “reading” what Monica and Shelly’s auras were screaming at her. The auras were so powerful because she is now friends with them and this makes them easier to read. So what she said today is what the Tina collective actually believes, Monica is as “…cute as a ladybug.” Tina was being a mirror to Shelly and Monica’s fears. Neat!
…the next time i insult my pals, i’ll just tell them i was going with their auras.
What the hell? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
Sounds to me like their auras overwhelmed Tina as soon as they walked in, and now that their auras have had their say Tina can say what she wants.
Pffft. Big frickin’ surprise.
Sounds like the Tina committee disagrees about the changes. These girls need to remember that Tina is actually a half dozen or so individuals in one package. It’s less confusing.
The committee only disagrees with what the girls’ auras were saying. If there were disagreements in the committee, I imagine we’d see some lovely gray text pop up when one demon spoke out of turn to voice its differing opinion.
…has email always been a required field…? I don’t recall that happening to me before…
Anyway, as I just typed a minute ago, Nudge is the only Tina-demon we’ve seen speaking with grey text. We’ve seen a bunch of them all speaking in a single panel before and they all had pretty much the same text. That said, though, their text was more varied a few days later when several of them were thinking (or possibly conversing silently?) while the collective as a whole was also speaking as Tina.
We have no way of knowing that Nudge is the *only* one to speak out of turn. I think that presumption gets so much airtime because Nudge is the only one that has a name thus far.
So, they come in, and they are broadcasting so much happy-buzzy, Tina’s reaction was off the charts, and basically describes the glows (Tina-Vision{tm} would probably show one hell of a psychic conglomeration of Extraordinary Magnitude) before the filters could react.
BTW, Moni isn’t cute as a ladybug, she’s as cute as a (crimson) mantis! And Shelly? Like any good Comanche, she throws herself into all aspects of life, love, and stuff that would kill normal people.
You know you can use HTML to make that tm really pop? And people that read auras tell me that their entire lives are like that one scene in 2001…
Well poop, that HTML tag didn’t work.
Try Character Map to cut-and-paste all sorts of good things:
™ © ® € ¥ Ø Œ
Here is a table of HTML character codes – i recommend the codes in column 5…
Tags allowed in these comments show up in your browser’s monospace font between the comment form input boxes and the “Post Comment” button.
Allowed tags: a (including href and title attributes), abbr (title attribute), acronym (title attribute), b, blockquote (cite attribute), cite, code, del (datetime attribute), em, i, q (cite attribute), strike, and strong.
I was pretty certain it was their own insecurities talking through their auras, and not necessarily Tina’s opinion that we saw the other day…but I wonder if their favorite coffee drinks are going to compensate for having their respective bubbles burst…
Good thing most humans can’t read/see/hear aura’s. Imagine the hell that would be. If Tina’s any indication, we couldn’t risk being near each other.
I like the smiling saguaro on the cup!
This reminds me of a comment made in “Good Omens” about Death, comparing him to having a tax collector on your softball team. It’s good to have him on your side but he’s never really ‘one of the guys’. That’s Tina. It’s good to have he on your side but she’ll never be one of the girls.
Anyone out there thinking that maybe Tina’s “aura reading” capabilities aren’t what they used to be, since Nudge has apparently taken over the collective?
Auras … what a concept!
Well, hell; that’s putting it in so many words…
By the way – THIS was the 9th Anniversary of Comic #1. Pablo, did you ever think you could make it nine years as a webcomic artist?
anyone else think that SHELLY might need to get a haircut? she’s looking a bit sloppy there with her hair all messed up! Monica looks like a soccer-mom with that hairdo, but Shelly is looking like someone really DID cut her hair with a lawn mower.
Wow. If she reversed track physically at the speed she just did metaphorically, the inertia would cause her neck to snap.