Well dang Tina – don’t just start speaking the TRUTH like that – people can’t handle it. Totally bang on the head in both cases though. Surprised she didn’t tell Monica that her head looks like what’s left after blowing all the fuzz off a dandelion.
If that would make me less of a friend, I would be a pretty lousy person…
They aren’t just regulars… they’re friends, which means when something needs to be said, she says it, as best as she can… and I can tell it’s being said with a fair ammount of real concern.
Good points. She does look concerned. Nonetheless, I’ll bet her “friends” want to slap her right now for the buzzkill. Maybe they could suggest she go downstairs for some sugar.
Isn’t that last comment from Tina a bit out of character? I thought she was only mean if it helped her get/acheive something, but this just seems snide. I hope I’m wrong…
I can’t recall Tina ever being mean or hurtful like this. The content of her remarks concerning Monica can be understood just by looking at Monica and her body language, but what I wanna know is how can she read all that from Shelly’s aura? The sex, ok, but the depth of the relationship?
Exactly so; this appears to be the conglomerate. But Tina once remarked that her job was blowing sunshine up everyone’s ass, and this sure seems a departure from her usual tone.
On the other hand, I have to agree with her remarks about Shelly. If Shelly trusted Justin, he would now be part of the loop, and working his way down the list of Very Strange People that Shelly knows. I’ve not seen a hint of that. If he is still in the dark, Tina’s right – Shelly is treating him like a sex toy.
We also don’t know exactly how much time has passed in Shelly’s relationship with Justin. If they’ve been seeing each other for only a couple of months, dragging him down the rabbit hole would be rather like introducing your whole family and planning the wedding.
Trust at that level has to be earned, and it’s not uncommon for relationships to stay in the happy, sunshiny, screwing like bunnies stage until it’s decided that an actual relationship can develop and would be worthwhile.
That said, I agree with Tina’s assessment of Shelly’s relationship with Justin.
I don’t know what you mean by “the loop”. If you mean just being introduced to other people, yes, the fact that didn’t happen hints that something is wrong. I wouldn’t expect Shelly to let on about the magical stuff, though.
There is even more than that. We saw why Monica liked Kevin early on and we saw Alan supporting Jin. We also saw Owen and Lakshmi doing fun things together. We haven’t seen anything like that with Shelly and Justin. We’ve never seen them go out on a date. Other than sex, the most they’ve done together is hunting spiders. Justin was around when Shelly was exercising, but they weren’t doing that together. Beyond that, the way Justin was stalking Shelly and the way Shelly kidnapped Justin was weird.
I think I’ll take back what I said Friday, when I took back what I said Thursday. I don’t think this was supposed to be that good of a relationship for Shelly. I’m surprised that Shelly was acting so happy, though. Perhaps the idea is that Shelly doesn’t know what a good relationship would be like or this is as much as she is comfortable having right now.
@PAUL: The drop-down box on the left side of the page that lists the monthly archive pages isn’t working.
@SoWhyMe
I think that it could be that Shelly is disappointed that there isn’t more to the relationship, but is pretending to be happier than she is, or there could be a nagging doubt that Shelly pushed out of her mind, but Tina noticed (not sure how), or perhaps Tina noticed a lack of positive feelings for Justin as a person.
I agree that the group was talking, but I also think that Nudge may have become more dominant in the group. Still, I think I can recall other times when Tina as group blurted out things but then would back off or cover up what she said. I remember her dropping her coffee cup once. It was as if some members of the groups did a “Wait, what are we voting on?” a little too late.
@SoWhyMe
I realized that you may have a very different understanding of what Tina sees when she reads a person’s aura than I do. Based on this strip, I don’t think Tina reads body language at all. I think that reading a person’s aura tells her everything she needs to know about a person’s emotional state at the time. A couple of days after the strip I linked to, Tina learned a lot about Monica’s past, apparently just from reading Monica’s aura.
Yes, I understand she exclusively uses auras to get her information. Just that, in this case, I was pointing out pretty much anyone could deduce the same thing just from simply looking at Monica, so Tina’s analysis was not all that remarkable. On the other hand, her depth of knowledge about Shelly’s love life seemed to go beyond aura reading concerning emotional state. To me, anyway.
Now, on the third hand, the two comics later you mentioned. I don’t think Monica’s aura could possibly contain that level of detail of years past. Makes me wonder if demons spy on other people and that is where Tina gets much of her knowledge of others. Note that even Tina-the-collective didn’t know where all that info came from so I doubt it was merely aura analysis.
*staring* Oh. Hell. Though this does smack of many of the comments made here as of late. Goodness. It’s sort of making me giggle. It is almost as if Tina IS the fourth wall.
I swear, every time I comment on something with an opinion I fear will be controversial, Tina comes in within a couple updates to say pretty much exactly what I was feeling, only better.
Either Paul is incorporating reader feedback and chuckling to himself about it, or perhaps Tina and I are on the same wavelength somehow. I was JUST discussing with a friend how Tina is the character in Wapsi who most resembles me… perhaps I’m a collection of personal demons?
but..tina that is just plain mean!
i mean so monica hairstyle doesnt suit her. we all need even a tiny boost to our self esteem sometimes.
And shelly has only just got with her guy. who cares bout long time commitment right now. long as they both getting what they need out of it ^^
Ya know, Monica owes her one since Tina broke her arm for Monica. Although it turned out to be a useless gesture in the end, it was still quite a sacrifice. Apparently it’s already healed too. Must be that spider-incinerating supernatural energy source.
Hard to tell actually…one of the intervening scenes was on the Sphinx in Egypt, in which Jin’s imagination of Bud informed her of Monica’s Celtic Cross eureka moment. To me, that says that Monica had time to get with jin and mention something about it. So maybe more time has passed than we think…
Jin has shown an ability to be aware of what is being said by other people in other places before, so maybe not much time has passed.
I don’t remember the exact comic showing this, but she was looking out her window, and she heard fragments of a conversation between Bud and Monica.Oh! And there was the time when Monica was pondering how to find and talk to Jin about something, and Jin poited behind her and pretty much insinuated she knew what Monica had been saying.
c’mon, now…admit it…you had help from eschmenk, didn’t you??? 😉
I’m wondering if she is psychically receiving current information or remembering the same conversation being had in a previous iteration of the 1400-year loop, but perhaps during that iteration she was in the room with the person when it was said…
You know, some of these voices that has Jin so fragmented might merely be memories of such conversations…
Of course, I’m assuming that chaos would make those 1400-year spans a lot less different than the butterfly effect would suggest…
Back then Jin and Monica’s demons could travel back and forth between the two of them due to the bridge that was set up when Monica’s Doubt was put inside Jin. They would bring information with them, so it was more or less like mind reading. Monica mentioned it specifically here and it was mentioned again when Monica and Jin argued at the club.
I think that the other thing Julie was thinking about was the May 21 and 22, 2007 strips, but Jin read Monica’s mind that time, too. Monica was thinking about saying something out loud, but that wasn’t necessary.
I think I remember Paul saying that the key used to lock Monica’s doorway also shut down the bridge, so I don’t think that works anymore.
Here’s the May 21, 2007 strip. On May 23, Monica talks more about information that Doubt brought back.
I’m also remembering that at some point Monica and Jin had an entire conversation telepathically, but I can’t remember when that was to start looking for it.
it, anyway. The argument at the Cerberus Club was in April 2009. I keep thinking it was earlier than that.
Part of Jin’s job of keeping things running smoothly required her to be aware of what was going on. She obviously had to know when Monica was hit by the bus and Shelly needed help on her vision quest. There has to be more than the link I’m talking about going on.
OK, I’d like to know why Tina doesn’t think Monica’s ‘do suits her, and what hairstyle she would recommend. Also, Shelly and Officer Tightbuns are still in the early ‘lust crazed’ part of a relationship; closeness usually takes time to develop. Bringing up that they don’t have that yet isn’t really helpful. If Tina wants to make things better she shouldn’t just throw water on M & Shelly’s buzz, she should also offer advice on how to improve the situation for both of them.
Well, Tina isn’t just one entity – she’s a whole congress! If she’s saying something, it’s because all of her parts are unanimous! Okay, yes, I totally agree with her, but it means so much more coming from her because there’s only one of me.
Everyone’s shocked precisely because Tina is echoing the less-positive comments on Mon’s hair. They/we were expecting her to be as delighted as every other character has been so far.
Wow. I guess I must be from an antiquated generation.
Why do so many of you want to be lied to by your friends?
To me, a good friend will speak the truth even if it is not pleasant. If I can’t trust your no, how can I trust your yes? Speaking truth is the highest sign of respect to another person. It acknowledges the integrity and strength of the receiver to be able to handle a reality check and is given out of live, not malice.
Tina only spoke to Monica’s and Shelly’s behavior – she did not criticize the persons, and, in fact, aside from the “self esteem” comment, it was all observation not judgement. Tina’s stated purpose in “life” is to help and protect her friends. What better way than to hold up a mirror of clarity and truth?
It’s not a matter of preferring lies from my friends so much as I’d prefer a more tactful approach to an honest opinion. 🙂 There are less cutting ways to say things like that (and before somebody jumps on the benefits of getting to the point, there are ways to say it more nicely and still get to the point).
Plus, if I was with a good friend and we approached a mutual friend, I’d rather that mutual friend wait until he/she was alone with me to give me the ugly truth about their opinion on my relationship. That one was kind of personal…and I don’t care if Monica is Shelly’s best friend. If I were Shelly, I’d still want that conversation with Tina to be away from other ears.
Whilst people should be told the truth, the phrasing leaves a lot to be desired. Condensing everything into two sentences feels harsh.
There are other things that raise warning signs:
1) What is a good or bad hairstyle depends on a person’s individual taste but her phrasing is as if her opinion was not an opinion.
2) When it comes to issues around relationships, quite a bit of that is a matter of personal opinion as well.
3) The MO of Nudge (and the whole collective) is to approach anything personal from an oblique angle so hitting things head on seems out of character. It feels angry.
4) Given all the above, and the fact that that phrasing is likely to feel like a slap in the face rather than help and concern, it’s more likely that they would dig their heels in about that.
There’s a huge difference between being honest and being rude. Too many people state *opinions* in a blunt, rude way then excuse themselves by saying they are ‘just being truthful’. It’s a way for them to be jerks without accepting consequences.
I don’t recall there being a *QUESTION* on the floor. And I happen to like Monica’s hairstyle. It’s cute. The fact that it looks like my own has nothing to do with it.
Well poop! I like the new layout, but I don’t like that I lost my avatar. Now I suppose I’ll need to go hunting down the comic it was in. I guess I know what tonight’s project is going to be. 🙂
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, maybe you could grab something from this page. After all, you said you did that. You doing Princess Leia would be even better. 😀
It is weird not seeing the avatars. That’s partially how I recognize people. OTOH, sometimes I think someone said something, then when I check the names I find out that it was someone else.
I’m also a little nervous since I post on another webcomic that uses Gravatars, and that webcomic is 100% G-rated. I wish there was a way to specify which image I wanted to use where…
Did you check and make sure you are using the same email address for the gravaitar as you use for your comments here? The other thing would be to try something that’s G rated and label it that way, just in case Paul is restricting things.
If not that, it could be a system issue out of your control. As for me, I couldn’t sign up at first because I wasn’t getting the activation emails, but I tried a few weeks later and everything worked fine.
I guess i am a bit surprised by everyone’s reaction…Tina is not being deliberately cruel, she’s just being her normal objective self. And I have the feeling that what she is saying is what seems to be eminating from their auras, so on some level both Shelly and Monica agree with what she is saying as well, even if they may consciously deny it…
She’s being subjective, really. In her OPINION that haircut does not suit Monica and is therefore just a ‘synthetic’ self-esteem boost. So, if the haircut suited Tina’s tastes, it wouldn’t be a synthetic boost? If it’s a boost at all, that’s positive, Monica has needed that.
As for Shelly’s relationship, it’s BRAND NEW. She’s still getting to know her new guy. If the only worthwhile relationships were ones where the two people had deep love at first sight, we’d have hordes of single, lonely people in this world. It takes time to build a realtionship.
If my conjecture is correct, it is actually Monica that does not fully believe her new hairstyle suits her, and it is Shelly that is feeling that she should be closer to Justin than she is, given the multiple orgasms.
Monica spent most of the week of her haircut telling anyone within poiting distance how much she loves it. But even her mutiple demons started to challenge her, which means that on some level she really is unhappy that she did it, in spite of her ability to dispatch them with a psychic bowling ball.
Justin has made it clear that Shelly scares him, but she doesn’t want to lose out on such a good thing so quickly, so perhaps she is feeling a bit guilty about sleeping with him and having multiple orgasms knowing he is afraid to get any closer to her emotionally.
Now, if those feelings are prominent enough in their auras for Tina to be able to draw these conclusions, then the happy looks on their faces would of course be confusing to Tina. So perhaps she is merely trying, in a most Tina-like fashion, to clear up that confusion…
That’s an angle I hadn’t considered. It certainly could be the case for Shelly.
Even so, I find it hard to believe that Monica is that insecure about her new haircut. I think Doubt challenged her (it looked like many Doubts instead of a grouping of Mon’s demons) because that’s what Doubt’s supposed to do. Even if it was in response to a whisper of uncertainty in her subconscious, it doesn’t seem like she would have been able to use the Bowler Attack had the concern been more than fleeting.
Aren’t there a few comics where we can see some of Monica’s demons actually having a real effect on her? Seems to me that any time she successfully banishes them, it’s because she’s not affected…which in this case would translate to her not being too concerned about her new haircut.
I get the feeling that Tina has very little understanding of how she affects others. Extrapolating from this, I wonder if Tina doesn’t read people’s auras when she first sees them, but stops paying attention once she gets the initial read. In any case, in the next day’s strip, one of Tina’s demons hurt Monica’s feelings pretty badly, and Tina seemed to be oblivious of it, which continued for one more day.
Agree wholeheartedly with what txmystic just said. Tina calls it like she sees it, and she usually sees pretty accurately. Tact, however, seems lacking in the Legion’s toolchest…
A real friend doesn’t comment on a new ‘do or an ongoing relationship unless asked, and then uses WAY more tact than Tina displayed just now. Being a friend is about more than just being honest — it’s about doing being honest in a way that hurts as little as possible. I mean, come on — why be brutal with someone you like? Getting in someone’s face about a bad hairstyle is both painful and ultimately pointless, since it’s gonna take FOREVER to grow back and what the hell is she going to do in the meantime but live with it? And a good attitude about a bad haircut does wonders to make it seem better than it is.
BAD judgement call, Tina. Wicked, evil, naughty demons!
I think the first panel is Tina getting blasted with all the great vibes they are giving off and the third one is her “congress”, still being in shock about all they change that is M’s haircut, deciding what to say
I’m with Tina. A hair cut is superficial. It can’t do more than artificially affect your well being. Worse, no amount of emotional boost can make an ugly hair cut look good.
Ugly is in the eye of the beholder, so an opinion shouldn’t be stated as a fact, and while a hair cut may be an external change, it actually can have more than an artificial effect on one’s well-being.
For example, if someone is unhappy about their appearance and part of that unhappiness is related to their hair, is the boost in self-esteem they get from improving their style completely fake?
I know that Monica didn’t have image issues before getting the new do, but that doesn’t alter the fact that physical/superficial change can produce real emotional change.
Yes, and now that you mention it, Nudge had encouraged Monica to change things just to weaken Monica’s demons so it’s a little surprising that Tina was so dismissive of the haircut’s ability to do the same. Perhaps Nudge was weakened because pushing Monica too hard resulted in the visit from Phix.
Often people use the term ugly to mean unattractive. The person is not ugly, as in a wart nosed, greenish wrinkled skin witch ugly, just not good looking. In Monica’s case she knows she is a babe. She knew she was hot with that long hair. She would still be a babe even with no hair. I’m not really sure why she needed an ego boost concerning her looks in the first place.
Having the Monica character get the haircut was, IMO, a way to promote LoL, and that’s fine. Just that it seems Paul is working too hard to keep it part of the story now. Unless, that is, the hair thing is simply a vehicle for making an upcoming plot point, as Julie indicated in one of her posts. We’ll see. Ours is not to question why, ours is but to do and um … read. My problem is I’m always questioning why.
There’s a bit of a disconnect between the emotions displayed in the first and last panels of this page. In the first it looks like Tina1.0 making the assessment or perhaps the demons assessing the surface, the last looks like a deeper reading of the situation.
That hairstyle is starting to grow on me. But then I tend to like pixie cuts. Of course they don’t work for everyone. Now that its been in enough comics its become less jarring and her face and stance jsut makes it adorable here.
Ouch, that’s one honest burn. I love Tina more and more.
Though am I the only one missing or curious about the rest of the old cast, Fermented Banana, how Owen’s relationship is going, and how Katherine is doing? I love the girls and all but I’d like a breather and see how everyone else is doing.
Tina: As ever, the soul of tact.
Damn, ouch Tina!
What? The?? Hell???
Somebody spoke out of turn.
But there’s no gray text to indicate that. I’m betting she’s making a point.
Good point. That could very well be the case.
Demons and their dislike of change…?
Oh. That’s a good one. Nice point.
I dunno, Lio is pretty interesting.
How is that pronounced anyway? Is it L-eye-o or Lee-o?
Tell ’em what you really think , Tina .
Heheheh
She’s just saying what we,/b> think.
Somebody needs to give Nudge a shove in the back, maybe…?
That’s not Nudge; that’s the whole team.
Tina once again bringing the reality check.
And shooting down egos in a pile of flaming wreckage.
Well dang Tina – don’t just start speaking the TRUTH like that – people can’t handle it. Totally bang on the head in both cases though. Surprised she didn’t tell Monica that her head looks like what’s left after blowing all the fuzz off a dandelion.
SCORE TINA!!
Cheese, Tina?
Judgmental, much?
Wow. And there isn’t much left to say. After all, since when did demons use tact? (other than when it suited their plans)
Yes, but she’s a business owner and may be about to lose two regulars. She should be more tactful than that if she wants to stay in business.
If that would make me less of a friend, I would be a pretty lousy person…
They aren’t just regulars… they’re friends, which means when something needs to be said, she says it, as best as she can… and I can tell it’s being said with a fair ammount of real concern.
…Or she’s in shock and said the first thing that popped through her head without thinking.
Good points. She does look concerned. Nonetheless, I’ll bet her “friends” want to slap her right now for the buzzkill. Maybe they could suggest she go downstairs for some sugar.
Wow. Didn’t think of that. Her arm is all better already…
Shelly lookin’ good, though.
Indeed. Still, every time I see Shelly I want to cut that long lock of hair hanging down the middle of her face.
I think it’s a relative of the long lock of hair she used to have in back once upon a time.
Wow, Tina. Way to be a huge jerk.
I hope Tina can swim.
Likely as not, she doesn’t need to breathe, and she can just walk ashore.
Even from the bottom of the Mindanao Deep, probably.
Of course, the surface of the Sun might be a bit more problematic…
This, then, is why Angel is my favorite character. Even where I might disagree with her, I’ve got to love the honest style!
Angel?
Isn’t that last comment from Tina a bit out of character? I thought she was only mean if it helped her get/acheive something, but this just seems snide. I hope I’m wrong…
I can’t recall Tina ever being mean or hurtful like this. The content of her remarks concerning Monica can be understood just by looking at Monica and her body language, but what I wanna know is how can she read all that from Shelly’s aura? The sex, ok, but the depth of the relationship?
Tina has a multitude of demons inside of her… any one of them could have made those remarks.
Don’t think so. If it were only one speaking the text would be a shade of gray instead of black.
Exactly so; this appears to be the conglomerate. But Tina once remarked that her job was blowing sunshine up everyone’s ass, and this sure seems a departure from her usual tone.
On the other hand, I have to agree with her remarks about Shelly. If Shelly trusted Justin, he would now be part of the loop, and working his way down the list of Very Strange People that Shelly knows. I’ve not seen a hint of that. If he is still in the dark, Tina’s right – Shelly is treating him like a sex toy.
We also don’t know exactly how much time has passed in Shelly’s relationship with Justin. If they’ve been seeing each other for only a couple of months, dragging him down the rabbit hole would be rather like introducing your whole family and planning the wedding.
Trust at that level has to be earned, and it’s not uncommon for relationships to stay in the happy, sunshiny, screwing like bunnies stage until it’s decided that an actual relationship can develop and would be worthwhile.
That said, I agree with Tina’s assessment of Shelly’s relationship with Justin.
I don’t know what you mean by “the loop”. If you mean just being introduced to other people, yes, the fact that didn’t happen hints that something is wrong. I wouldn’t expect Shelly to let on about the magical stuff, though.
There is even more than that. We saw why Monica liked Kevin early on and we saw Alan supporting Jin. We also saw Owen and Lakshmi doing fun things together. We haven’t seen anything like that with Shelly and Justin. We’ve never seen them go out on a date. Other than sex, the most they’ve done together is hunting spiders. Justin was around when Shelly was exercising, but they weren’t doing that together. Beyond that, the way Justin was stalking Shelly and the way Shelly kidnapped Justin was weird.
I think I’ll take back what I said Friday, when I took back what I said Thursday. I don’t think this was supposed to be that good of a relationship for Shelly. I’m surprised that Shelly was acting so happy, though. Perhaps the idea is that Shelly doesn’t know what a good relationship would be like or this is as much as she is comfortable having right now.
@PAUL: The drop-down box on the left side of the page that lists the monthly archive pages isn’t working.
@SoWhyMe
I think that it could be that Shelly is disappointed that there isn’t more to the relationship, but is pretending to be happier than she is, or there could be a nagging doubt that Shelly pushed out of her mind, but Tina noticed (not sure how), or perhaps Tina noticed a lack of positive feelings for Justin as a person.
I agree that the group was talking, but I also think that Nudge may have become more dominant in the group. Still, I think I can recall other times when Tina as group blurted out things but then would back off or cover up what she said. I remember her dropping her coffee cup once. It was as if some members of the groups did a “Wait, what are we voting on?” a little too late.
@SoWhyMe
I realized that you may have a very different understanding of what Tina sees when she reads a person’s aura than I do. Based on this strip, I don’t think Tina reads body language at all. I think that reading a person’s aura tells her everything she needs to know about a person’s emotional state at the time. A couple of days after the strip I linked to, Tina learned a lot about Monica’s past, apparently just from reading Monica’s aura.
Yes, I understand she exclusively uses auras to get her information. Just that, in this case, I was pointing out pretty much anyone could deduce the same thing just from simply looking at Monica, so Tina’s analysis was not all that remarkable. On the other hand, her depth of knowledge about Shelly’s love life seemed to go beyond aura reading concerning emotional state. To me, anyway.
Now, on the third hand, the two comics later you mentioned. I don’t think Monica’s aura could possibly contain that level of detail of years past. Makes me wonder if demons spy on other people and that is where Tina gets much of her knowledge of others. Note that even Tina-the-collective didn’t know where all that info came from so I doubt it was merely aura analysis.
*staring* Oh. Hell. Though this does smack of many of the comments made here as of late. Goodness. It’s sort of making me giggle. It is almost as if Tina IS the fourth wall.
well she’s definately broken enough to fit that description!
I swear, every time I comment on something with an opinion I fear will be controversial, Tina comes in within a couple updates to say pretty much exactly what I was feeling, only better.
Either Paul is incorporating reader feedback and chuckling to himself about it, or perhaps Tina and I are on the same wavelength somehow. I was JUST discussing with a friend how Tina is the character in Wapsi who most resembles me… perhaps I’m a collection of personal demons?
…that would explain a few things.
~D
but besides that you look fabulous…
but..tina that is just plain mean!
i mean so monica hairstyle doesnt suit her. we all need even a tiny boost to our self esteem sometimes.
And shelly has only just got with her guy. who cares bout long time commitment right now. long as they both getting what they need out of it ^^
I have the feeling that the “Aw Shucks” Panel 2 should come after Panel 3… would make everything more “fitting”.
Am I alone in liking Monica’s shorter hair? But seriously, WTF Tina!?
I like it. It took a bit to get used to it, but I like it.
I liked it from the beginning.
i like it too!
Ooof. O.o Owch, Tina.
Harsh. Probably true on both counts… but still harsh.
That wasn’t a buzzkill that was a double-barreled snark bomb.
Careful Tina! They might want to break the other arm….
Ya know, Monica owes her one since Tina broke her arm for Monica. Although it turned out to be a useless gesture in the end, it was still quite a sacrifice. Apparently it’s already healed too. Must be that spider-incinerating supernatural energy source.
Speaking of which – do co-operatives of demons heal really fast?
In Wapsiverse Time, it’s only a day or two (i think) since Tina broke her arm…
Hard to tell actually…one of the intervening scenes was on the Sphinx in Egypt, in which Jin’s imagination of Bud informed her of Monica’s Celtic Cross eureka moment. To me, that says that Monica had time to get with jin and mention something about it. So maybe more time has passed than we think…
Jin has shown an ability to be aware of what is being said by other people in other places before, so maybe not much time has passed.
I don’t remember the exact comic showing this, but she was looking out her window, and she heard fragments of a conversation between Bud and Monica.Oh! And there was the time when Monica was pondering how to find and talk to Jin about something, and Jin poited behind her and pretty much insinuated she knew what Monica had been saying.
Ba haahaha! Found one of them! It’s here!
c’mon, now…admit it…you had help from eschmenk, didn’t you??? 😉
I’m wondering if she is psychically receiving current information or remembering the same conversation being had in a previous iteration of the 1400-year loop, but perhaps during that iteration she was in the room with the person when it was said…
You know, some of these voices that has Jin so fragmented might merely be memories of such conversations…
Of course, I’m assuming that chaos would make those 1400-year spans a lot less different than the butterfly effect would suggest…
In the last paragraph above, replace “different” with “different from each other”. makes more sense that way…
…I hope!
A smidge since eschmenk linked a comic that was close. 🙂
It seems to me that Jin wasn’t remembering a conversation from an alternate past in the referenced case because she didn’t know who was saying it.
Back then Jin and Monica’s demons could travel back and forth between the two of them due to the bridge that was set up when Monica’s Doubt was put inside Jin. They would bring information with them, so it was more or less like mind reading. Monica mentioned it specifically here and it was mentioned again when Monica and Jin argued at the club.
I think that the other thing Julie was thinking about was the May 21 and 22, 2007 strips, but Jin read Monica’s mind that time, too. Monica was thinking about saying something out loud, but that wasn’t necessary.
I think I remember Paul saying that the key used to lock Monica’s doorway also shut down the bridge, so I don’t think that works anymore.
Usually Jin is aware of Monica’s thoughts…
Here’s the May 21, 2007 strip. On May 23, Monica talks more about information that Doubt brought back.
I’m also remembering that at some point Monica and Jin had an entire conversation telepathically, but I can’t remember when that was to start looking for it.
it, anyway. The argument at the Cerberus Club was in April 2009. I keep thinking it was earlier than that.
Part of Jin’s job of keeping things running smoothly required her to be aware of what was going on. She obviously had to know when Monica was hit by the bus and Shelly needed help on her vision quest. There has to be more than the link I’m talking about going on.
I think I was saying “I found it, anyway,” meaning the telepathic conversation. Surprisingly, the link works.
i find newspaper comics quite interesting .. xD
Way to go, Ms. Bringdown…
On the other hand, she may have a point about Shelly.
And newspaper comics.
So much for the light tone and gag a day format. So good to see the interesting stuff back…
Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.
OK, I’d like to know why Tina doesn’t think Monica’s ‘do suits her, and what hairstyle she would recommend. Also, Shelly and Officer Tightbuns are still in the early ‘lust crazed’ part of a relationship; closeness usually takes time to develop. Bringing up that they don’t have that yet isn’t really helpful. If Tina wants to make things better she shouldn’t just throw water on M & Shelly’s buzz, she should also offer advice on how to improve the situation for both of them.
Well, Tina isn’t just one entity – she’s a whole congress! If she’s saying something, it’s because all of her parts are unanimous! Okay, yes, I totally agree with her, but it means so much more coming from her because there’s only one of me.
I didn’t realize Buzz Killington was one of the demons in Tina’s composite.
To zero and beyond!
Why is everybody so shocked about Tina’s comment? She’s just saying what multiple posters have been saying since Monica got her hair cut.
Everyone’s shocked precisely because Tina is echoing the less-positive comments on Mon’s hair. They/we were expecting her to be as delighted as every other character has been so far.
What if there’s been a muntiny and Nudge is no longer in charge?
Oooo! Love to see the flaming fallout from that!
Actually, Nudge isn’t “in charge” – she’s just pushy and acts on her own without consultation.
Wow. I guess I must be from an antiquated generation.
Why do so many of you want to be lied to by your friends?
To me, a good friend will speak the truth even if it is not pleasant. If I can’t trust your no, how can I trust your yes? Speaking truth is the highest sign of respect to another person. It acknowledges the integrity and strength of the receiver to be able to handle a reality check and is given out of live, not malice.
Tina only spoke to Monica’s and Shelly’s behavior – she did not criticize the persons, and, in fact, aside from the “self esteem” comment, it was all observation not judgement. Tina’s stated purpose in “life” is to help and protect her friends. What better way than to hold up a mirror of clarity and truth?
I agree, and I am a contemporary (age-wise) of Paul’s. Are we already considered “antiquated” in things other than fashion and TV demographics?
It’s not a matter of preferring lies from my friends so much as I’d prefer a more tactful approach to an honest opinion. 🙂 There are less cutting ways to say things like that (and before somebody jumps on the benefits of getting to the point, there are ways to say it more nicely and still get to the point).
Plus, if I was with a good friend and we approached a mutual friend, I’d rather that mutual friend wait until he/she was alone with me to give me the ugly truth about their opinion on my relationship. That one was kind of personal…and I don’t care if Monica is Shelly’s best friend. If I were Shelly, I’d still want that conversation with Tina to be away from other ears.
Whilst people should be told the truth, the phrasing leaves a lot to be desired. Condensing everything into two sentences feels harsh.
There are other things that raise warning signs:
1) What is a good or bad hairstyle depends on a person’s individual taste but her phrasing is as if her opinion was not an opinion.
2) When it comes to issues around relationships, quite a bit of that is a matter of personal opinion as well.
3) The MO of Nudge (and the whole collective) is to approach anything personal from an oblique angle so hitting things head on seems out of character. It feels angry.
4) Given all the above, and the fact that that phrasing is likely to feel like a slap in the face rather than help and concern, it’s more likely that they would dig their heels in about that.
There’s a huge difference between being honest and being rude. Too many people state *opinions* in a blunt, rude way then excuse themselves by saying they are ‘just being truthful’. It’s a way for them to be jerks without accepting consequences.
Thank you very much. You said it better than I could.
These days antiquated is last month.
Four letters: T-A-C-T.
I have to agree with her about Shelley, but not Monica.
Do note that Tina’s left eye is… not quite the silver spirals it’s supposed to be.
And uh, where is her cast?
Harsh.
Here, stick your face in this.
I don’t recall there being a *QUESTION* on the floor. And I happen to like Monica’s hairstyle. It’s cute. The fact that it looks like my own has nothing to do with it.
heh heh…
Hey, us inter-dimensional shifters gotta stick together.
Well poop! I like the new layout, but I don’t like that I lost my avatar. Now I suppose I’ll need to go hunting down the comic it was in. I guess I know what tonight’s project is going to be. 🙂
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, maybe you could grab something from this page. After all, you said you did that. You doing Princess Leia would be even better. 😀
It is weird not seeing the avatars. That’s partially how I recognize people. OTOH, sometimes I think someone said something, then when I check the names I find out that it was someone else.
Huh…that’s not a half bad idea.
Oh, and by that I mean the comic you referenced. Not the ‘Bra-Leia’ picture I refuse to take. 🙂
Well phooey…I go and register and select a Gravatar, and it doesn’t show when I post here.
Someone else said it took a while…
I’m also a little nervous since I post on another webcomic that uses Gravatars, and that webcomic is 100% G-rated. I wish there was a way to specify which image I wanted to use where…
Just changed my Gravatar to a coloured shot of Bud. Let’s see how long it takes to propagate…
Well poop…still no image for me. I’ve even uploaded two pictures into Gravatar.
I think I need a manual.
Did you check and make sure you are using the same email address for the gravaitar as you use for your comments here? The other thing would be to try something that’s G rated and label it that way, just in case Paul is restricting things.
If not that, it could be a system issue out of your control. As for me, I couldn’t sign up at first because I wasn’t getting the activation emails, but I tried a few weeks later and everything worked fine.
I always use the same email. I’ll try changing the image’s rating (though I don’t call a woman wrapped in a towel with a bra on her face ‘G-rated’).
*wanders off grumbling a bit*
SUCCESS!! The G-rating did it. 😀
I guess i am a bit surprised by everyone’s reaction…Tina is not being deliberately cruel, she’s just being her normal objective self. And I have the feeling that what she is saying is what seems to be eminating from their auras, so on some level both Shelly and Monica agree with what she is saying as well, even if they may consciously deny it…
She’s being subjective, really. In her OPINION that haircut does not suit Monica and is therefore just a ‘synthetic’ self-esteem boost. So, if the haircut suited Tina’s tastes, it wouldn’t be a synthetic boost? If it’s a boost at all, that’s positive, Monica has needed that.
As for Shelly’s relationship, it’s BRAND NEW. She’s still getting to know her new guy. If the only worthwhile relationships were ones where the two people had deep love at first sight, we’d have hordes of single, lonely people in this world. It takes time to build a realtionship.
Tina is out of line and being a jerk.
If my conjecture is correct, it is actually Monica that does not fully believe her new hairstyle suits her, and it is Shelly that is feeling that she should be closer to Justin than she is, given the multiple orgasms.
Monica spent most of the week of her haircut telling anyone within poiting distance how much she loves it. But even her mutiple demons started to challenge her, which means that on some level she really is unhappy that she did it, in spite of her ability to dispatch them with a psychic bowling ball.
Justin has made it clear that Shelly scares him, but she doesn’t want to lose out on such a good thing so quickly, so perhaps she is feeling a bit guilty about sleeping with him and having multiple orgasms knowing he is afraid to get any closer to her emotionally.
Now, if those feelings are prominent enough in their auras for Tina to be able to draw these conclusions, then the happy looks on their faces would of course be confusing to Tina. So perhaps she is merely trying, in a most Tina-like fashion, to clear up that confusion…
Good thought. After all, she must have got what she said from their auras.
That’s an angle I hadn’t considered. It certainly could be the case for Shelly.
Even so, I find it hard to believe that Monica is that insecure about her new haircut. I think Doubt challenged her (it looked like many Doubts instead of a grouping of Mon’s demons) because that’s what Doubt’s supposed to do. Even if it was in response to a whisper of uncertainty in her subconscious, it doesn’t seem like she would have been able to use the Bowler Attack had the concern been more than fleeting.
Aren’t there a few comics where we can see some of Monica’s demons actually having a real effect on her? Seems to me that any time she successfully banishes them, it’s because she’s not affected…which in this case would translate to her not being too concerned about her new haircut.
Doubt is Monica; she’s not really a separate thing, even though she’s personified by a demon assigned to Monica’s “case”.
All she can do is make Monica confront her own doubts.
Tina is basically quoting what Monica’s demons were telling her, which is to say, Mopica’s own doubts, which she would get from her aura.
And Shelly (given her track record) is likely having doubts about her relationship with Officer Buns.
I get the feeling that Tina has very little understanding of how she affects others. Extrapolating from this, I wonder if Tina doesn’t read people’s auras when she first sees them, but stops paying attention once she gets the initial read. In any case, in the next day’s strip, one of Tina’s demons hurt Monica’s feelings pretty badly, and Tina seemed to be oblivious of it, which continued for one more day.
Ah ha! Thanks for that…I was able to find something I was looking for thanks to your link. 😀
Agree wholeheartedly with what txmystic just said. Tina calls it like she sees it, and she usually sees pretty accurately. Tact, however, seems lacking in the Legion’s toolchest…
Should have said this Friday …
Isn’t it about time for another Bra Buying Spree?
A real friend doesn’t comment on a new ‘do or an ongoing relationship unless asked, and then uses WAY more tact than Tina displayed just now. Being a friend is about more than just being honest — it’s about doing being honest in a way that hurts as little as possible. I mean, come on — why be brutal with someone you like? Getting in someone’s face about a bad hairstyle is both painful and ultimately pointless, since it’s gonna take FOREVER to grow back and what the hell is she going to do in the meantime but live with it? And a good attitude about a bad haircut does wonders to make it seem better than it is.
BAD judgement call, Tina. Wicked, evil, naughty demons!
A new world record in the Bringdown Takedown!
I think the first panel is Tina getting blasted with all the great vibes they are giving off and the third one is her “congress”, still being in shock about all they change that is M’s haircut, deciding what to say
She did NOT just dis newspaper comics, did she? She just fell down my totem pole…
So, is this the webcomic reflecting the views of its fanbase?
I’m with Tina. A hair cut is superficial. It can’t do more than artificially affect your well being. Worse, no amount of emotional boost can make an ugly hair cut look good.
Ugly is in the eye of the beholder, so an opinion shouldn’t be stated as a fact, and while a hair cut may be an external change, it actually can have more than an artificial effect on one’s well-being.
For example, if someone is unhappy about their appearance and part of that unhappiness is related to their hair, is the boost in self-esteem they get from improving their style completely fake?
I know that Monica didn’t have image issues before getting the new do, but that doesn’t alter the fact that physical/superficial change can produce real emotional change.
Yes, and now that you mention it, Nudge had encouraged Monica to change things just to weaken Monica’s demons so it’s a little surprising that Tina was so dismissive of the haircut’s ability to do the same. Perhaps Nudge was weakened because pushing Monica too hard resulted in the visit from Phix.
Often people use the term ugly to mean unattractive. The person is not ugly, as in a wart nosed, greenish wrinkled skin witch ugly, just not good looking. In Monica’s case she knows she is a babe. She knew she was hot with that long hair. She would still be a babe even with no hair. I’m not really sure why she needed an ego boost concerning her looks in the first place.
Having the Monica character get the haircut was, IMO, a way to promote LoL, and that’s fine. Just that it seems Paul is working too hard to keep it part of the story now. Unless, that is, the hair thing is simply a vehicle for making an upcoming plot point, as Julie indicated in one of her posts. We’ll see. Ours is not to question why, ours is but to do and um … read. My problem is I’m always questioning why.
Woah… did anyone else hear that record scratch?
I have to admit, the way Tina is acting was my first reaction, too.
There’s a bit of a disconnect between the emotions displayed in the first and last panels of this page. In the first it looks like Tina1.0 making the assessment or perhaps the demons assessing the surface, the last looks like a deeper reading of the situation.
And I like Tina.
That hairstyle is starting to grow on me. But then I tend to like pixie cuts. Of course they don’t work for everyone. Now that its been in enough comics its become less jarring and her face and stance jsut makes it adorable here.
Ouch, that’s one honest burn. I love Tina more and more.
Though am I the only one missing or curious about the rest of the old cast, Fermented Banana, how Owen’s relationship is going, and how Katherine is doing? I love the girls and all but I’d like a breather and see how everyone else is doing.
I’d like to see more of Katherine and Owen/Lakshmi, too.
And wossname – Shelly’s almost-girlfriend.
Oy! How old is Dietzel … or, perhaps, how fast does Monica’s hair grow?
A scene from Dietzel’s early life.