First: Kitty seems to be a bit furrier than the first time we saw her after the “woops on the sidewalk” incident.
Second – Tina’s gotten very self aware since talking to our librarian lady. I wonder if that’s intentional; perhaps one of the side effects of Phix’s presence is to question your own existence?
Third – The heater and the radiator are probably necessary in the TC, considering the months of November through March.
“…perhaps one of the side effects of Phix’s presence is to question your own existence?”
If I’m following the plot well, then yeah, Tina essentially suffered a near-death experience (at least in her own minds), courtesy of Phix. That’d be enough to bring on some serious introspection, I’d think.
I was under the impression that ferrets had two modes of operation; Napping and omg-too-excited-to-pay-attention-to-any-one-thing-for-longer-than-a-second-were-you-just-saying-something-WOOH!
Doesn’t seem like there’d be much room for talking-to either way. 😛
This is actually a reply to fatuncle, but the “reply” button for his question doesn’t exist. The books featuring the female character are John Ringo’s “Vorpal Blade” and “Manxsome Foe”, published by Baen. The “ferret on crack” line is from “Manxsome Foe”.
Definitely an identity crisis. Is she a “we” or an “I?” But then, just how does the group do this kind of “thinking?” It would seem like we would see different snatches of dialogue from different demons as each chimed in with it’s thought on the subject. When she thinks like this, is she channeling a sepcific demon, one at a time? Or is it a consensus, and if so, how do they do it that quickly? If a group of humans was doing something like this, there would be meetings and back and forth discussion, etc. before coming to a consensus, and presenting the findings of the group as a common voice.
Now then, this business of lips on characters coming and going always bothers me. In yesterday’s strip she had none, yet in today’s …
And was it necessary to actually draw in the cat’s butthole? I mean detail is nice, but comon.
Okay, good. Nitpicking for today checked off my list.
I don’t think this is Nudge or any specific demon; it may be that they’ve gotten so used to working together they can let all their thoughts flow together like some sort of gestalt…
And as a cat owned, I can assure you, you see a cat’s butthole – sometimes at very close range – FAR FAR FAR more than you would expect or want.
I for one appreciate Pablo’s nod to Gilbert Shelton’s oeuvre as evidenced in The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. Fat Freddy’s Cat (and all living felines) share that asterisk. Of course, F. F. S’cat has another anatomical feature as well… 😀
The last time I saw Tina’s demons all speaking to each other and arguing like a committee was when Tina’s body was asleep. The only other time I can think of when they had differing thoughts, none of them really put Tina’s voice to those thoughts.
Kinda begs the question, can Tina’s body actually die? Feel pain? Yes. Incour damage? Absolutely. Actually die? Eh, not so clear. Maybe she’ll only actually die when the demons get bored and leave…
Sure it can. The only reason that she is ‘alive’ now is that the real Tina gave up and ‘went on’, but the demons didn’t. “Rats taking over the ship”. (This kinda implies that Tina wasn’t that tied to life, so may have ‘used the opportunity’, so to speak)
Ergo, if the body was damaged enough, even the demons couldn’t hold it together.
…which means that if Tina ever got put in a Golem body (assuming that they could…)…
Well, remember, she was involved as a major prosecution witness against her own drug king-pin father; one suspects that the life that led to her taking that step may not have been particularly happy…
Yeah, she could go there, but I think she wants to stay as far away from Phix as possible. She’ll have to leave it to Monica to help. Assuming Monica can find the time while trying to save the world from Jin.
Monica never looked at them, so she doesn’t know what is there. She assumed that it was just shorthand because Phix laughed at Monica’s conclusion that Tina was a glyph reader.
I think there is a possibility that Tina wrote something significant in them. She could have copied something written in the glyph language even if she didn’t know what it meant. Then again, perhaps not.
In a previous cycle or perhaps this cycle, as Tina 1.0, she was good friends with Jin.
And if the notebooks were a standard shorthand (Pitman or Gregg) – someone would recognise them, and most “personal” shorthands are decipherable, as long as they’re not coded and you know the language they’re in.
I’m posting this here as I’m not sure who this is in reply to.
I just remembered something:
We have strong evidence that Tina is a glyph reader. The reason is that she exists! The only people whose personal demons exist outside of their own heads are those that understand the language of glyphs. If Tina wasn’t a glyph reader then she would have simply died in the accident (and not have her personal issues take over her body).
Actually, Jin mentioned that not many people are that “in tune” with their demons; she did NOT say that demons = knowledge of glyph language. If that were the case, Shelly would be able to read glyph, and she obviously can’t (outside, perhaps, of what she’s heard Monica speak).
Tina’s existence is due to some sort of “bargain” with Monica’s demons, one that caused Jin to save her instead of Tina. Perhaps it was because, in a previous iteration, Tina killed Monica in the bus accident (she sped up, passed the bus, nailed Monica before Jin could swoop in and save the day).
Who exactly is talking here? Is this Nudge, or is this an Arisian-type fusion, or is this an echo of the original Tina which is slowly being “recaptured”, as someone suggested yesterday?
No end to the headscratchers in this strip. I find it interesting that Tina is spending so much time contemplating the whichness of the why. Questioning the purpose of one’s own existence is a human activity, not a demonic one…
I think it’s the group, which is usually very cohesive. We saw a similar monologue about herself four years ago. It began here . There was one little bit that was an individual demon talking, but the rest was the group.
She’s “still in there”. Her “soul” never left the body after the accident, though her heart stopped. Her soul controls (as much as demons can be controlled) her college of demons.
Several bits of fiction I have read have explored the Idea of two or more people being stuck in a single body. The result is a gradual integration into a single identity. Perhaps without the original Tina the demon committee is undergoing a similar process.
Could someone explain if there is significance to the neck thing that Tina always wears. I don’t remember seeing anything through out the comics but perhaps I missed it. Was just wondering.
The Tina-demons are in a Voltron-like combo i’ll bet, and unlike the type of fusions seen in properties like TransFormers, all involved get along pretty well most of the time. We might be seeing group pondering, and consensus agita over what comes after.
The fact that she refers to herself in first person singular indicates that there is ONE personality at the helm. The others, the ‘we’… have taken a backseat. If she has an ‘I’ personalty, that is, if she has the sense of self required to think in first person singular instead of as a committee, then I believe she is more than the sum of her parts. At the end, this is even emphasized- “…we’ll be expired… Will I be expired?” Just the fact that she uses that pronoun leads me to believe that ‘Tina the Individual’ is emerging.
I wonder if Tina the human isn’t really in there somewhere, and the whole ‘demons at the helm’ scenario is a defense mechanism? She really isn’t that different from Monica, of any of the rest of the crew- everyone has their demons, and are a collection of those parts. Tina has just ‘let the animals run the farm’. Maybe there’s room for redemption down the line somewhere.
Maybe?
I tend to think of Tina more like the Catholic concept of the Holy Trinity where God is simultaneously the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Tina is multiple beings but also one being.
Personally, I think she’s stuck this way.
“Expired”?
Just ask the Librarian for a renewal.
Oh. Jes’ a sec’….
Ummm…
You know, Phix might just be able to do that…
The ultimate renewal from the ultimate librarian!
Tina seems to have picked up some furniture. And look! a Warm Morning gas heater! Both that and steam heat? Dang, it must get cold in those parts.
It’s Minnesnowta. Say no more!
First: Kitty seems to be a bit furrier than the first time we saw her after the “woops on the sidewalk” incident.
Second – Tina’s gotten very self aware since talking to our librarian lady. I wonder if that’s intentional; perhaps one of the side effects of Phix’s presence is to question your own existence?
Third – The heater and the radiator are probably necessary in the TC, considering the months of November through March.
“…perhaps one of the side effects of Phix’s presence is to question your own existence?”
In Tina’s place, more like her continued existence.
“…perhaps one of the side effects of Phix’s presence is to question your own existence?”
If I’m following the plot well, then yeah, Tina essentially suffered a near-death experience (at least in her own minds), courtesy of Phix. That’d be enough to bring on some serious introspection, I’d think.
I don’t know if you’d call it a near death experience so much as a death is near experience.
Is the cat a familiar? She seems to be talking to it a lot. And talking like it’s really listening and understanding.
Cats can be fun like that. :3
No, the cat is all, “Cease your mindless prattling, woman, and get me some damn Fancy Feast!”
Ferrets are the pets you turn to for understanding.
TlalocW
I was under the impression that ferrets had two modes of operation; Napping and omg-too-excited-to-pay-attention-to-any-one-thing-for-longer-than-a-second-were-you-just-saying-something-WOOH!
Doesn’t seem like there’d be much room for talking-to either way. 😛
One of my housemate’s ferts will seek me out as soon as she hears my voice and then demand belly rubs and attention. She never seems to get enough.
There’s a space opera book that features a female genius with socialisation issues on board an exploratory spaceship.
In explaining to a new CO why it is necessary to come up with ways to keep her mind occupied, soemone explains that she gets bored easily.
And when she’s bored, she finds Things To Do for herself.
The Captain wonders how much trouble one small (rather waifish) girl can get into trouble on her own.
His informant gets his attention completely and immediately by saying “Imagine a ferret on crack…”
Fairportfan: Which book? Sounds interesting.
@Fatuncle
That would be the Looking Glass series: Into the Looking Glass; Vorpal Blade (the name of the starship); Manxome Foe; Claws That Catch.
Cats … Cats know when you’re hurting.
They don’t care. But they know: http://tinyurl.com/2g39qv3
This is actually a reply to fatuncle, but the “reply” button for his question doesn’t exist. The books featuring the female character are John Ringo’s “Vorpal Blade” and “Manxsome Foe”, published by Baen. The “ferret on crack” line is from “Manxsome Foe”.
Thanks, TlalocW. Now I’ll read all “cat-thoughts” in Stewie Griffin’s voice.
…Looks more like Kitty is saying: “Talk to the butt…”
Tina is trying to figure out what all us squishy mortals go through, “what will happen to me, after I am dead?”
Ergo, the reason humans need religion and animals do not.
Definitely an identity crisis. Is she a “we” or an “I?” But then, just how does the group do this kind of “thinking?” It would seem like we would see different snatches of dialogue from different demons as each chimed in with it’s thought on the subject. When she thinks like this, is she channeling a sepcific demon, one at a time? Or is it a consensus, and if so, how do they do it that quickly? If a group of humans was doing something like this, there would be meetings and back and forth discussion, etc. before coming to a consensus, and presenting the findings of the group as a common voice.
Now then, this business of lips on characters coming and going always bothers me. In yesterday’s strip she had none, yet in today’s …
And was it necessary to actually draw in the cat’s butthole? I mean detail is nice, but comon.
Okay, good. Nitpicking for today checked off my list.
He: There’s a one-eyed cat walking into the room!
She: No, there’s a two-eyed cat walking out of the room!
/BennyHill
I have two theories to explain the current monologue:
Either one of them has control of her mouth for the time being or they are already merging into one.
Ps.
I think the butthole has to be drawn or it won’t look like a cat.
I don’t think this is Nudge or any specific demon; it may be that they’ve gotten so used to working together they can let all their thoughts flow together like some sort of gestalt…
And as a cat owned, I can assure you, you see a cat’s butthole – sometimes at very close range – FAR FAR FAR more than you would expect or want.
I for one appreciate Pablo’s nod to Gilbert Shelton’s oeuvre as evidenced in The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. Fat Freddy’s Cat (and all living felines) share that asterisk. Of course, F. F. S’cat has another anatomical feature as well… 😀
The last time I saw Tina’s demons all speaking to each other and arguing like a committee was when Tina’s body was asleep. The only other time I can think of when they had differing thoughts, none of them really put Tina’s voice to those thoughts.
I’ll find links eventually.
Okay, here we go.
Tina’s demons speaking to each other while she’s asleep:
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/morningdialogue/
Tina’s demons having different thoughts that go unspoken:
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/itsshorthand/
Wow.. talk about your applied metaphysics… The spirits of the Dead trying to figure out Death.
My head hurts. No, it’s not a tumor!
They’re not dead, nor are they spirits.
…nor are they out of it…
Kinda begs the question, can Tina’s body actually die? Feel pain? Yes. Incour damage? Absolutely. Actually die? Eh, not so clear. Maybe she’ll only actually die when the demons get bored and leave…
That may well make her eventually the most important person ever!
Sure it can. The only reason that she is ‘alive’ now is that the real Tina gave up and ‘went on’, but the demons didn’t. “Rats taking over the ship”. (This kinda implies that Tina wasn’t that tied to life, so may have ‘used the opportunity’, so to speak)
Ergo, if the body was damaged enough, even the demons couldn’t hold it together.
…which means that if Tina ever got put in a Golem body (assuming that they could…)…
Well, remember, she was involved as a major prosecution witness against her own drug king-pin father; one suspects that the life that led to her taking that step may not have been particularly happy…
Perhaps Tina needs to read her own notebooks. Or, perhaps, she needs to visit a really good research library.
I wonder if there could be one like that in the Twin Cities… 😉
Yeah, she could go there, but I think she wants to stay as far away from Phix as possible. She’ll have to leave it to Monica to help. Assuming Monica can find the time while trying to save the world from Jin.
Her notebooks are written in the language of glyphs (which she doesn’t understand).
To tell the truth, I suspect her notebooks contain patient notes (the real Tina was a psychiatrist).
I thought Tina’s notebooks were in shorthand, and Monica simply assumed they were written in glyph language…
According to Monica, they were just shorthand. And apparently they were notes from her previous life – as a psychiatrist.
Monica never looked at them, so she doesn’t know what is there. She assumed that it was just shorthand because Phix laughed at Monica’s conclusion that Tina was a glyph reader.
I think there is a possibility that Tina wrote something significant in them. She could have copied something written in the glyph language even if she didn’t know what it meant. Then again, perhaps not.
Tina’s not a glyph reader – now.
In a previous cycle or perhaps this cycle, as Tina 1.0, she was good friends with Jin.
And if the notebooks were a standard shorthand (Pitman or Gregg) – someone would recognise them, and most “personal” shorthands are decipherable, as long as they’re not coded and you know the language they’re in.
I’m posting this here as I’m not sure who this is in reply to.
I just remembered something:
We have strong evidence that Tina is a glyph reader. The reason is that she exists! The only people whose personal demons exist outside of their own heads are those that understand the language of glyphs. If Tina wasn’t a glyph reader then she would have simply died in the accident (and not have her personal issues take over her body).
Actually, Jin mentioned that not many people are that “in tune” with their demons; she did NOT say that demons = knowledge of glyph language. If that were the case, Shelly would be able to read glyph, and she obviously can’t (outside, perhaps, of what she’s heard Monica speak).
Tina’s existence is due to some sort of “bargain” with Monica’s demons, one that caused Jin to save her instead of Tina. Perhaps it was because, in a previous iteration, Tina killed Monica in the bus accident (she sped up, passed the bus, nailed Monica before Jin could swoop in and save the day).
Demon angst , ain’t pretty , but Tina is .
Is it just me, or does Tina look like she’s wearing make-up? I don’t think I’ve noticed her lips so much before…
I think it’s a trick of the light, courtesy of Pablo.
Who exactly is talking here? Is this Nudge, or is this an Arisian-type fusion, or is this an echo of the original Tina which is slowly being “recaptured”, as someone suggested yesterday?
No end to the headscratchers in this strip. I find it interesting that Tina is spending so much time contemplating the whichness of the why. Questioning the purpose of one’s own existence is a human activity, not a demonic one…
I think it’s the group, which is usually very cohesive. We saw a similar monologue about herself four years ago. It began here . There was one little bit that was an individual demon talking, but the rest was the group.
Love the comic, but one panel barely fits on my 1440×900 monitor! I pity the people with smaller resolutions.
You should check out Love & Capes. You’ll need a freaking microscope…
Which demon is Monica’s consciousness? Which one controls her identify?
She’s “still in there”. Her “soul” never left the body after the accident, though her heart stopped. Her soul controls (as much as demons can be controlled) her college of demons.
Several bits of fiction I have read have explored the Idea of two or more people being stuck in a single body. The result is a gradual integration into a single identity. Perhaps without the original Tina the demon committee is undergoing a similar process.
Could someone explain if there is significance to the neck thing that Tina always wears. I don’t remember seeing anything through out the comics but perhaps I missed it. Was just wondering.
Paul’s explanation is here. AFAIK, that’s all that has ever been said officially.
Specifically here.
I think it’s just a cover-up.
I think Tina is the absence of Malice.
Boo! Hssssssss!
I tell people that the cameo medallion is just camouflage; the choker is actually made of duct tape and keeps her head from falling off. (Again.)
The Tina-demons are in a Voltron-like combo i’ll bet, and unlike the type of fusions seen in properties like TransFormers, all involved get along pretty well most of the time. We might be seeing group pondering, and consensus agita over what comes after.
Y’know, cute though she is, Tina is REALLY starting to weird me out…
That’s sort of the idea.
Look at it this way – she creeps Bud out.
I won’t start worrying until she creeps Jin out.
When she starts creeping Paul out … we have a problem.
Which character is Paul again?
Mr. Taylor … who writes and draws Wapsi Square.
Tina: “Actually, I‘ve been wondering if we‘ll…”
The fact that she refers to herself in first person singular indicates that there is ONE personality at the helm. The others, the ‘we’… have taken a backseat. If she has an ‘I’ personalty, that is, if she has the sense of self required to think in first person singular instead of as a committee, then I believe she is more than the sum of her parts. At the end, this is even emphasized- “…we’ll be expired… Will I be expired?” Just the fact that she uses that pronoun leads me to believe that ‘Tina the Individual’ is emerging.
I wonder if Tina the human isn’t really in there somewhere, and the whole ‘demons at the helm’ scenario is a defense mechanism? She really isn’t that different from Monica, of any of the rest of the crew- everyone has their demons, and are a collection of those parts. Tina has just ‘let the animals run the farm’. Maybe there’s room for redemption down the line somewhere.
Maybe?
I tend to think of Tina more like the Catholic concept of the Holy Trinity where God is simultaneously the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Tina is multiple beings but also one being.
How many demons did we just hear from?
One or Two?
I think that she will never expire