remember, we’re talking of a blonde whose idea of ‘fun’ is tossing a multi-ton anchor at multi-mach speed hundreds of miles so a squid who could snack on blue whales could chase it.
ruh roh, Shaggy… this is definitely looking like Bud is starting to show up on Justin’s Psycho-Magnet Radar… hopefully he won’t dump Shelly for her… then again, maybe it’ll be good for BOTH the girls… Shelly can stop catastrophizing about showing her Sphinxiness at an in-opportune moment and freaking Justin out, and Bud get’s a guy! thus her taking one more step on the path to her becoming “human” again, even without May’s patch.
Ya Know… what with all the plot twists that Paul has thrown us over the years… this almost seems TOO EASY…. we all seem to think that the cop Bud is talking about is Justin, and are preparing for fur and clay to fly when Shelly finds out… I’m gonna propose that we’ll all be shocked to see the “big reveal” (if any) when Paul decides to move things along… among the least is that the cop in question is a totally separate person from Justin. maybe his twin brother… but a different person none-the-less…
Not to mention that the “little round glasses” that he is sporting might just be sunglasses and not corective lenses after all. That little bit of info alone would blow the ‘Justin is the dude’ thing out of the water. (Kinda like a certain U-Boat)
Sometimes I wonder if there is a plot to move along anymore. For some time I had the impression there was a grand, overarching plot from which Paul was drawing. Lately, though, I get the feeling we are at the “making it up as he goes along” point, having passed whatever larger plot there may have been. Not that I have a problem with that, it’s fine, and these little excursions into daily life and loves/crushes are fine too. Just that, more and more, I now have the impression there is a lot of delaying going on as Paul tries to come up with more of the good stuff to keep his readers interested.
Personally, I would like to see more of the nitty-gritty plot points moving along, like Shelly confronting her father about her sphinx heritage, and Brandi’s “manipulations.” Paul just seems to jump around so much and leave so many things hanging that nothing seems to really move along at all.
Paul once specifically stated that he ” takes the characters where they lead him” in one of the interviews he said that he has a ” general outline” of plot&time-line, but likes to side-step.
And remember, once it is in print, these restive moments are just a couple of pages.
As most artists do, Paul seems to work with the ” book” angle in the back of his head.
To me a good thing. Some artists go overboard with the web-comic medium, but once printed it doesn’t work.
Í am a book-person, I think in pages. Paul’s pacing works great web-based, but seems to have “lulls” in them. Once printed, the pacing is back in full-force.
Agreed! I’m waiting eagerly for Book 6 to hit Lulu, one of these days… I want to be able to read through the whole “Taking on the health-care system” saga in book form.
We had this discussion before. Paul confirmed that it was indeed Justin and his partner who had come to investigate the sonic boom that resulted from Bud launching the calendar machine into the Sun.
If that is the case then this problem will solve other problems. Last time Bud fell for Monica’s guy she helped her tell him the truth. This may just be a way for her to do it again for poor Shelly and Justin. Then we can wait and see who the guy for her truly turns out to be. (I’m guessing a game designer or a writer).
Maybe Justin’s partner with the mustache is available. Bud doesn’t seem to have noticed him much, standing next to Cute Officer Tight Buns; for all we know he’s a quiet guy who likes well-read women…
Interesting point. Perhaps Bud will, once again, be the foil who brings (or helps bring) the boyfriend to the inner circle. She was there when Owen found out about Jin, as well as, the Kevin-rabbit hole caper. Of course, it could also be Brandi, trying to fix some chaos Bud and her teasing fun might bring forth. Heck, it could be Euryale who does it for all we know. She did seem to strike up an aquaintence with Shelly after all.
Most likely, of course, it will be none of the above, as Paul smacks us upside the head once again with an amazing plot twist. *sigh* why do I do this to myself? No, I haven’t ruled out stupidity.
Poor Bud just needs someone to jingle her bells this holiday season. Shame the one she’s smitten on is taken… Golem Girl vs. Sphinx would be interesting to see though.
Not to be a suck-up, but Paul’s facial expressions are getting better all the time. I know I have seen real people make these same faces. As compared to the very cute but much more “cartoony” faces of the first season.
While Paul has made his characters very easy to love, we’ve seen that most of them would be very challenging to be in relationship with. I’m not sure why people talk about Wapsi being full of Caspar Milquetoast males… the people who thus far have taken an interest in Monica, Jin and Shelley have phenomenal strength of character and are worth more in my opinion than a dozen testosterone-laced troglodytes, of which there are far too many out there. Then there’s that bartender guru who seems to have more wisdom in his little finger than a roomful of PhD’s…
Maybe it’s an age-thing? Younger males are often scared as heck of ” not being considered “tough”
Older males have often been in enough situations that showed them the reality of the uselessness of being ” tough&cool”
In the real world, that of cops, firemen, veterans, the ” toughness” is mostly seen in a certain determination and stamina, something direly missing with a lot of the testosterone-fueled troglodytes that movies and stuff feed us as ” tough guys”
My experience is that most women are quite good at seeing true ” toughness” in men, and loudmouth kiddies, are only attractive to a few, mentally stuck in pubesence, women.
Media feeds us ” tough” as being constantly enveloped in an aura of imminent violence, while in reality, say, when being in the unfortunate circumstance of getting stuck in a building, while crazies take pot-shots at you- the really ” tough” guys are often those that everyone thought milquetoast weaklings.
While they seemed meek, they actually never had the need to ” act tough” because they had enough self-confidence to go on in life in their own way. Something most women find irresistably attractive.
Ask any veteran how most blustering troglodyte “tough guys” went when under real threat…….
This. Masculinity defined solely as what isn’t feminine is a poorly stocked toolbox full of rusty tools. And in any case, there are plenty of outlets for stories which are pure bro-nastics. Wapsi Square is not Jackass, and that’s just the way it is.
Having boyfriends who are simply cool with leaving the ladies in charge of the world is a refreshing respite from all fan-servicey power fantasies out there. Cause you know what the ladies’ power fantasies are? Getting some freakin’ support for your adventures out of your boyfriends.
A lot of younger males have a great fear of being considered “weaklings” and go for posturing and blustering.
Something that disappears in most!! (!!sic.) grown-up” males.
Those young-ones that already have left that adolescent stage, are thusly quite attractive to women.
Interesting thought. I never followed that breadcrumb trail, but regardless of his orientation, seeing a storyline revolve around him would be very interesting. He strikes me as a modern Mr. Miyagi type, but other than seeing his ability to read people and help them through their questions, he’s pretty much an unknown quality. Hmm… “read people.” Tina does that too. I wonder…
I think varying modes from “X-Files” to “Seinfeld” to “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” is actually more realistic — staying in one style counts more as an acceptable break from reality, and I think it’s one that Mr. Taylor’s work doesn’t need.
Yeah, your boundaries are different with those you’ve been mindfused with while committing worldwide genocide.
IMHO, Bud’s relationship to intimacy is a very complex but consistent effort to not be controlled by any one set of expectations. While Shelly “catastrophizes” over beyond-worst case scenarios, Bud has seen every form of true catastrophe, and experienced more than her share. So she knows what levers to pull and buttons to push, and if there’s an explosion, then it’s in the service of airing out the truth: Kevin isn’t a cheater, Monica has not summoned Bud to abuse as a sex toy. She has no problem with testing others, but determining how and with who to make herself attractive is still a deep uncertainty. She’s more comfortable in a crazy costume or situation than she is posing with ice cream in a bikini.
I think Bud is in the service of truth when she leads with the wacky and freaky instead of the Playboy fantasy. Because anyone who would be right for her is going have to be able to handle that deep dark pit into wonderland.
I happen to like these interludiae with the personal stuff.
There’s a wealth of materialjust laying around, concerning Bud and Brandi, and Jin. They are all comitted to become “normal” 18-year old, attractive girls. Angxt included, free of charge.
Bud is behaving like the typical teen with a lightly flammable heart: crush on Alan, VERY short-lived crush on insurance lawyer flam-man, and I even think she was a little smitten on our wise,unflappable bar-keeper.
Bud has pretty low self-esteem and self-image, despite her loud behaviour, so, she’s pretty likely to be smitten with any male that gives her attention.
As I said. A wealth of interesting “growing pains” topics laying around, ripe for the picking by Pablo….
Well, to offer a counter-point to all of the angst I’m reading about “jumping around” and “no plot” and “delaying”…
Are y’all familiar with the origins of the term “hack writer”?
“Hack” is an old slang term for a horse for hire, or (derived therefrom) a horse carriage – a taxi, in today’s terms. Cheap transport for hire. When you hired a hack, its job was to get you from Point A to Point B as quickly and competently as possible. No unnecessary side trips or delays… just get me there, Joe.
Hence, a “hack writer” would churn out cheap books for hire, driving you through the stories in a very straightforward and linear fashion. All of the necessary plot elements would be laid out and presented to support the story. No unnecessary elements. Everything gets used. In a sense, it’s impossible to have a Chekhov’s Gun in a hack story, because there’s nothing else present.
From what I’ve seen, that’s not Paul’s style… he’s not hacking, and the Wapsi storyline is quite a lot more subtle than a hack story. We’ve seen some story elements introduced, almost in passing, and then come to fruition much later. Being able to do that, requires an opportunity to introduce those elements, characterizations, subplots, etc. – in effect, to fertilize the ground, so that the story can grow up around them later.
I suspect that this is part of what we’ve been seeing go on, for the past few months. The major plot sequence for 2011 (helping Jin) has matured, and we’re seeing a bunch of subplot introduction and characterization done which is going to support the next thing Paul has dreamed up. In effect, he’s building a bridge to what comes next.
As to the “Seinfeld” and “Mary Tyler Moore” feel of some of what we’re seeing… sure, why not? Real people do lead real, complex lives which tug them in six senseless directions at once… out here in meat-space, we really don’t live straightforward linear purely-plot-driven lives. This style of presentation seems as good as any, to me, for Paul to use in fleshing out the characters of the characters and giving some body to the inter-character relationships and conflicts which support the main plot-lines.
It’s possible that the Wapsi plot has gone all aimless and Paul is floundering, but I personally doubt it. At most, I’d guess that Paul’s vision of where the storyline has going has evolved somewhat over the past four or five years, and he’s taking the opportunity now to add some supportive elements that he hadn’t envisioned a few years ago and thus couldn’t have included at that time.
Brandi’s suggestion about going to a museum, and Bud’s response of “Boring!”, made me giggle… because I just watched the DVD of Neil Gaiman’s “Neverwhere” BBC mini-series.
Going to a museum worked really well for protagonist Richard Mayhew. As a result of doing so, he ended up meeting and becoming engaged to a bossy and totally unsuitable woman, falling into the London Below, losing his job / home / money, and finding himself completely over his head in a strange situation that left him “with the life expectancy of a suicidal fruit-fly”. In his next visit to a museum, he found himself confronted by two unsavory characters who had previously promised to feed him his own liver.
Really, not boring at all. Museums can be very exciting, not to say incredibly dangerous!
I seem to recall that as well. A title search brings up this: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/harmless/
Though I think the entire phrase was used somewhere else in the series. Perhaps just before the sub blew up?
I believe that’s also what Siegfried’s partner, Roy said just before the tiger decided he wanted to play.
Bud’s the Action Grrl of the three.
That’s ’cause blondes just want to have more fun!
more “fun”? ruh-roh!
remember, we’re talking of a blonde whose idea of ‘fun’ is tossing a multi-ton anchor at multi-mach speed hundreds of miles so a squid who could snack on blue whales could chase it.
Aannndd there is something wrong with that? LOL Not in my book.
… and now she’s BORED???
5hademaker- to quote a friend “Oh Crap! I’m gone”
AND she blew up the island that she tossed the anchor from!
That almost looks as if Brandi attempted a nose-flick upon Bud! Is she channeling Doubt, when cautioning Bud?
Just what I was thinking … .
.rehtruf yna ti retla t’nod I yarP .laed eht gniretla ma I
Ah now Doubt as Darth Vader, cute.
Luvin’ the the expressions, today. 🙂 <3
ruh roh, Shaggy… this is definitely looking like Bud is starting to show up on Justin’s Psycho-Magnet Radar… hopefully he won’t dump Shelly for her… then again, maybe it’ll be good for BOTH the girls… Shelly can stop catastrophizing about showing her Sphinxiness at an in-opportune moment and freaking Justin out, and Bud get’s a guy! thus her taking one more step on the path to her becoming “human” again, even without May’s patch.
Ya Know… what with all the plot twists that Paul has thrown us over the years… this almost seems TOO EASY…. we all seem to think that the cop Bud is talking about is Justin, and are preparing for fur and clay to fly when Shelly finds out… I’m gonna propose that we’ll all be shocked to see the “big reveal” (if any) when Paul decides to move things along… among the least is that the cop in question is a totally separate person from Justin. maybe his twin brother… but a different person none-the-less…
Not to mention that the “little round glasses” that he is sporting might just be sunglasses and not corective lenses after all. That little bit of info alone would blow the ‘Justin is the dude’ thing out of the water. (Kinda like a certain U-Boat)
Sometimes I wonder if there is a plot to move along anymore. For some time I had the impression there was a grand, overarching plot from which Paul was drawing. Lately, though, I get the feeling we are at the “making it up as he goes along” point, having passed whatever larger plot there may have been. Not that I have a problem with that, it’s fine, and these little excursions into daily life and loves/crushes are fine too. Just that, more and more, I now have the impression there is a lot of delaying going on as Paul tries to come up with more of the good stuff to keep his readers interested.
Personally, I would like to see more of the nitty-gritty plot points moving along, like Shelly confronting her father about her sphinx heritage, and Brandi’s “manipulations.” Paul just seems to jump around so much and leave so many things hanging that nothing seems to really move along at all.
Paul once specifically stated that he ” takes the characters where they lead him” in one of the interviews he said that he has a ” general outline” of plot&time-line, but likes to side-step.
And remember, once it is in print, these restive moments are just a couple of pages.
As most artists do, Paul seems to work with the ” book” angle in the back of his head.
To me a good thing. Some artists go overboard with the web-comic medium, but once printed it doesn’t work.
Í am a book-person, I think in pages. Paul’s pacing works great web-based, but seems to have “lulls” in them. Once printed, the pacing is back in full-force.
Just my €0.02
Agreed! I’m waiting eagerly for Book 6 to hit Lulu, one of these days… I want to be able to read through the whole “Taking on the health-care system” saga in book form.
We had this discussion before. Paul confirmed that it was indeed Justin and his partner who had come to investigate the sonic boom that resulted from Bud launching the calendar machine into the Sun.
Got a link handy?
If that is the case then this problem will solve other problems. Last time Bud fell for Monica’s guy she helped her tell him the truth. This may just be a way for her to do it again for poor Shelly and Justin. Then we can wait and see who the guy for her truly turns out to be. (I’m guessing a game designer or a writer).
Maybe Justin’s partner with the mustache is available. Bud doesn’t seem to have noticed him much, standing next to Cute Officer Tight Buns; for all we know he’s a quiet guy who likes well-read women…
Interesting point. Perhaps Bud will, once again, be the foil who brings (or helps bring) the boyfriend to the inner circle. She was there when Owen found out about Jin, as well as, the Kevin-rabbit hole caper. Of course, it could also be Brandi, trying to fix some chaos Bud and her teasing fun might bring forth. Heck, it could be Euryale who does it for all we know. She did seem to strike up an aquaintence with Shelly after all.
Most likely, of course, it will be none of the above, as Paul smacks us upside the head once again with an amazing plot twist. *sigh* why do I do this to myself? No, I haven’t ruled out stupidity.
SoWhyMe- How about we sit quietly in the confusion corner and compare the damage that trying to predict this man has done to our brains?
Poor Bud just needs someone to jingle her bells this holiday season. Shame the one she’s smitten on is taken… Golem Girl vs. Sphinx would be interesting to see though.
Not really: Golem goes “swat!”, Sphinx goes “splat!”
…Monica goes “No more Ms Nice Guy!”
Just a quick port to 50,000 feet again. But of couse the problem with that is a Sphinx can fly and Golems just make big impact craters.
Not to be a suck-up, but Paul’s facial expressions are getting better all the time. I know I have seen real people make these same faces. As compared to the very cute but much more “cartoony” faces of the first season.
While Paul has made his characters very easy to love, we’ve seen that most of them would be very challenging to be in relationship with. I’m not sure why people talk about Wapsi being full of Caspar Milquetoast males… the people who thus far have taken an interest in Monica, Jin and Shelley have phenomenal strength of character and are worth more in my opinion than a dozen testosterone-laced troglodytes, of which there are far too many out there. Then there’s that bartender guru who seems to have more wisdom in his little finger than a roomful of PhD’s…
^ That! What he is saying!
Maybe it’s an age-thing? Younger males are often scared as heck of ” not being considered “tough”
Older males have often been in enough situations that showed them the reality of the uselessness of being ” tough&cool”
In the real world, that of cops, firemen, veterans, the ” toughness” is mostly seen in a certain determination and stamina, something direly missing with a lot of the testosterone-fueled troglodytes that movies and stuff feed us as ” tough guys”
My experience is that most women are quite good at seeing true ” toughness” in men, and loudmouth kiddies, are only attractive to a few, mentally stuck in pubesence, women.
Media feeds us ” tough” as being constantly enveloped in an aura of imminent violence, while in reality, say, when being in the unfortunate circumstance of getting stuck in a building, while crazies take pot-shots at you- the really ” tough” guys are often those that everyone thought milquetoast weaklings.
While they seemed meek, they actually never had the need to ” act tough” because they had enough self-confidence to go on in life in their own way. Something most women find irresistably attractive.
Ask any veteran how most blustering troglodyte “tough guys” went when under real threat…….
Frack!!! Mistyped my e-mail…. Well.. What can you do
* starts praying to the digital gods of WS to include ” edit”-function…*
This. Masculinity defined solely as what isn’t feminine is a poorly stocked toolbox full of rusty tools. And in any case, there are plenty of outlets for stories which are pure bro-nastics. Wapsi Square is not Jackass, and that’s just the way it is.
Having boyfriends who are simply cool with leaving the ladies in charge of the world is a refreshing respite from all fan-servicey power fantasies out there. Cause you know what the ladies’ power fantasies are? Getting some freakin’ support for your adventures out of your boyfriends.
I guess it is ” misplaced projection”
A lot of younger males have a great fear of being considered “weaklings” and go for posturing and blustering.
Something that disappears in most!! (!!sic.) grown-up” males.
Those young-ones that already have left that adolescent stage, are thusly quite attractive to women.
Ps: I think the bartender should be linked to Brandi. Unlesss he’s gay..Or Brandi is…” out the window thát plan goes”
Think about it: cracked, sad soul and wise man with calm demeanor and deep understanding.
Interesting thought. I never followed that breadcrumb trail, but regardless of his orientation, seeing a storyline revolve around him would be very interesting. He strikes me as a modern Mr. Miyagi type, but other than seeing his ability to read people and help them through their questions, he’s pretty much an unknown quality. Hmm… “read people.” Tina does that too. I wonder…
That’s nothing. A few years ago, we had The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
“Not that theres anything WRONG with that!”
Have an Internet, sir.
I think varying modes from “X-Files” to “Seinfeld” to “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” is actually more realistic — staying in one style counts more as an acceptable break from reality, and I think it’s one that Mr. Taylor’s work doesn’t need.
I say that Brandi and Bud should just take up with each other.
“take up”?? Now there’s one of those colloquialisms that truly stumps non-native speakers. What does it mean?
If it means they should get ” intimate” well, how much more intimate than having your bedroom in your buddies tummy for aeons?
Yeah, your boundaries are different with those you’ve been mindfused with while committing worldwide genocide.
IMHO, Bud’s relationship to intimacy is a very complex but consistent effort to not be controlled by any one set of expectations. While Shelly “catastrophizes” over beyond-worst case scenarios, Bud has seen every form of true catastrophe, and experienced more than her share. So she knows what levers to pull and buttons to push, and if there’s an explosion, then it’s in the service of airing out the truth: Kevin isn’t a cheater, Monica has not summoned Bud to abuse as a sex toy. She has no problem with testing others, but determining how and with who to make herself attractive is still a deep uncertainty. She’s more comfortable in a crazy costume or situation than she is posing with ice cream in a bikini.
I think Bud is in the service of truth when she leads with the wacky and freaky instead of the Playboy fantasy. Because anyone who would be right for her is going have to be able to handle that deep dark pit into wonderland.
Look at the bones.
MMM Maybe Monica’s childhood friend Yummy Tea????
C’m on…!
I happen to like these interludiae with the personal stuff.
There’s a wealth of materialjust laying around, concerning Bud and Brandi, and Jin. They are all comitted to become “normal” 18-year old, attractive girls. Angxt included, free of charge.
Bud is behaving like the typical teen with a lightly flammable heart: crush on Alan, VERY short-lived crush on insurance lawyer flam-man, and I even think she was a little smitten on our wise,unflappable bar-keeper.
Bud has pretty low self-esteem and self-image, despite her loud behaviour, so, she’s pretty likely to be smitten with any male that gives her attention.
As I said. A wealth of interesting “growing pains” topics laying around, ripe for the picking by Pablo….
Well, to offer a counter-point to all of the angst I’m reading about “jumping around” and “no plot” and “delaying”…
Are y’all familiar with the origins of the term “hack writer”?
“Hack” is an old slang term for a horse for hire, or (derived therefrom) a horse carriage – a taxi, in today’s terms. Cheap transport for hire. When you hired a hack, its job was to get you from Point A to Point B as quickly and competently as possible. No unnecessary side trips or delays… just get me there, Joe.
Hence, a “hack writer” would churn out cheap books for hire, driving you through the stories in a very straightforward and linear fashion. All of the necessary plot elements would be laid out and presented to support the story. No unnecessary elements. Everything gets used. In a sense, it’s impossible to have a Chekhov’s Gun in a hack story, because there’s nothing else present.
From what I’ve seen, that’s not Paul’s style… he’s not hacking, and the Wapsi storyline is quite a lot more subtle than a hack story. We’ve seen some story elements introduced, almost in passing, and then come to fruition much later. Being able to do that, requires an opportunity to introduce those elements, characterizations, subplots, etc. – in effect, to fertilize the ground, so that the story can grow up around them later.
I suspect that this is part of what we’ve been seeing go on, for the past few months. The major plot sequence for 2011 (helping Jin) has matured, and we’re seeing a bunch of subplot introduction and characterization done which is going to support the next thing Paul has dreamed up. In effect, he’s building a bridge to what comes next.
As to the “Seinfeld” and “Mary Tyler Moore” feel of some of what we’re seeing… sure, why not? Real people do lead real, complex lives which tug them in six senseless directions at once… out here in meat-space, we really don’t live straightforward linear purely-plot-driven lives. This style of presentation seems as good as any, to me, for Paul to use in fleshing out the characters of the characters and giving some body to the inter-character relationships and conflicts which support the main plot-lines.
It’s possible that the Wapsi plot has gone all aimless and Paul is floundering, but I personally doubt it. At most, I’d guess that Paul’s vision of where the storyline has going has evolved somewhat over the past four or five years, and he’s taking the opportunity now to add some supportive elements that he hadn’t envisioned a few years ago and thus couldn’t have included at that time.
We’ll see. “Have patience, Grasshopper.”
Brandi’s suggestion about going to a museum, and Bud’s response of “Boring!”, made me giggle… because I just watched the DVD of Neil Gaiman’s “Neverwhere” BBC mini-series.
Going to a museum worked really well for protagonist Richard Mayhew. As a result of doing so, he ended up meeting and becoming engaged to a bossy and totally unsuitable woman, falling into the London Below, losing his job / home / money, and finding himself completely over his head in a strange situation that left him “with the life expectancy of a suicidal fruit-fly”. In his next visit to a museum, he found himself confronted by two unsavory characters who had previously promised to feed him his own liver.
Really, not boring at all. Museums can be very exciting, not to say incredibly dangerous!
Even if she took her advice, Bud might end up trampling on someone else’s territory: the museum is Monica’s, and the Library is Phix’s and Nudge’s.
This is going to be ineresting.
“Mostly harmless”? Where have I heard that phrase before?
I seem to recall that as well. A title search brings up this:
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/harmless/
Though I think the entire phrase was used somewhere else in the series. Perhaps just before the sub blew up?
I believe that’s also what Siegfried’s partner, Roy said just before the tiger decided he wanted to play.
I was actually thinking of another source for the specific phrase “mostly harmless”.
Yes, the late great Douglas Adams and his ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy’ series.
Stop worrying so much about her being arrested for being a boob. There’s too many boobs to arrest people for that reason.