Honestly, I’m not as outraged about this one. People do this to each other all the time. It’s called matchmaking. She didn’t tell them to start going out, she just introduced them and let it go from there. Sure, it was on a larger scale than most people matchmake, but Phix LIVES on a larger scale than humans, as do Shelly and Justin. It’s not her fault that she mostly associates with half cat people and immortal demi-gods…
The way things have been going for her lately, I think she really needs to invest in a supply of Spandex with a 100:1 stretch factor. It’s really a shame, the amount of good clothing she’s been turning onto shredded rags in recent weeks.
Brandi is the brains. She’s the one that can make you cut out your own tong while not only making it look like it was your idea but that you were damn happy to do so.
The problem is, not only is she still not much of an intimidation threat to Bud (let alone Brandi, who’s used to juggling Bud and Jin tantrums daily), but it could easily have been one of the numerous past-cycle Brandi’s that had significant influence on this cycle.
Meaning even if Brandi did do it, she may not have actually done it.
Erm I don’t quite get why she’s so mad about being “set up.” Just because someone arranged for them to meet, no one MADE them like each other right? Kind of like a blind date is arranged, but no one made you like the other. So what if they were set up to meet? They liked what they saw in each other and liked each other on their own terms before even knowing what each other (or themselves) were. I think that’s awesome and I think that if she comes to her senses she’ll realize that too…. a gifted chance to get to know someone and love someone before all the baggage, and to know them and love them even better when all the truth makes them even better matches for each other.
Not only that, but the last time Shelly was involved with one of Brandy’s plans, she had to drive a spike into her best friend’s head. Now, she’s been fixed up with a guy who can be shredded by her with no lasting harm at a time when she’s trying to get her sphinx side under control.
From Shelly’s point of view, Brandy’s reasoning looks like: “Okay, the rabid dog needs some obedience training now that it has done its job. Let’s give her this chew toy to practice on.” However much she hates the idea of being treated that way, the thought of them doing that to Justin, especially after hearing his story and how vulnerable he was to manipulation, really pushes her buttons.
Don’t forget Shelly’s almost fiecre drive to be independant. Becoming a mechanic in spite of her dad. He wanted her to be a secretary. All the other incidents over the years where she fought back against being peigon holed, stero-types, or shoved in any box. She is going to live her life, her way. Now that the sphinx has gone active and the time in the forest it’ll be even strong. Creepy Girl also supports this in her. Why else would she force all her demons into one being except to make them the way she wanted them to be.
The big problem I see is that if she goes after Brandi will she survive? If she pisses Brandi off enough she might not. But her manage to hurt BRandi, not at all.
If she’s indeed a descendent of Bia..
We’ll we’re talking then an amalgamation of human, sphinx and deity. (It could then end up that Shelly is beyond Brandi’s league.) There’s also Connie to consider, with her being a demon/human soul hybrid. (We know that she doesn’t like the idea of others messing with Shelly.)
And we also know that the Golem girls do still have their own demons (see Jin), and Connie would be quite adapt at dragging them out to let them do a number on Brandi.
How effective would Brandi be, if she were crippled by her own self-doubt?
All in all this could end up getting very very ugly.
Brandi’s self-doubt isn’t the danger here. What will happen if super-strong, super-smart, super-big lion-sized and manipulative Brandi feels threatened?
I am nót gonna bet my stash on Shellinx. There has to come a time when the bully in Shelly gets the smack-down. Attacking Brandi might be that time.
It could even be very therapeutical to Shelly, facing a true threat in thís world, the world where she was always the strongest, with a tendency towards bullying.
It depends on how Shelly goes after Brandi, if it comes to that. Physically or psychologically, that would fail. Emotionally – unleashing all her rage, hurt, and confusion on Brandi – might work. But if Shelly (perhaps with Connie’s help, although I think it more likely she’d kick Shelly’s butt for losing it like this) could launch a spiritual or psychic attack, I doubt Brandi has any more defenses to that than any human. That might really do damage.
The thing is, I doubt Brandi WAS part of this. During her meltdown with Monica she seemed disconcerted by the news Shelly was a Sphinx. If previous Shellys died in the Time Forest, she might not have found that out. Playing matchmaker between Shelly and Justin with incomplete data doesn’t sound like Brandi’s style.
Self-doubt is just one of the demons that could be brought out to play.
How about guilt?
As the Chimaera she did incinerate a lot of children, which considering her previous role as a caregiver to little ones.. Well. That should’ve left some scars.
And the list goes on and on.
Also even physically the match may be a whole lot closer, as Shellinx has superspeed and flight as well. Whereas Brandi has her invulnerability.
Size wouldn’t be an issue anymore, considering how big Shellinx herself can get in a rage. Lion? Heck, Shellinxs has similar physical features as well.
Now toss in Shellinx possible divine nature as well, which could lead to a further power boost as well.
And we’re in a situation where Brandi would face psychological/mental attacks from Connie, thus nullifying her intellectual superiority.
While Shellinx herself would be the physical threat, with flight and superspeed vs invincibility.
I suspect that Monica might be the only one capable of breaking them up by way of poiting.
As for Shelly being a bully, not in this case. In this case, she and Justin would be the victims of Brandi’s machinations. She interfered with their lives, they didn’t do anything to her.
Like I said before, the closest analogy I can think of is Brandi playing God and using both Shelly and Justin as puppets/toys/pawns or whatever other term you prefer to use.
At the end of the day, Justin’s Love Life and Shelly’s Love life is NONE of Brandi’s business.
We still do not know that Brandi had anything to do with this. Shelly has never really liked Brandi, especially since the Calendar Machine, so she automatically assumes that Brandi is somehow behind this. Granted, when Brandi saw Shekky and Justin together, she looked self-satisfied, but that is not proof. Remember, she cares deeply for Bud and Bud also had a crush on Justin. I don’t think Brandi would have hurt Bud that way.
I expect Friday’s cliffhanger to be a doozy!
No problem there. Phix is still in the library. Cannot die in there. Maybe get a few cuts & bruises, but that would be it. Let alone the fact that Phix has centuries of killing behind her, until she refused to kill anymore.
Nâh, I feel a predesigned plan by Phix to get Shelly into a full-out tantrum, just to see how well she can control real rage, but is, maybe, a tad worried about the amount of re-designing she’ll have to do after Shellinx has cooled-down.
And..attacking momma-cat, usually results in a bunch of hisses and slaps towards the kitten. (We had lóts of cats, and every now&then a kitten aggravated a bigger cat enough to get a hiss and a paw-nudge, nails not extended)
Oooh!… not very “Sage”-like, huh? and I’m curious as to how Epimethius even HEARD about her IN AMERICA… from ALL the way over there IN ITALY!!, for him to even “be curious” about her in the first place? hmm… i would have pegged him as an Irish cop, not Italian, oh well…
Shelly, Shelly.. there wasn’t a whole lot of “setting-up” to do. YOU pulled the trick with the BBQ before to get Justin’s attention.
Only the second time, YOU called his station to check if he was off-duty…and pulled the BBQ-trick again…
Shellinx is a tad hypocritical here. And her outburst is proof that her base-character hasn’t changed a whole lot: Hot-Head with a habit of swinging blame and anger around above her head. Tssk, tssk..
Me thinks Momma’Phix should shake Shellinx for a bit by her neckskin (like you do to naughty dogs and cats)
And Shellinx going after Brandi? A Golem? A Golem that’s probably as capable of creating diamonds and crushing planets as Bud? Talk about mis-placed optimism.
Shelly’s anger is justified by the fact that all her supernatural friends have been working to get her into a specific love match without telling her. Even Bud and Tina, though their motives may have been at odds, never revealed all they seemed to have known. Maybe even Nudge! Was she oblivious to who Justin was?
The point is having worked for and achieved your dreams is far different than being manipulated into it. Vina chose Capt. Pike, but only for a gilded cage.
Shelly’s spent 80,000 years pining without her guy in her cage. Sure, she should consider how others feel about a hairtrigger Titan like herself being on the loose. But those others need to keep in mind what freedom means to the imprisoned, and that when it’s betrayed, however “benevolently”, anger is just.
Are you implying that a relationship is like prison!? I seem to recall a comic where Shelly wants to know where she can get a guy like Monica’s and Jin’s. So they found her one and she’s upset about it? I wonder how Justin would feel about watching this all play out. Would he be hurt about how Shelly’s reacting? You’re pissed off because we hooked up and it was good?!
No W the point is shelly has been treated more like a play thing by her friend then as an equal. She was told to stab Monica in the head, they orchestrated her “death”, the time in the forest and now even her love life is their personal plaything they decide what’s best for her.
yes everything ended up “nice and happy” but for a lot of people that’s not good enough.
To elaborate, Phix is saying that Justin was curious about her. While Shelly prided herself in “capturing” Justin with the BBQ, she knew he was checking her out first.
But when did that start?
Was Justin told there was a “girl for him” in Minneapolis? Or was he completely outside that loop? How is that supposed to make him feel? Hasn’t his life been a vast string of terrible manipulations by others?
Or had he heard about the Sage of the Time Forest even earlier, and is still keeping that source of his curiosity back from Shelly?
@W – No, I’m not saying relationships are a cage. But having invisible hands guide your love life can be unsettling. Even arranged marriages are done with known parties.
My point is simply that Shelly’s anger and feeling of betrayal has justification. She is well within her rights and logic to now distrust many of her friends, and that’s not… reassuring.
I was not making a global argument about relationships. I distrust universals like that.
I would think that Justin is out of the loop on this given his initial reaction to Shelly’s sphinxitude. He wouldn’t have been receptive to a hook-up to the Sage of the Forest given his history with the supernatural.
Heck! He probably wouldn’t have reacted well to someone who knows him and his abilities saying. “There’s a really neat girl in Minneapolis that you should meet.” His “curiousity” could have stemmed from just normal male reaction to interesting female.
“For the greater good”, the excuse that was used to stuff her into the forest for a few tens of thosands of years, is ALSO shit. NOBODY asked her what she thought of that.
The Fact is that Shelley is realizing that people are jerking her around (and Phix was a BIG one) and she’s pissed. Rightfully so. This is the kind of blow-up that a lot of people in this comic deserve to be aimed at them.
Somehow I feel like Bud was not in on this…and I’m not sure that Tina was in the same way that you’re implying. Bud seemed to have had a crush on Justin, so I wouldn’t think she would want to hook him up with someone else.
Tina…well, she’s not really been a part of most of these grand plans since she’s a host of demons locked in one timeline. She just is a barista friend who spouts out relationship advice from time to time (kind of the replacement for Darin now that the girls don’t go to the bar).
First time was apparently a genuine accident, then, as i said above:
[Accidentally] exploding it the year before was how she first met Justin, leading him to enroll in her kick-boxing class under false pretences, leading her to shadow him to the cop shop, leading her to conspire with his sergeant to send Justin when she blew up her grill on purpose …
And she’s complaining that SHE was set up?</blockquote.
Paul has mentioned time and time again that the mythology we have learned is not totally true. The truth of the myth tends to be a bit south of what we were told. So the Epimethius of myth may not match the one that Justin was before his accident. The same might be of his brother Prometheus and Bia’s interactions in the myth.
Nah, Phix just keeps them behind sheets of plexiglass. You wouldn’t beleve how hard it is to dust a wall of skulls if you don’t cover them with something and this way she can hang pictures.
I don’t think Phix is afraid for her physical safety. She cares for Shelly in a mother/daughter sort of way and is afraid of alienating her. The fact that’s she’s not meeting anger with anger shows she thinks Shelly is at least partly justified in her rage.
What constantly amazes me is the apparent depth of the story as indicated by the genuinely erudite commentary that weaves together massive context of plot complexity far beyond the surface content of the actual pictures in the strip. Obviously it helps to be a Classics Scholar, and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see a few dissertations reflecting upon the interwoven and cross-coupled mythology developed herein.
I tend to agree with you on this one. I don’t see what the big deal is about getting set up to meet and fall for someone. Yes, matchmakers can be annoying, but this one was so cunningly played out…at least she didn’t have to deal with the whole “You’re single??!! You should meet my friend So-and-So! You’d be great together!” style of interaction.
I think it falls more along the lines of Shelly is sick and tired of being manipulated. Phix, Brandi, hell, even her once and future self have been pulling her strings and yanking her chains. Add in a dose of feeling slightly out of control all the time and it’s bound to leave her feeling frustrated and angry. And from Phix’s expression, she knew this was coming. She also understands that her people have volatile tempers. There was a certain young Sphinx that got stuck in the library because of hers.
Ha! Shelly’s tired of being manipulated? How do you think Monica felt when they were trying to fix the calendar machine? Everyone played her in that situation in order to achieve the ultimate goal of destroying the machine and locking down the rogue demons. Heck, she had to be stabbed in the head while feeling betrayed and ignored by the people who cared about her.
Yes, Shelly was manipulated into spending 80K years in the Time Forest where she had to watch herself die on repeat and deal with discovering her sphinxitude. However, this relationship (if it was manipulated into being) is good for her…a point of happiness and certainty in her currently mixed up life. How is this part bad??
Oh, I agree, with both your points. Everyone in Wapsi is subject to one big fat Zanatos pileup, the reprecussions of which are just now starting to shake out. Is Shelly overeacting? Absolutely. Justin is good for her, and she for him, but at this point, all she can see is something she thought was her idea is a “conspiracy” to get them together all along. Like everyone else, she’s tired of being a chess piece. Tempers flare when people feel they’re being used and manipulated wether it’s warrented or not. I await tomorrow’s update with baited breath.
No one told Shelly of the grand conspiracy to hook her up with a laughingstock of ancient myth, until now. On the issue of trust, they seem diametric.
Granted these two make a fine couple, I still don’t see how Shelly is a hypocrite for being up front in the scene linked, but angry at learning her friends went behind her back now. Please explain.
@Yamara – She was up front with Justin when she noticed his interest and decided to take things further (and only after using a ploy to get him to come to her home)…if I’m not mistaken, this wasn’t her first time to explode her grill.
Right – exploding it the year before was how she first met Justin, leading him to enroll in her kick-boxing class under false pretences, leading her to shadow him to the cop shop, leading her to conspire with his sergeant to send Justin when she blew up her grill on purpose …
How good of a match is it really to have the explosively emotional sphinx-human-hybrid paired with the “after-thought” guy? That seems like a recipe for a lot of relationship turmoil. Yes, it’s a good thing he’s essentially indestructable, but it would be better if he was (also) the kind of guy who thought before he acted. Then he would be less in need of his fast-healing.
And let’s not talk about the fact the last relationship Epimetheus was in lead to the almost complete release of all evils into the world. Now that I think about it I wonder what Pandora has to say about this.
I’m really curious about power levels in the Wapsiverse now. Shelly may lack the fine-tuning between her two forms, but she was a Sphinx for 96,000 years, which has to put her on a par with Phix age-wise. As noted before, her human musculature translates to her Sphinx body so I would think she’s stronger than Phix. But is she strong enough to take on any of the GG, who we’ve seen can toss things into the sun? Shelly doesn’t know that though, and she could be looking for a little payback on Brandi not just for this but for Brandi threatening her in chimera/cat form. And there’s still Monica, whose main power is poiting, but I think she still technically controls at least two of the GG (don’t know about Jin since she became human).
Is Paul setting up the Wapsi version of DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths??? 🙂
I’m not sure about anyone else, but Bud, Brandi and Jin before being reprogramed are pretty solidly at 6, or maybe nibbling at the edges of seven. I’m not sure where anyone else falls, though I think Monica is probably a 4.
Well, Bia being a personification is a 6, the Golem Girls would be more of a 4-5.
Which would explain why the Chimaera was unable to harm Bia.
(The GGs are a planetary threat, not a Cosmic One. Also I’d argue that the 5 is only applicable when talking about the Chimaera, as the end result is greater than the sum of the parts.)
Shelly would normally be a 3 or 4, as a Sphinx hybrid.
But if she’s indeed a descendent of Bia, then her power level could go up even further.
As Bia was Force itself, combine that with her great-grand X? Uncles being Strength and Zeal, a great-grand X? Aunt being Victory. And her great-grand X? Father being a Titan dedicated to War.
It all rather depends on how potent her heritage would be, still one small consolation, she already has one Worshiper, in Justin, so that would help boost her Status to Demi-Goddess at the least. 😛
Now toss in Connie and her own abilities.
Like I said above, this could get very ugly.
Bud said something to the effect of she could destroy the planet and the resulting shockwave would collapse the sun or some such. So it might be world weight bleeding into cosmic weight— and that’s just for Bud. The Chimera would be more powerful still. I would put them on my list of people not to tick off. Also, I don’t think they’d fight alone. I think if attacked, they’d do the Voltron thing.
That may have been hyperbole on Bud’s part though.
Consider that when the Chimaera was on its rampage and it glassed Lanthis, the rest of the world was fine.
As mentioned by Charon, that it was only their immediate surroundings that had been glassed, not the entire world.
Yet when you’re seeing red like the Chimaera was, you don’t hold back, you strike with everything you have.
Those two aspects seem to be conflicting, and it would make me argue against the Chimaera being a Cosmic threat.
A 5 on that rating? Yeah, I can buy that, considering its power, but a 6?
Doesn’t seem to jive with the known facts.
And as for Bud and Jin helping Brandi out, it would rather depend on if they were to find out what Brandi had been up to and would approve of those actions.
Considering Bud’s crush on Justin, or how well aware Jin is of how fragile humans are compared to them. Well, I don’t think they’d approve of Brandi interfering in other people’s love lives unless she was specifically asked to, which she wasn’t.
Yeah, but the thing is V’Ger wasn’t a Cosmic Threat, just a planetary one as it moved through Space.
In Star Trek, the Cosmic Threats would be akin to Q, such as Sha Ka Ree aka “God” from Star Trek V (reason why he needed a ship, is because it would’ve been a loophole to get around the terms of imprisonment that the Q Continuum had placed upon him for his part in destroying the TKon Empire.)
Others of that sort were: * aka the Beta XII-A entity, Gorgan and 0, although the first two were severely reduced in power by the Q. Sha Ka Ree and 0 were too strong, so they were locked away.
She was making a comparison to a being sent out alone to grow in power and complexity until it could return and challenge its creators in vastly new and strange form.
Does anyone in this strip even remotely… resemble… V’ger?
Shelly knows how strong the GGs are…that’s part of why she treated Bud poorly when she first was initiated into the supernatural. That said…I doubt any of them know how a sphinx vs GG fight would play out.
I’ve suspected that the ‘wall of skulls’ was a mural, but I guess wallpaper would be simpler. I mean Phix didn’t need the actual skulls to remind her of her past. Friends see two friends that would be good together, they’re going to get them together to see what happens. I don’t think that is a bad thing. Heck, it can be hard to meet people, and a little help should be appreciated.
Phix doesn’t look that scared, to me. Panel 2’s facial expression is very “Would you stop yelling?” to me. Most people flinch when hit, or are almost hit–that’s more instinct than what I’d call “fear”, although I’m sure her stress level is growing. Phix just doesn’t seem to be one to sweat under pressure. She’s an apex predator, and an old and powerful one at that, despite her having to work in the library.
I like people’s idea of parent handling a squalling child, however that parallel doesn’t seem quite as apt, as Shelly is more Phix’s equal now (and it would just continue to stir the pot of “Something’s gotta blow, with all of this meddling”). Although we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what happens.
Shhh. This is on the down-low. Wall’o Skulls ‘Cause you’re cool and I’m sure Paul is too busy. I mean how many people want a Wall’o Skulls any hoo? This offer good until July 2.
this kinda reminds me of the plot of hancock with will smith. hancock is immortal except when he gets close to another immortal. the last time they were together, a mob attacked them and nearly killed hancock; he lost his memory and the other one left so that they would both be safe
40 years later, my mother still doesn’t understand why I absolutely refused to accept her attempts to explicitly set the teenage me up with a young lady whom she swore was interested but too shy to say anything directly. The situation absolutely reeked of maternal collusions, and Mom wasn’t graceful enough to arrange for us to meet without expectations rather than poking at me to do something about it.
(Having said that, Shelly _is_ overreacting. Sure, their meeting was arranged, but anything that happened after that appears to have happened because the two of them decided it should happen. An introduction, even with intent, is pretty harmless.)
Ooofta thats gonna leave a mark…. hopefully the emotional one gets cleared up soon!
And elsewhere, Tina and Nudge are smiling uncontrollably, and have no idea why.
Tina and Bud perhaps. Nudge almost certainly can hear that.
So much for eSphinxHarmony.com.
Quick! Register that domain before Pablo does! 😉
Too many people screwing around with the lives of others in this comic. It’s about time some of em got called out on it.
Very agreed.
It would seem the supernaturals have their own hidden village and still act just like villagers.
Honestly, I’m not as outraged about this one. People do this to each other all the time. It’s called matchmaking. She didn’t tell them to start going out, she just introduced them and let it go from there. Sure, it was on a larger scale than most people matchmake, but Phix LIVES on a larger scale than humans, as do Shelly and Justin. It’s not her fault that she mostly associates with half cat people and immortal demi-gods…
Do you think she brought a 3rd set of clothes
The way things have been going for her lately, I think she really needs to invest in a supply of Spandex with a 100:1 stretch factor. It’s really a shame, the amount of good clothing she’s been turning onto shredded rags in recent weeks.
So this practice session. Does it include testing whether one sphinx cannot be harmed while in the Library?
…catfight.
But they’re both already nekkid, there’s no POINT! *Ducks and runs!*
Oh, I dunno – if they’re nekkid, there’s bound to be some “points” around somewheres…
Actually, Phix has a blouse on.
For the moment, at least.
fight! fight! 🙂
its just like two humans, after the fight, they will be exchanging notes about other ‘fit’ men…. 😀 😀
oooh dear… shelly punch!!! 🙂
and I guess sphinxs have suitably ‘ adaptable’ clothing by now that changes shape/ size with them…..
What makes you say that? Shellynx looks to be sans shirt again from where I’m sitting…
Yeah – we saw her putting on new clothes, remember?
Check the 1st frame
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/feel-really-bad/
OH NO! Shellinx broke the wall of skulls!
That’s 1,000 years bad luck!
And despite knowing all the good Phix has done / attempted to do (especially for her type/species), I can’t help but get giddy at the last panel.
Yeah yeah, I’m a terrible person, but I’ve been waiting for that to happen to Phix since the Nudge-reveal arc.
Seeing how Brandi and Bud are the brains behind MIB….
This could go one of two ways if and when Shelly confronts Brandi.
Brandi is the brains. She’s the one that can make you cut out your own tong while not only making it look like it was your idea but that you were damn happy to do so.
This topic has come up before.
Yeah, it’s unlikely that Bud was involved with this caper, considering her own crush on Justin.
The problem is, not only is she still not much of an intimidation threat to Bud (let alone Brandi, who’s used to juggling Bud and Jin tantrums daily), but it could easily have been one of the numerous past-cycle Brandi’s that had significant influence on this cycle.
Meaning even if Brandi did do it, she may not have actually done it.
Unless Shelly is indeed a descendent of Bia, and this.. eruption.. brings out her own Divine heritage.
Keep in mind that the Chimera had no effect on her (Bia), and that was all three working together.
As tough as Brandi may be.. Sphinx-deity hybrid..
I’m thinking that Shelly might then be beyond Brandi’s league.
That’s an “Ouchie!” thought…
Brandi is so good at manipulation she’s even figured out ways to manipulate herself more than once.
She is one smart manipulative cookie when she’s not under pressure.
Well, now we understand Phix’s apparent hesitation about revealing Justin’s family history….
Oh crap. This will only end in tears.
Erm I don’t quite get why she’s so mad about being “set up.” Just because someone arranged for them to meet, no one MADE them like each other right? Kind of like a blind date is arranged, but no one made you like the other. So what if they were set up to meet? They liked what they saw in each other and liked each other on their own terms before even knowing what each other (or themselves) were. I think that’s awesome and I think that if she comes to her senses she’ll realize that too…. a gifted chance to get to know someone and love someone before all the baggage, and to know them and love them even better when all the truth makes them even better matches for each other.
Some people take poorly to others trying to manipulate them. And things get even more touchy, when it comes to a person’s Love life.
Sure, one could go, it was for their own good. It worked out, didn’t it. Or countless other excuses.
Fact remains that someone stuck their nose into matters that were no business of theirs to begin with.
Your blind date example, the person on the date is aware, that they’re on a blind date. It changes the expectation pattern
But this? Closest analogy I can think of is someone playing God with someone else’s life.
Not only that, but the last time Shelly was involved with one of Brandy’s plans, she had to drive a spike into her best friend’s head. Now, she’s been fixed up with a guy who can be shredded by her with no lasting harm at a time when she’s trying to get her sphinx side under control.
From Shelly’s point of view, Brandy’s reasoning looks like: “Okay, the rabid dog needs some obedience training now that it has done its job. Let’s give her this chew toy to practice on.” However much she hates the idea of being treated that way, the thought of them doing that to Justin, especially after hearing his story and how vulnerable he was to manipulation, really pushes her buttons.
This. All of this.
Don’t forget Shelly’s almost fiecre drive to be independant. Becoming a mechanic in spite of her dad. He wanted her to be a secretary. All the other incidents over the years where she fought back against being peigon holed, stero-types, or shoved in any box. She is going to live her life, her way. Now that the sphinx has gone active and the time in the forest it’ll be even strong. Creepy Girl also supports this in her. Why else would she force all her demons into one being except to make them the way she wanted them to be.
The big problem I see is that if she goes after Brandi will she survive? If she pisses Brandi off enough she might not. But her manage to hurt BRandi, not at all.
It all kinda depends on Shelly’s heritage.
If she’s indeed a descendent of Bia..
We’ll we’re talking then an amalgamation of human, sphinx and deity. (It could then end up that Shelly is beyond Brandi’s league.) There’s also Connie to consider, with her being a demon/human soul hybrid. (We know that she doesn’t like the idea of others messing with Shelly.)
And we also know that the Golem girls do still have their own demons (see Jin), and Connie would be quite adapt at dragging them out to let them do a number on Brandi.
How effective would Brandi be, if she were crippled by her own self-doubt?
All in all this could end up getting very very ugly.
Brandi’s self-doubt isn’t the danger here. What will happen if super-strong, super-smart, super-big lion-sized and manipulative Brandi feels threatened?
I am nót gonna bet my stash on Shellinx. There has to come a time when the bully in Shelly gets the smack-down. Attacking Brandi might be that time.
It could even be very therapeutical to Shelly, facing a true threat in thís world, the world where she was always the strongest, with a tendency towards bullying.
But who’s the bully?
Remember, Brandi scared the crap out of Shelly in her own Lioness form.
Shelly stood up for whatshisname when he was getting bullied on the playground (or at least that’s what she told us when he was breaking up with her).
It depends on how Shelly goes after Brandi, if it comes to that. Physically or psychologically, that would fail. Emotionally – unleashing all her rage, hurt, and confusion on Brandi – might work. But if Shelly (perhaps with Connie’s help, although I think it more likely she’d kick Shelly’s butt for losing it like this) could launch a spiritual or psychic attack, I doubt Brandi has any more defenses to that than any human. That might really do damage.
The thing is, I doubt Brandi WAS part of this. During her meltdown with Monica she seemed disconcerted by the news Shelly was a Sphinx. If previous Shellys died in the Time Forest, she might not have found that out. Playing matchmaker between Shelly and Justin with incomplete data doesn’t sound like Brandi’s style.
Self-doubt is just one of the demons that could be brought out to play.
How about guilt?
As the Chimaera she did incinerate a lot of children, which considering her previous role as a caregiver to little ones.. Well. That should’ve left some scars.
And the list goes on and on.
Also even physically the match may be a whole lot closer, as Shellinx has superspeed and flight as well. Whereas Brandi has her invulnerability.
Size wouldn’t be an issue anymore, considering how big Shellinx herself can get in a rage. Lion? Heck, Shellinxs has similar physical features as well.
Now toss in Shellinx possible divine nature as well, which could lead to a further power boost as well.
And we’re in a situation where Brandi would face psychological/mental attacks from Connie, thus nullifying her intellectual superiority.
While Shellinx herself would be the physical threat, with flight and superspeed vs invincibility.
I suspect that Monica might be the only one capable of breaking them up by way of poiting.
As for Shelly being a bully, not in this case. In this case, she and Justin would be the victims of Brandi’s machinations. She interfered with their lives, they didn’t do anything to her.
Like I said before, the closest analogy I can think of is Brandi playing God and using both Shelly and Justin as puppets/toys/pawns or whatever other term you prefer to use.
At the end of the day, Justin’s Love Life and Shelly’s Love life is NONE of Brandi’s business.
We still do not know that Brandi had anything to do with this. Shelly has never really liked Brandi, especially since the Calendar Machine, so she automatically assumes that Brandi is somehow behind this. Granted, when Brandi saw Shekky and Justin together, she looked self-satisfied, but that is not proof. Remember, she cares deeply for Bud and Bud also had a crush on Justin. I don’t think Brandi would have hurt Bud that way.
I expect Friday’s cliffhanger to be a doozy!
“Shelly”, not “Shekky” Stoopid fingers can’t splel…
Now we know why Phix looked so worried. I wonder when was the last time she was attacked on her own turf?
No problem there. Phix is still in the library. Cannot die in there. Maybe get a few cuts & bruises, but that would be it. Let alone the fact that Phix has centuries of killing behind her, until she refused to kill anymore.
Nâh, I feel a predesigned plan by Phix to get Shelly into a full-out tantrum, just to see how well she can control real rage, but is, maybe, a tad worried about the amount of re-designing she’ll have to do after Shellinx has cooled-down.
And..attacking momma-cat, usually results in a bunch of hisses and slaps towards the kitten. (We had lóts of cats, and every now&then a kitten aggravated a bigger cat enough to get a hiss and a paw-nudge, nails not extended)
Oooh!… not very “Sage”-like, huh? and I’m curious as to how Epimethius even HEARD about her IN AMERICA… from ALL the way over there IN ITALY!!, for him to even “be curious” about her in the first place? hmm… i would have pegged him as an Irish cop, not Italian, oh well…
The way I read it, he got curious about her after becoming Justin and meeting her in the natural course of things.
Or, you know, being set up.
Shelly, Shelly.. there wasn’t a whole lot of “setting-up” to do. YOU pulled the trick with the BBQ before to get Justin’s attention.
Only the second time, YOU called his station to check if he was off-duty…and pulled the BBQ-trick again…
Shellinx is a tad hypocritical here. And her outburst is proof that her base-character hasn’t changed a whole lot: Hot-Head with a habit of swinging blame and anger around above her head. Tssk, tssk..
Me thinks Momma’Phix should shake Shellinx for a bit by her neckskin (like you do to naughty dogs and cats)
And Shellinx going after Brandi? A Golem? A Golem that’s probably as capable of creating diamonds and crushing planets as Bud? Talk about mis-placed optimism.
Truth!
“Nice place you have here, Mr. Pike.”
Shelly’s anger is justified by the fact that all her supernatural friends have been working to get her into a specific love match without telling her. Even Bud and Tina, though their motives may have been at odds, never revealed all they seemed to have known. Maybe even Nudge! Was she oblivious to who Justin was?
The point is having worked for and achieved your dreams is far different than being manipulated into it. Vina chose Capt. Pike, but only for a gilded cage.
Shelly’s spent 80,000 years pining without her guy in her cage. Sure, she should consider how others feel about a hairtrigger Titan like herself being on the loose. But those others need to keep in mind what freedom means to the imprisoned, and that when it’s betrayed, however “benevolently”, anger is just.
Are you implying that a relationship is like prison!? I seem to recall a comic where Shelly wants to know where she can get a guy like Monica’s and Jin’s. So they found her one and she’s upset about it? I wonder how Justin would feel about watching this all play out. Would he be hurt about how Shelly’s reacting? You’re pissed off because we hooked up and it was good?!
No W the point is shelly has been treated more like a play thing by her friend then as an equal. She was told to stab Monica in the head, they orchestrated her “death”, the time in the forest and now even her love life is their personal plaything they decide what’s best for her.
yes everything ended up “nice and happy” but for a lot of people that’s not good enough.
To elaborate, Phix is saying that Justin was curious about her. While Shelly prided herself in “capturing” Justin with the BBQ, she knew he was checking her out first.
But when did that start?
Was Justin told there was a “girl for him” in Minneapolis? Or was he completely outside that loop? How is that supposed to make him feel? Hasn’t his life been a vast string of terrible manipulations by others?
Or had he heard about the Sage of the Time Forest even earlier, and is still keeping that source of his curiosity back from Shelly?
Manipulation leads to a host of ugly questions, once it’s discovered. “It was for your own good” is not an airtight maxim for behavior among friends.
Vina, meet Truman Burbank. “You appear to be healthy and intelligent, Shelly. A prime specimen.”
@W – No, I’m not saying relationships are a cage. But having invisible hands guide your love life can be unsettling. Even arranged marriages are done with known parties.
My point is simply that Shelly’s anger and feeling of betrayal has justification. She is well within her rights and logic to now distrust many of her friends, and that’s not… reassuring.
I was not making a global argument about relationships. I distrust universals like that.
I would think that Justin is out of the loop on this given his initial reaction to Shelly’s sphinxitude. He wouldn’t have been receptive to a hook-up to the Sage of the Forest given his history with the supernatural.
Heck! He probably wouldn’t have reacted well to someone who knows him and his abilities saying. “There’s a really neat girl in Minneapolis that you should meet.” His “curiousity” could have stemmed from just normal male reaction to interesting female.
“For the greater good”, the excuse that was used to stuff her into the forest for a few tens of thosands of years, is ALSO shit. NOBODY asked her what she thought of that.
The Fact is that Shelley is realizing that people are jerking her around (and Phix was a BIG one) and she’s pissed. Rightfully so. This is the kind of blow-up that a lot of people in this comic deserve to be aimed at them.
Somehow I feel like Bud was not in on this…and I’m not sure that Tina was in the same way that you’re implying. Bud seemed to have had a crush on Justin, so I wouldn’t think she would want to hook him up with someone else.
Tina…well, she’s not really been a part of most of these grand plans since she’s a host of demons locked in one timeline. She just is a barista friend who spouts out relationship advice from time to time (kind of the replacement for Darin now that the girls don’t go to the bar).
First time was apparently a genuine accident, then, as i said above:
epimetheus… gosh… he didn’t seem backward.
Oh! Do you mean suehtemipe instead?
Paul has mentioned time and time again that the mythology we have learned is not totally true. The truth of the myth tends to be a bit south of what we were told. So the Epimethius of myth may not match the one that Justin was before his accident. The same might be of his brother Prometheus and Bia’s interactions in the myth.
i get the feeling that if shelly doesn’t calm down phix is going to lay the smack down on her.
Nah, Phix just keeps them behind sheets of plexiglass. You wouldn’t beleve how hard it is to dust a wall of skulls if you don’t cover them with something and this way she can hang pictures.
Lolz!
Okay, I’m scared. That’s because PHIX is scared.
(Of course, this might be “parent dealing with angry child” kind of scared, but still…)
I don’t think Phix is afraid for her physical safety. She cares for Shelly in a mother/daughter sort of way and is afraid of alienating her. The fact that’s she’s not meeting anger with anger shows she thinks Shelly is at least partly justified in her rage.
Epimetheus… in hindsight, that was obvious.
[clink, clink]
What constantly amazes me is the apparent depth of the story as indicated by the genuinely erudite commentary that weaves together massive context of plot complexity far beyond the surface content of the actual pictures in the strip. Obviously it helps to be a Classics Scholar, and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see a few dissertations reflecting upon the interwoven and cross-coupled mythology developed herein.
I tend to agree with you on this one. I don’t see what the big deal is about getting set up to meet and fall for someone. Yes, matchmakers can be annoying, but this one was so cunningly played out…at least she didn’t have to deal with the whole “You’re single??!! You should meet my friend So-and-So! You’d be great together!” style of interaction.
I think it falls more along the lines of Shelly is sick and tired of being manipulated. Phix, Brandi, hell, even her once and future self have been pulling her strings and yanking her chains. Add in a dose of feeling slightly out of control all the time and it’s bound to leave her feeling frustrated and angry. And from Phix’s expression, she knew this was coming. She also understands that her people have volatile tempers. There was a certain young Sphinx that got stuck in the library because of hers.
Ha! Shelly’s tired of being manipulated? How do you think Monica felt when they were trying to fix the calendar machine? Everyone played her in that situation in order to achieve the ultimate goal of destroying the machine and locking down the rogue demons. Heck, she had to be stabbed in the head while feeling betrayed and ignored by the people who cared about her.
Yes, Shelly was manipulated into spending 80K years in the Time Forest where she had to watch herself die on repeat and deal with discovering her sphinxitude. However, this relationship (if it was manipulated into being) is good for her…a point of happiness and certainty in her currently mixed up life. How is this part bad??
Oh, I agree, with both your points. Everyone in Wapsi is subject to one big fat Zanatos pileup, the reprecussions of which are just now starting to shake out. Is Shelly overeacting? Absolutely. Justin is good for her, and she for him, but at this point, all she can see is something she thought was her idea is a “conspiracy” to get them together all along. Like everyone else, she’s tired of being a chess piece. Tempers flare when people feel they’re being used and manipulated wether it’s warrented or not. I await tomorrow’s update with baited breath.
Shelly was entirely up front with Justin. She was onto his little game, and explicitly showed her hand, giving him ample space to back out.
No one told Shelly of the grand conspiracy to hook her up with a laughingstock of ancient myth, until now. On the issue of trust, they seem diametric.
Granted these two make a fine couple, I still don’t see how Shelly is a hypocrite for being up front in the scene linked, but angry at learning her friends went behind her back now. Please explain.
@Yamara – She was up front with Justin when she noticed his interest and decided to take things further (and only after using a ploy to get him to come to her home)…if I’m not mistaken, this wasn’t her first time to explode her grill.
Right – exploding it the year before was how she first met Justin, leading him to enroll in her kick-boxing class under false pretences, leading her to shadow him to the cop shop, leading her to conspire with his sergeant to send Justin when she blew up her grill on purpose …
And she’s complaining that SHE was set up?
How good of a match is it really to have the explosively emotional sphinx-human-hybrid paired with the “after-thought” guy? That seems like a recipe for a lot of relationship turmoil. Yes, it’s a good thing he’s essentially indestructable, but it would be better if he was (also) the kind of guy who thought before he acted. Then he would be less in need of his fast-healing.
Oh…and I actually really dig the way Shelly looks in panel 4. 🙂
And let’s not talk about the fact the last relationship Epimetheus was in lead to the almost complete release of all evils into the world. Now that I think about it I wonder what Pandora has to say about this.
I’m really curious about power levels in the Wapsiverse now. Shelly may lack the fine-tuning between her two forms, but she was a Sphinx for 96,000 years, which has to put her on a par with Phix age-wise. As noted before, her human musculature translates to her Sphinx body so I would think she’s stronger than Phix. But is she strong enough to take on any of the GG, who we’ve seen can toss things into the sun? Shelly doesn’t know that though, and she could be looking for a little payback on Brandi not just for this but for Brandi threatening her in chimera/cat form. And there’s still Monica, whose main power is poiting, but I think she still technically controls at least two of the GG (don’t know about Jin since she became human).
Is Paul setting up the Wapsi version of DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths??? 🙂
It would be kind of cool to see where everyone falls according to the Super weight scale.
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/did-she/comment-page-1/?replytocom=94098#respond
I’m not sure about anyone else, but Bud, Brandi and Jin before being reprogramed are pretty solidly at 6, or maybe nibbling at the edges of seven. I’m not sure where anyone else falls, though I think Monica is probably a 4.
Sorry, wrong link. Check before you post, Boxilar.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuperWeight
Well, Bia being a personification is a 6, the Golem Girls would be more of a 4-5.
Which would explain why the Chimaera was unable to harm Bia.
(The GGs are a planetary threat, not a Cosmic One. Also I’d argue that the 5 is only applicable when talking about the Chimaera, as the end result is greater than the sum of the parts.)
Shelly would normally be a 3 or 4, as a Sphinx hybrid.
But if she’s indeed a descendent of Bia, then her power level could go up even further.
As Bia was Force itself, combine that with her great-grand X? Uncles being Strength and Zeal, a great-grand X? Aunt being Victory. And her great-grand X? Father being a Titan dedicated to War.
It all rather depends on how potent her heritage would be, still one small consolation, she already has one Worshiper, in Justin, so that would help boost her Status to Demi-Goddess at the least. 😛
Now toss in Connie and her own abilities.
Like I said above, this could get very ugly.
Bud said something to the effect of she could destroy the planet and the resulting shockwave would collapse the sun or some such. So it might be world weight bleeding into cosmic weight— and that’s just for Bud. The Chimera would be more powerful still. I would put them on my list of people not to tick off. Also, I don’t think they’d fight alone. I think if attacked, they’d do the Voltron thing.
@W
That may have been hyperbole on Bud’s part though.
Consider that when the Chimaera was on its rampage and it glassed Lanthis, the rest of the world was fine.
As mentioned by Charon, that it was only their immediate surroundings that had been glassed, not the entire world.
Yet when you’re seeing red like the Chimaera was, you don’t hold back, you strike with everything you have.
Those two aspects seem to be conflicting, and it would make me argue against the Chimaera being a Cosmic threat.
A 5 on that rating? Yeah, I can buy that, considering its power, but a 6?
Doesn’t seem to jive with the known facts.
And as for Bud and Jin helping Brandi out, it would rather depend on if they were to find out what Brandi had been up to and would approve of those actions.
Considering Bud’s crush on Justin, or how well aware Jin is of how fragile humans are compared to them. Well, I don’t think they’d approve of Brandi interfering in other people’s love lives unless she was specifically asked to, which she wasn’t.
Why don’t we let Bud and Brandi scale themselves?
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/became-sentient/
Yeah. That scene is starting to make more and more sense.
It’s the page about two later that reads a bit differently after the last couple weeks…
Yeah, but the thing is V’Ger wasn’t a Cosmic Threat, just a planetary one as it moved through Space.
In Star Trek, the Cosmic Threats would be akin to Q, such as Sha Ka Ree aka “God” from Star Trek V (reason why he needed a ship, is because it would’ve been a loophole to get around the terms of imprisonment that the Q Continuum had placed upon him for his part in destroying the TKon Empire.)
Others of that sort were: * aka the Beta XII-A entity, Gorgan and 0, although the first two were severely reduced in power by the Q. Sha Ka Ree and 0 were too strong, so they were locked away.
Brandi said nothing about Q or Star Trek V.
She was making a comparison to a being sent out alone to grow in power and complexity until it could return and challenge its creators in vastly new and strange form.
Does anyone in this strip even remotely… resemble… V’ger?
Hmmm – there was supposed to be a link in that last comment.
Shelly knows how strong the GGs are…that’s part of why she treated Bud poorly when she first was initiated into the supernatural. That said…I doubt any of them know how a sphinx vs GG fight would play out.
GGG vs human/sphinx/descendant ot Titans…
The breaking of Shelly’s ponytail ring when she Sphinxes out was a nice touch.
I’ve suspected that the ‘wall of skulls’ was a mural, but I guess wallpaper would be simpler. I mean Phix didn’t need the actual skulls to remind her of her past. Friends see two friends that would be good together, they’re going to get them together to see what happens. I don’t think that is a bad thing. Heck, it can be hard to meet people, and a little help should be appreciated.
No one likes being led around, even unknowingly. And it’s not Shelly Phix needs be concerned about, it’s Connie.
No wonder Phix was looking a bit … concerned … yesterday.
Okay – it’s not actual skulls; it’s wallpaper.
I want it for my Webshots rotation.
Without the sphinxes in the foreground.
I kind of want it for my actual wall.
now THERE is a pretty one…lots of nice actual wallpapers with skulls on them. some are a bit pricey, though!
http://wallsandfabrics.com/Store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=10623
Hodel:
Well, somebody has to arrange the matches,
Chava:
She might bring someone wonderful—-
Hodel:
Someone interesting—-
Chava:
And well off—-
Hodel:
And important—
Shelly:
But probably some supernatural monster-freak-thing
Everyone:
What!?
Shelly:
Nevermind..
Matchmaker, Matchmaker,
Make me a match,
Find me a find,
catch me a catch
Matchmaker, Matchmaker
Look through your book,
And make me a perfect match!
LMAO!
Let’s see….
That was drummer on the sidewalk? Violynist in the chimney? Trumpeter in the swimming pool?
Something like that.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof? 😀
Make that, “Sphinx on a Hot Tin Roof.”
Phix doesn’t look that scared, to me. Panel 2’s facial expression is very “Would you stop yelling?” to me. Most people flinch when hit, or are almost hit–that’s more instinct than what I’d call “fear”, although I’m sure her stress level is growing. Phix just doesn’t seem to be one to sweat under pressure. She’s an apex predator, and an old and powerful one at that, despite her having to work in the library.
I like people’s idea of parent handling a squalling child, however that parallel doesn’t seem quite as apt, as Shelly is more Phix’s equal now (and it would just continue to stir the pot of “Something’s gotta blow, with all of this meddling”). Although we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what happens.
Just remember Phix, if she kills you, it means you deserved it.
Oh Ziggy! Nice catch! But who will be left to give you a cookie? 😉
Oh. Yeah. Sucks to be on the wrong side of those words doesn’t it Phix 😀
yeah, but Phix can’t be harmed in the Library… way back when Monica got invited in by Brandi
WOW!!! Even Her Hair Sphinxes Out.
Hair rubber band snaps into pieces and flys off in their own directions.
Seems like Shellinx gets bigger as she gets angrier. That fist is almost the size of Phix’s head.
Remember how Phix (and her fists) changed in size in relation to Tina during the “SURPRISE, Nudge!” sequence
On a somewhat unrelated note: I ‘ve been wrecking my brains for quite some time who Phix reminds me of.. Kate Silverton!! Of BBC-breakfast-fame…
*skulks back into shadows, quite happy that the nagging question has been solved*
Kate Silverton gets right jabs thrown at her every morning?
Or even some mornings?
Is she up against Sally Magnusson?
She has to get in line behind Eve Arden and Alex Kingston.
Yep, Shelly is one seriously disturbed Sphinx there. I think the last time we saw her this mad she threw a big-block V8 across a room.
And that was as a human.
Epimetheus? Dude who got saddled with Pandora and her box? That Epimetheus? Wow, when he said he was a magnet for crazy, he wasn’t kidding.
Pretty please, Paul – we can haz “Wall of Skullz” without sphinxes in front?
Shhh. This is on the down-low. Wall’o Skulls ‘Cause you’re cool and I’m sure Paul is too busy. I mean how many people want a Wall’o Skulls any hoo? This offer good until July 2.
this kinda reminds me of the plot of hancock with will smith. hancock is immortal except when he gets close to another immortal. the last time they were together, a mob attacked them and nearly killed hancock; he lost his memory and the other one left so that they would both be safe
40 years later, my mother still doesn’t understand why I absolutely refused to accept her attempts to explicitly set the teenage me up with a young lady whom she swore was interested but too shy to say anything directly. The situation absolutely reeked of maternal collusions, and Mom wasn’t graceful enough to arrange for us to meet without expectations rather than poking at me to do something about it.
(Having said that, Shelly _is_ overreacting. Sure, their meeting was arranged, but anything that happened after that appears to have happened because the two of them decided it should happen. An introduction, even with intent, is pretty harmless.)
So, do Pro-metheus and Epi-metheus have another sibling named Anti-metheus? To round out the set?