Carrier? I don’t think lycanthropy is an STD…or IS it?
I’m pretty sure he used protection and muzzled the bitch, wouldn’t want to have puppies.
Besides, Werewolves do it, doggie style!
If you don’t think lycanthropy is an STD, you should check out Peter is the Wolf. Paul has had a link up for it a couple time. Its pretty bad at some points, but is generaly is pretty funny. It does give a different look on the urban Werewolf lifestyle.
WARNING: a “bit” more hard core than this site, defently not for young kids or safe for work. Its easy enough to skip over the hard core stuff and the store isn’t hurt at all.
Old Wolf: well if he was a lycanthrope, I doubt he would have freaked out… :/
His GF was, thats why she had him tie her down, to prevent her having him as dinner!! I guess it depends how ‘furry’ you are.. 🙂
In deed, I used that link to the webcomic and now I have “Peter is the wolf” book marked.
I didn’t know the webcom existed; but it’s wonderful in both versions (quite raunchy in the more ‘hard-core’ version, though; but more entertaining… not because of the ‘raunch’, but because of the characters’ reaction to it).
Valkeiper, good luck on the comic. Peter is the Wolf has not been updated in weeks. The other comics are even worse than that. It was really good when it was being updated, but the writer/artist just seems to have lost intrest. Seems to happen a lot when the story is just getting good.
Speaking of the Wapsi-crowd, given how kinky the GGG can be, I can’t help but wonder if one of those 3 ever tried something similar with their animal morphs.
Agreed. “Safe word? You don’t need a safe word. You don’t GET a safe word.” Uggh. Abuse/rape on a whole bunch of levels, physical and emotional… seriously twisted and nasty.
That sounds like a werewolf that the Silver Bullet Squad would be looking for.
From the TV show Castle: Castle is a writer working with NYPD. He says, “My safe word is ‘apples’.” Castle is one of my favorite shows. This is me running and yelling the safe word.
Sounds like one of those high risk questionable consent border crossing abusive unhealthy relationships.
Not everyone gets the needed inner strength to get away from that gutter life. Hence my understanding of why he was a knee jerked-panicked ass a bit ago.
Erm… Why does -asking- to be tied up and taken count as abuse exactly? Is the wording wrong on this strip or something? This seems too much info, but hardly bad… >.>
I agree, this is less than clear, but I think Justin’s saying that he was forced to do that. I take it that either Justin’s not into sex with wolves, or that bad things happened to him during or after the transformation.
Or maybe just the she was one of the milder ones, one of the few he had some degree of affection for.
It really is an odd bit of back story, in this context.
My reading of what he said was backwards, actually… misinterpretation on my part. So, it’s probably not as abusive as I had thought on first reading.
Still seems icky, and maybe ethically dubious… e.g. if a were loses sentience when changing to were-form, and truly becomes animal. A were could use up a lot of partners that way (ropes breaking, etc.) which is no doubt why Justin would have been sought out.
People who hate themselves. People who have a lot of shit and drama about themselves and the world around them and have no idea or outlet on how to handle it so they turn inward and destroy themselves.
It takes various forms to various extreams.
Shelly was doing it herself but *she* didn’t put herself in abusive situations. Mostly because she herself was the bully lashing out .
Not to the extream that Justin has dealt with. But a bully is a bully and Shelly was indeed a bully.
His wording. First the last comic, HE is the “fetish”, not “I run into chicks with a fetish…” but “people consider ME a fetish”, if you know anything about people who fetishize someone they’re in a relationship with, it tends to be abusive. Some are good, but if that were the case he wouldn’t be so scared/negative about it, it sounds like he fell in with the people who barely give a fuck about his wants and personhood and just care that they’ve got a fucktoy that they can do what they want to without risk of incarceration.
Also the wording. It’s not “she liked… she wanted… she asked me…” but “she would have me [do X]”. It’s a very different connotation, not QUITE “she forced me/made me” but certainly not “I wanted it, too”. Wanting to be tied up- sure, fine, awesome. Pushing your partner into doing something they don’t want to do, and he does not come off as wanting it- bad.
Consent is sticky. It’s more than just “Did they say yes or no?”, if someone emotionally manipulates a person into a ‘yes’, it’s still not really consent. It doesn’t help that when Shelly and him got together, the situation did not feel terribly consensual. I stopped reading the comic for over a year after it because it left that bad a taste in my mouth. If he’s mostly been in abusive relationships, it’s not surprising that he’d be with someone after a questionably-consensual sexual encounter because it’s what he’s used to.
We need more information, I don’t think anyones saying it’s definitively rape, but it does come off as being highly questionable.
Nah, with her body language (eyes, stance, arms crossed, and droopy word balloon), it looks more like the way somebody looks when their boyfriend is raving on, and on about the sex they had with one of their EX girlfriends, and that Shelly doesn’t really want to hear about it… not that she doesn’t want his back story, but not the intimate parts detailed out like he’s doing right now… ie… T.M.I.
i know. seriously. I’m dunk right now and i know that is seriously fucked up. And creepy. Justin is fucking creepy. Fucking a were while they are in the middle of transforming. I thought that transforming was painful. seriously fucking creepy
Horrible thought — what if he is just an incarnate plot device, drifting from story to story so the heroine can angst their way through some situation? Now that would Really be using somebody!
That would depend on which version of werewolf lore is relevant here. Many stories attribute werewolves with the control to change forms at will, regardless of the moon’s current phase. (Cf. Teen Wolf, The Discworld series, &c.)
Either way, that lady was a real bitch before she changed.
Noooooooo!!! Not werewolves in Wapsi! I thought Paul was better than that. Now I guess there are vampires too. Of course I hold out the hope he may just be joking.
I’ve read way more vampire fiction than were fiction, but if the ratio of author-to-creature capabilities and liabilities holds, then there has to be some decent were fiction somewhere, and I’d put money down on Paul making it.
Can we just agree to disagree there? I like ’em (the books and the TV series) both, and they’re different enough to not just be simple rehashings of each other…
Relevant to relationship drama, Molly Harper’s “How to Flirt With a Naked Werewolf” and “The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf”. Also just in general, ‘d recommend Kitty Norville. Kitty neeeeeever gets tired of hearing how funny it is for a werewolf to be named “Kitty”.
The werewolf in question could just as easily been a trickster like Nudge or just a run of the mill (well for the Wapsiverse anyway) meta-morph. A meta-morph can make up all sorts of crap to get attention.
Depends on what kind of werewolf.
Twitard version = No
Dresdenverse werewolves = Neat! Especially since there’s 4 types of werewolves in the Dresdenverse
“Classic” – Uses magic to transform into a wolf
Hexenwolf – uses magic item to transform into mutant superwolf
Lycanthrope – Channels a spirit of rage. No shifting, but gets a physical boost
Loup-garou – Cursed human. Forcefully transformed into a wolf like creature every full moon. Big, strong, fast and the human mind is suppressed in the process
I once made a chart of various vamp characteristics (I wanted to write a vamp novel without doing something gawd-awful like glitter). I learned two things: vampires in books have grab-bag powers along with the sucking of fluids (here’s lookin’ at you, Bunnicula!) and that every writer seems to have a slightly different take on the subject, so that I was listing single characteristics down a couple pages and single novels across a couple pages… 🙂
Meh, I’m okay with werewolves vamps and other sundry run of the mill fantasy critters. Wapsi seems to be kind of a Fantasy Kitchen Sink anyway. Besides, the implications that weres and vamps and the other standards of modern urban fantasy are the white trash of the Wapsiverse amuses me no end.
Que mental image of a Sparklepire in a stained wife beater being dragged out of a mid 70’s Camaro that is four different colors (two of which are primer) by an irate Sphinx wearing a badge.
“I tol’ you about them underage high school girls Vlad, now you goin’ down to the big house.”
that SOO.. reminds me of how the elves were portrayed in the Monster Hunter Inc. books, they were literally “white trash”, and it was the ORCS that were the “Lawful Good” ones… they even said that Tolkien had met both races, and kinda fudged his story there, i don’t remember exactly WHY though. Werewolves are portrayed very well in that series, with a few twists, as well.
I think SoWhyMe’s reaction is kinda what Paul is shooting for.
The notion that all these overdone genre monsters are the underclass is very… punk. He’s focussed on the suburban middle/upper middle class of his universe– it may have looked elite to us, but this explains Phix saying she’s way down on the totem pole: Saving the Milky Way from time looping is not super important to some of the beings. (What? The universe with the monkey planet? I heard they started writing, breaking their local spacetime, the usual demon trap, but nothing terribly eyebrow-raising…)
Even the Lanthian “princesses” are at best adventurous technocrats; clever hobbits in a backwater. But out there somewhere are the transdimensional gods, the 1% at their cocktail parties.
Paul is completing the class structure of his universe, and drawing us into feeling it. Werewolves and vampires!? How common.
Probably wont come up until she has a nightmare about it one night. The real threat is if someone tells him that she had to stick a paranormal ice pick into Monica’s head to stop the Calendar and save the galaxy.
The Galaxy was resetting once every four thousand years or so. Eventualy that was likely to cause problems with the orbits and gravitational relationships of the galaxies in the local cluster. It would take untold billions of years, but the imbalance might have spread wider and wider afield causing problems on a truely universal scale. Kind of like a cosmic version of the butterfly effect.
OTOH, other galaxies are far enough away–millions of light years. Even the Magellanic Clouds are something like 150k light-years away, which means the resetting of the Galaxy, if it propagated at light-speed, would only be getting halfway there by now. It might have long-term effects, but prolly not major ones.
I’m fairly sure any apreciable effect would be well after humanity’s time in the universe was said and done, heck, it would probably be after the sun itself had burned itself to a cinder. Still, the old camping adage applies, “leave it like you found it.”
Another thought. What if the Calender resets had gone on indefinitly? Imagine a universe where the Galaxy kept going through time loop after time loop after time loop while the universe slowly wound down to entropy. Imagine, from your perspective, that you woke up one morning four thousand years ago and that a good portion of the night sky was simply…gone. Could a time looping Galaxy survive the death of reality itself?
Sorry, my mind wanders off to some wierd places sometimes.
This whole discussion had my brain spending some time earlier today, envisioning a $BEING walking into some sort of extra-dimensional space-time store, tossing our whole continuum onto the counter, glaring at the proprietor, and angrily exclaiming
Boxilar, it can be hard to leave the galaxy/cosmos exactly as it was when we arrived–since our very presence changes it. But to leave the disruptions to a minimum is an outcome very much to be desired.
I agree. I have a question though. Does gravity propagate at the speed of light, or is it instantanious? Has someone anwered this question in physics? One of my brother’s professers described gravity as the magic force. We can observe it and measure its effects, but to my understanding, no one can really descrbe HOW it works. If gravity were/is instantanious, 80k years of galactic resets might have a more immediate and profound effect on its immediate surroundings. Granted, those effects would still take hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years to manifest. But Bud, Brandi and May would probably be around to witness it.
Which leads to the question of how tough the GGs are. Can they survive a supernova, or the weight of a nutron star. Could they feel a solar wind washing over them? (John Cavil would be so jealous) Could they survive the depths of a black hole or entropy itself. Could they out live the universe and witness the birth of a new one?
I think I need to cut back on the burbon before bedtime.
“Once I had a strange dream. I was being chased by some villagers, and tried to hide in the woods. Suddenly I found myself in a sewer, then my mother appeared. She said ‘Emo, before you turn completely into a wolf, eat some of my cole slaw.’ And then I collapsed, falling face down nto the water.
In the sparkleverse, vampire venom is flammable. Technically you’d just have to shove a light cigarette in Ed’s sparkly face and he’d explode. BOOM!! 😀
The rope must’ve been made of : The sound of a cat’s footfall
The beard of a woman
The roots of a mountain
The sinews of a bear
The breath of a fish
The spittle of a bird
As do you. Norse Mythology. For when Greco-Roman Mythology isn’t violent, bloody, or messed up enough. Blood eagles, sheesh. Norse Mythology. I blame it on the climate. 😉
Day before yesterday. Shelly in Sphinx form was taking Justin to the ER, he said she didn’t need to bother, she squealed she’d slashed him so deep she could see ribs through the muscle and OF COURSE he needed help, he said he didn’t, enough time had passed and he was healed, she just needed to take him back to his car. And we saw his chest and he was right…
Start reading “the dreamlandchronicles” and all will be explained.
Greatest thing? That comic can be read together with one’s kids. It’s the classic ” great fun for young&old”
As a reader of The Dreamland Chronicles, I also get what you’re driving at. Seems like all those furry gals tend to be drawn pretty hot.
Hot bod or not, though, I’m not sure I’d enjoy making out with a female furry if they existed IRL, though. Couldn’t get past the animal-like face, I think… and all that fur on your tongue–bleagh!
Well.. That’s why it gets me’ face all red, because the “thing” for furries is more of a teen-crush thing, where ” hangin-out is the epitomy of a relationship.
The kind of innocense that hasn’t yet discovered that that different things are possible with ” them”
The technicalities of bangin’ them furries .. Yeah.. Well.. Eeeeww. The reason ” twokinds” , though a good read every now&then, sort of triggers the eeew-button in me.
..espcially because kitten’s hind-paws always do that cuuuuute sort of clenching, when picked-up by their neck-fur.
That would look so utterly adorable on Shellinx.. And Bud would probably wet herself from laughing. She seems the type. M would just giggle unstoppable.
interesting thing about it is lionesses are even MORE devoted to their cubs than ‘the lion king’ showed.
also, a recent scientific discovery about a lion pride explains an old mystery.
the mystery is why lionesses hate cheetahs with such a passion… yet lions couldn’t care less. It has been a well known fact for centuries that a lioness (even in a hunt) will completely abandon the hunt to go after a cheetah, She will kill any cheetah she can catch, and it is not for food (she doesn’t eat the cheetah).
a recent film discovered cheetahs have a… peculiar habit of ‘visiting’ lion prides at high speed. Usually, a cub leaves the pride with the cheetah after such a ‘visit’.
Seems cheetahs ‘prey’ upon lion cubs and the lionesses’ wrath is a direct result of this.
Well. It looks like Justin is going to become part of the regular crowd after all. Good, I like him – and once Shelley thaws out, we may learn a bit more about his background.
Ugh. I agree with Shelly. That mental picture would take a couple gallons of brain bleach right there…
However, I do think Shelly and Justin should stick it out with each other. Not to mention that Shelly has one thing that Justin seems to have never had and really seems to need: a support group.
It does feel as if Justin has been very alone in this… no “decent” paranormals to associate with, quite possibly no normal but aware-of-the-paranormal friends to talk with about what was going on in his life. No wonder he seems to have been seeing the world as being starkly divided between “normal” and “crazy”.
Being gently introduced to a crowd of ODPs (ordinary, decent paranormals) and the humans who have learned to relate to them, could be the best thing that has ever happened to him.
Perhaps that is the point of his character getting such a past, whether or not Paul intended it when OfficerTB was first introduced.
All of the Wapsi crew had a support group to deal with their own supernatural induction
Tepoz (birth) = May, possibly immortals like Kukuklan
May (golemizing) = Tepoz + Jin
GGG (golemizing) = GGG + Tepoz, then later Monica + Shelly
Tina (resurrecting) = Nudge + Rest of Tina 2.0 demon comittee
Monica (awakening) = Tepoz + Shelly + Tina + GGG (+ later Kevin, Katherine, and Amanda)
May (return from demon realm) = Bud + Jin
Jin (becoming mortal) = Bud + May + Allan
Shelly (sphynxing) = CreepyGirl + Phix + Nudge, then later Monica + Bud
Seems like OfficerTB never had a support group, rather just fear of being discovered + abuse by those in the know. Gives a bit of a contrasting viewpoint to the supernatural than most others we’ve seen in-comic to date.
I agree that she’s unlikely to be one of his exes for that reason.
However, I don’t think their meeting is going to go all that well. Given that she fangirled over Monica that implies either:
1) Somebody in the gang is writing everything down (and it’s available in the library),
2) Phix told her about Monica’s adventures,
3) She found out through some other means available to her (e.g. the ability to directly monitor what’s happening to the gang),
4) Any combination of the above.
If it’s 1*,3 and/or 4 then she may go beyond what she’s officially been told by Shelly and, therefore, create more trust issues for Justin.
The more I think about it, the more I think her reaction to Monica was akin to a modern historical researcher meeting Charles Dickens after spending a lot of time reading his drafts, letters, etc.
I’m not sure what the privacy policy of the library is to mundane things from people currently living. However, I have a feeling that they never got round to writing one as:
1) They didn’t think that anybody would be interested and/or
2) Humans live relatively short lives that it wasn’t really a problem.
The more I think about it the more I feel that Shelly may be keeping a diary as she’s the only one I can think of in the gang who’s slow enough to immediately realise that a library that contains every written work contains her diary.
Euryale wouldn’t hurt Justin Cute Buns intentionally, I agree. On the other hand, I can imagine the breakup going badly anyway – for example, what if the carpet matches the drapes? (Completely safe for work link, BTW.) It would freak ME out…
It’s going to be interesting to see how many different suppositions are offered over the weekend . As I write this we have 139 comments . I’d say in excess of 265 by the time Monday rolls around .
I just realised why he can’t do that: The 4th and 5th amendments to the constuition, and, to be honest, I find myself in agreement with the constitution.
Do you TRULY think the library would be (or could be) regulated by the US constitution?
The fourth or fifth amendments would not prevent Justin (or any other law-and-order type) from gathering the information.
In fact, gathering information in this manner would be very similar to digital forensics (getting the information from a suspect’s own computer or using information made available by the suspect on a computer).
Now, how the information is used could be a different matter… legally and officially. That would NOT stop a dedicated L-n-O type from ‘unofficially’ using it.
On a totally different tangent, I had a freakish dream about this webcomic last night. It wasn’t a nightmare, at least, not the ‘jerk up in bed and scream’ type.
I laid in bed shivering (not frightemed and not sure if I should be) and wondering “WTF was that?”
She is a loner with a fierce temper, a lot of violent ability, and a desire to keep it ‘under wraps’.
she is walking… somewhere.
she meets someone… don’t know size, or even species. she DOES recognize the person.
a calm and quiet voice says:
“though we have just met, I have always been with you.
“Though I leave, I shall always be beside you.
“I have known you, know you now, and will know you to come.
“I am your history, I am you now, I will be your future and your doom.
“I am you. I am your Fate.”
Then Bud’s eyes rolled up into her head and she fainted.
Like I said. It was freakish.
I did not wake up trembling and frightened; but i was shivering.
I know that it doesn’t stop the library from having the information but it means that, if it is used by American law enforcement, there’s a strong chance that they would lose their case when it comes to trial. There’s also the problem of explaining how they got it and how they can be sure that it is both related to the case and related to the defendant.
I just realised: The Library is the key to understanding why there are so many supernaturals in the city. The annex is one of the few access points on Earth so, at least for the acedemics in the supernatural community, there is reason to live there.
Of course that doesn’t explain why the others are there.
I think I can explain why other supernaturals may gather around that city:
We humans find the presence of trees and other plants reassuring. It has been suggested that this may be down to the fact that the existence of plants, especially large plants, tells an ancient part of ourselves that water, food and shelter exist in that location.
Similarly, I suspect the mere existence of the annex may, on a subconscious level, be reassuring to supernaturals. They don’t know why but they feel a little more secure when they are near the city. They may not know of the annex, may never have seen it or recognised it but it still reassures them. I suspect that, as the libraries are run by the sphinxes, the annex represents law and order. Most beings, including criminals, are reassured by the presence of an organising authority because most people flourish in an orderly society.
So… you’re basically saying that “The Annex” is a Weirdness Magnet? and that all the Para’s are “attracted” to it? and since that most humans that are NOT “in the know” they act like aluminum does, compared to iron in respect to a magnet’s ability to influence them? AL isn’t magnetic and neither are the humans, so they go about their lives blissfully UN-affected by the Annex or the rest of the paranormal community which surrounds them?
The problem with that theory is that the annex is a very rrecent addition. All the paranormals we know about were already there long before it’s “construction.” Not sure about Euryale, but I get the impression she was already there as well. She is probably using it now for it’s convenience to non-poiters. Monica doesn’t need it so it wasn’t placed there just for her. I suppose Euryale had to ask someone for a “ride” to the main library before that.
Tezpoz was posted to Monica’s museum
Tezpoz hinted that the GGs were actually in another dimension (but Jin may have been an exception)
However, it should be noted that Jin actively manipulated people into being there for CM problem (even spending time with Monica’s grandfather)
I see it as one of several possibilties. One would be that Minneapolis has an unusualy dense paranormal population compared to the world at large. Another would be that the overall para population is concentrated in urban areas as a whole and Wapsi isn’t actualy that unusual. A similar possibility would be that the paras are actualy distributed evenly througout the world as a very small percentage of the overall population but seem concentrated in cities simply because of population density. Say, to pick a number out of the air, the paras made up roughly a tenth of one percent. Minneapolis, as of the 2010 census, had 382,578 people living in the area. Even at a measly .1% that’s still nearly four hundred supernatural folks bumping around. The number may not even be that high. Most of them would probably be low level, like Justin. And while the comic can give the impresion that everybody is para, Monica’s inner circle is really quite small. I can see small groups forming like hers without much contact with things above them on the social ladder (or food chain). If you’re a were or vamp cashing in on your “coolness” with a bunch of impressionable humans, do you really want to draw the attention of a Gorgon or Gaurdian Sphinx. Probably not. And they probably wouldn’t bother with you either, unless you gave them cause. They have bigger fish to fry.
The annex is a recent addition to Minneapolis, but access to the library for paranormals from Minneapolis is not.
Phix stated straight right to the demon-collection barrister (can’t remember her name) the annex allows Monica access (unless she’s under duress). This implies the ‘authority’ decided Monica should not have to ‘poit’ to get access to the library.
One must wonder why the authority decided to do that (hint for another subplot in that question, somewhere).
Anyway, it is obvious from Euaryle’s (gross misspell) statements the annex is available to other paranormals without ‘poiting’. Not that “E” couldn’t do so; but she decided the access to the library without ‘poiting’ was a welcome change.
I just came up with an idea that would explain why the authority decided the library should have an annex reachable by beings who can’t ‘poit’.
What if there’s a force (or a being) in Minneapolis who is making ‘poiting’ impossible. What if this being does not even realize he/she is doing it.
example: A ‘normal’ human who has no other ‘paranormal’ aspects except if his/her skin touches a paranormal’s skin, the paranormal is no longer capable of using their ‘paranormal powers and abilities’. There could even be a standard length of time for the ‘negation power’ (like ‘his touch removes your powers for a day’).
Now if this person isn’t even aware of the paranormals, this could truly be troublesome (especially if the ‘authorities’ can’t figure out who is doing it).
Francisco, since you’re on this tack, and since the para-amours Cherish predicted are out in the open, I’m going to elaborate on my facepalm from Monday.
My facepalm was because I should have seen the time travel.
Justin’s para-amours have flocked to Minneapolis because they knew he was going to become Shelly’s boyfriend.
Euryale referred to Shelly being “one of the sages”– her wisdom was a proven thing to the fangirl. She must have read all about her, and had access to her own words. But from where…?
1. Shelly, or someone who visited her, must have written something down, or the Forest itself recorded more than the passing of time.
2. With the Time Forest running “backwards”, this may have raised flags in Library’s recording system: Shelly’s entire corpus of writing would suddenly manifest before the Calendar reset the Milky Way to AD 562 for the first loop, with any subsequent “editions” being less and less complete.
3. Whatever condition these words are being created in, the Library would dispatch apotropaic sphinxes to investigate the Time Forest. The first ones there encounter an 80,000 year old feral sphinx and its never-before-seen Companion, aka the authors. Library, we have a problem.
4. Phix, who’s been Head Librarian for only a millennium or so, reads the work, and realizes she has to take this situation hands-on. She visits. Fortunately, the feral sphinx recognizes her, and she has the eerie duty of educating Shelly in reverse for 80,000 years.
5. The work remains available in the Library to those who can access it. Humans have been forbidden to use the Library since probably AD 391 (Theodosius’ orders to Alexandria), so only paranormals read about Shelly in the run up to the Calendar being destroyed (available for 1450 years for those stuck in the loop, 80,000 for those, like Phix, who are not).
6. At some point Phix, Nudge or someone else tells a much younger Shellinx that she will come to forget everything she knew. This spurs Shelly to write everything she can remember down, if only on bark or leaves, since the Library will record it all, and she has some hope of recovering it once she is free. Thus creating the Sage’s corpus.
7. The work would contain Shelly’s recollections of Justin, her last lost lover. Quite possibly very detailed recollections of Justin.
8. Para-amorous fangirls flock to Minneapolis, and discover the ultimate collector trophy before Shelly has a chance to meet him.
Alan may have been more of a conscious dabbler than we suspected–that scene with Bud at Jin’s apartment ended abruptly, and always felt a little staged for Bud’s “benefit”. He always seemed much better… prepared for Jin, and he did ultimately settle with her (so far).
Kevin, on the other hand, well, his reveal to the rabbithole was witnessed by Shelly. Trying to bag him would be “non-canonical”. So no touching Monica’s man, or it’s not just the apos and the golems that you have to fear.
You don’t want to face the wrath of Paranormal Fandom.
I seem to remember Kevin had ‘a little help and encouragement’ to hooking up with Monica.
Something about encouraging Kevin to actually tossing a Frisbee and later declaring “KEVIN, YOU OWE ME!!!” as a certain very intelligent dog pursued him.
very good point. I would so “no” for this reason only…
the detractor would be tempted to kill him.
now how about sadistic somebody who is not a fan; but knows the ‘history’. As long as they didn’t kill him, he/she could say they were ‘fulfilling the need’ stated by the record.
now, how sadistic would a tormentor get if he/she ‘knew’ as long as the victim survived, they’d be forgiven by the authority most likely to discover the sadism?
Oh, was that a shiver I saw go down all those spines?
But, you’re right. Imagine fighting against the information pouring out of a universe consisting solely of Shelly, shooting off her stylus in desperation before learning how bad an idea that would be. Keeping everyone safe took Jin ~56 tries for a reason.
Phix’s cryptic silences are looking more merciful all the time.
And that doesn’t even consider the very precise definition of “safe”–such as this person getting a dagger in the head, that person kept from knowing these details, and suchlike.
I’d so do it if I was him. I’d fuck a werewolf, but then there’s the question of becoming a werewolf by fucking a werewolf. Does it work the same if its a girl werewolf because nothing is going in you as a boy, right?
If lycanthropy can be transmitted like an STD (and there are stories where that’s been done), then yes, it would — after all, a man can contract HIV from a woman, for example.
I would think it would be hit and miss for either gender if it’s like an STD. It would need an opening for infection to occur. Unless, of course, were-fluids are really industrious and can bore into the skin, which could be.
It also depends which werewolf myths or were-type the story has/wants. There are at least three categories of were-types: those born (you can’t be a were any other way) are not infectious and it’s depending if they can breed with non-weres or not.
Those infected (those can transmit through bite or exchange of blood and potentially pass it on to their offspring)
and those cursed – those can be infectious (most often are) or not, depending on the curse/story.
And there’s the occasional Techno-types, one example from Ghost Rider 2099. Kenshiro Cochrane’s buddy, who used the VR moniker “Ware-Wolf” was literally made into one by the bad guys through Nanotechnology.
“There.”
“What?”
“There wolf. There castle.”
“Why are you talking like that?”
“Oi thot yew wanted to.”
“No, I don’t want to talk like that.”
“Soot yurself then Oi’m easy.”
First, Shelly is considered ‘a sage’? This is not exactly her own opinion of herself, but it appears her time in the forest was not ‘completely wasted. She may have done a bit of writing (which turned up in the library).
Though Shelly may not have remembered Justin (there is a self-contradiction made by her after she returns), her history with him seems to have been well known in certain circles not directly involved with the ‘Waspis’.
Second, there is an extensive and enthusiastic fan club for the “Waspis” among the paranormals. Shelly’s involvement with Justin would be well known to them. It appears this knowledge precludes the actual occurrence. This seems to be a direct result of Shelly’s ‘reverse-time’ in the forest. Somebody may have written about her relationship with Justin due to her membership in the ‘club’.
the contradiction here is Shelly herself didn’t remember him while in the forest… who did?
if this supposition is true, the other men associated with the ‘club’ were likely labeled by the ‘fans’ as ‘too valuable to touch’ before they even met Monica and company; but Justin’s ‘history’ of being abused by paras would be well known.
thus, Justin was in deed being targeted… by enthusiastic fans. Could there be a worse form of abuse?
Right, and would not Justin, at some point, have found out about the fan club and how it came to be. He would know Shelly was the cause of much, if not all, of his maltreatment by the para-trailertrash crowd. This doesn’t seem to be the case. Unless it’s all part of an elaborate plan of revenge upon Shelly.
Justin has just revealed surprise there seems to be a culture of paranormals.
It would seem to me he was pretty much kept in the dark about the background.
Not very difficult when you consider Monica, Bud, Jin, Shelly, and all the others (who are the focus of this ‘fanfare’) had been in the dark about it until Monica ran into Eurayle at the annex.
Eurayle did in fact state there were a great many paranormals who were fans of the ‘Wapsis’. Despite this, Monica and company had not known of it.
In fact, Monica and Shelly were barely aware there was a culture. The entire dealings with the Calender Machine were virtually without ANY interaction with the paranormal culture.
Remember that little trip they took to the para-bar? It was quite obvious they were already VERY well known for something… though they had not yet done anything.
Justin, as a well known future associate of the group… and with a well-known ‘history’ of abuse by paranormal females in his part of the tale PRIOR to being included in the group… was simply a wide-open target for paranormal fan gals.
This is precisely why the various Temporal Police organizations exist, in various SF continuities, and why they almost universally seem to have utterly no senses of humor.
They’re dealing with complex, scary nasty sets of chronological feedback that have a potent effect on the lives of all of the people in their universes. Also, they almost always have bad headaches from thinking about this stuff… especially if their native languages are like English and haven’t yet adapted to verb conjugations which apply to reversed time and possible-but-excluded-by-paradox situations.
Hannibal Fortune, elite agent of the Temporal Entropy Restructure and Repair Agency, with his License to Tamper… has something of a sense of humor. Of sorts.
I don’t know if Shelly would count as a sage, though she probably had enough thyme to become one. (On the other hand, there may be some paras out there who would want to curry flavor with her now…)
The real question I have with Shelly’s time in the forest is: We know it had been going on for 80,000 years, but had it been going on for 80,000 years before she touched the relic?
That is, Shelly touched the relic and was is transported to the Forest, where time flows directly opposite to the passage of time in Wapsiverse Minneapolis. Does that mean that Wapsi comics published before the one where Monica touches the relic take her time in the Forest into account, or does her time in the Forest create a new version of the past — a version which we haven’t seen — where paras who would be privy to the fact that she was in the Forest know about it and perhaps gossip on the subject to others?
Kudos to anyone who can follow that last paragraph, by the way. It made sense in my head.
The ‘first’ Shelly of 80,000 years ago turned up in the forest, turned into a sphinx, and ended up watching each of the others arrive and die.
The last Shelly (#57), we saw touch the relic, claim the sword, cut down the tree, and put the plutonium in the relic. She died in the process.
Shelly #1 returned, not Shelly #57. She has all the memories of the other Shelly(s); but has also spent that 80,000 years in the forest and watching her alter-egos die.
Problem with that is Paul specifically stated that the sphinx of the TTF was, indeed the same Shelly who “left” from Monica.s house after holding the artifact. It was “Their” Shelly who left and came back in, what to them seemed like an instant. http://wapsisquare.com/comic/kept-her-safe/#comment-50919
Perhaps Justin could submit his memoirs to Para-Penthouse (P-Penthouse). I hear P-GQ is looking for submissions. Does P-Oui Still exist? I believe Ms magazine flirted with the idea of a paranormal version until the first issue came out. It seems, P-MS did not sit will with the readers.
P-Oui is still around, but he is only recently making a kind-of comeback after his arrest. P-MS has never been popular with anyone, though many are subject to it.
It might be better to submit his memoir (and case history) to the Para-Docs magazine–but then he could only submit it if he didn’t submit it, and they could only publish if they had nothing to print.
Back in the 1970s, Paradox Music Mailorder in LA had a wonderful corporate logo. It was a line drawing of a duck, looking down at its own reflection in the water… except that the duck was facing to the right and the reflection was facing to the left.
I really wish I had a copy of that, as a GIF.
Unfortunately they ran into financial problems, the CEO went loony and jumped from a crane, their stork lost value, and they sang their swan song.
Actually, the PMM logo story is quite true… I have searched the Net a couple of times looking for that drawing but have never found it. I bought some really great LP albums through their import service… am sorry they are no longer around.
Some of the best shaggy-dog puns work that way… a really legitimate setup, and then WHAM off at an unexpected angle.
That would be the “Reverse Proof” – very rare and valuable . Got any extras that you would like to sell ? I can get a good deal on having it certified by one of the top firms in that area . Just saying ..
Addendum to a discussion of a day or so ago, re whether Justin’s rapid healing power ought to eliminate his need for glasses…
Look at his face and eye positions today.. it appears from the way he has been repeatedly portrayed with the glasses low on his nose, and him looking over them, that he is probably farsighted, and needs the lenses only for close-in vision (e.g. reading).
The lenses could be zero-diopter flat glass (“Superman” lenses… i.e. unneeded and fake) I suppose, but if that’s not the case it looks to me as if he is being portrayed as using them in a way consistent with inborn farsightedness.
It’s possible even laser surgery wouldn’t help… he’d just heal back to his farsighted form.
Back here: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/learn-a-lot/#comment-15132
Paul mentioned Justin usually wore contact lenses. I’m not at all sure, but I think contacts can only correct for blured vision of objects at a distance, and not for reading problems. If that’s so, then the glasses would be for correcting distant vision flaws since the post indicated the guys at work hid his contacts so he would have to wear his glasses.
Whether or not contacts can correct both mypia and close reading depends on whether or not you suffer from presbyopia, and how much, if you do.
When i wear my contacts these days, i need reading glasses – but then, i theoretically need bifocals, too. When i began wearing contacts back in the mid-1980s, i didn’t need reading glasses, nor did i need bifocals when i wore my glasses.
But, then again, back then, when i was properly corrected, i had 20/15 near vision.
Near- and far-sightedness are both inherent in the shape of the eye and of the lens in the eye.
Near-sighted people (like me) have an eyeball that is too deep with regard to the backfocal length of the lens, so that images focus just in front of the retina*; in far-sightedness the images focus just behind the retina.
==============
*Because of the shape of the eye, near-sighted people (like my sister, who recently had to have surgery for it) are more prone to detached retinas.
Phix’s reaction might be about like that. Who knows how many intelligent species she has seen come and go on various planets. She can be there for them, even join in for a while, becoming a part of their mythos, but, in the end, they go and she and her kind remain. It would tend to make one philosophical about the whole thing. This, despite being associated with earth for many, many tens of thousands of years. The demons would, likely, be even less concerned.
Phix: Nudge, see that the Earth collection gets placed in the Dead Civilizations section, would you?
…Nudge?
Brandi: Did Martin ever finish “A Song of Ice and Fire”?
Phix: Brandi! What are you doing… here. …Where’s Nudge.
Brandi: Ooh, Nudge had been invited to party at the Cerberus Club. That’s kinda gone. Don’t worry, she’s immortal.
Phix: She can’t poit, Brandi.
Brandi: Is that a fact? Well, Tepoz– oh, but Tepoz would need coordinates to find her. Well, May and them should be fine until the Procyoni evolve and rediscover ’em floatin’ in space.
Phix: Brandi, what did you do.
Brandi: Stop lookin’ so worried, no one can harm you here, Phix! But seriously, if George R.R. Martin didn’t at least leave a stack o’ outlines, I swear I’ll chase him down to hell and make him my–
Phix: Perhaps I should ask the apos up for tea.
Brandi: I’ve been wanting to meet them for some time! And pawn to Queen’s Bishop 7.
incandescent cloud of sexually frustrated rage.
Is that what’s in this bottle I found buried in my back yard? I wondered why it screamed when anything vaguely romantic is on TV.
Yes and no. Joy Adamson said that Elsa (of Born Free fame) purred, but the type of purring would have been different to that of the small cats (Felis species). Small cats purr continuously as they breathe in and out, and can even purr while miaowing and swallowing. Lions, on the other hand, may make a purring sound, but have to take a breath in between purrs.
Georgina Hickey, editor, Nature Australia magazine, Canberra
Not. Enough. Info… SHELLY…
(Just hoping he’s not a carrier is all.)
Carrier? I don’t think lycanthropy is an STD…or IS it?
I’m pretty sure he used protection and muzzled the bitch, wouldn’t want to have puppies.
Besides, Werewolves do it, doggie style!
It would explain why he heals so quickly.
[sound of glass slooowly sliiiiding closer on the countertop]
…
What Shelly said.
If you don’t think lycanthropy is an STD, you should check out Peter is the Wolf. Paul has had a link up for it a couple time. Its pretty bad at some points, but is generaly is pretty funny. It does give a different look on the urban Werewolf lifestyle.
WARNING: a “bit” more hard core than this site, defently not for young kids or safe for work. Its easy enough to skip over the hard core stuff and the store isn’t hurt at all.
There are two versions at the site. One is MA, but not hardcore, the other is full-bore. http://www.peteristhewolf.com/
thing is, his paranormal healing may lock out infections too… 🙂
Old Wolf: well if he was a lycanthrope, I doubt he would have freaked out… :/
His GF was, thats why she had him tie her down, to prevent her having him as dinner!! I guess it depends how ‘furry’ you are.. 🙂
In deed, I used that link to the webcomic and now I have “Peter is the wolf” book marked.
I didn’t know the webcom existed; but it’s wonderful in both versions (quite raunchy in the more ‘hard-core’ version, though; but more entertaining… not because of the ‘raunch’, but because of the characters’ reaction to it).
Valkeiper, good luck on the comic. Peter is the Wolf has not been updated in weeks. The other comics are even worse than that. It was really good when it was being updated, but the writer/artist just seems to have lost intrest. Seems to happen a lot when the story is just getting good.
Just wear protection… lest you break out in whelps.
*plink!*
Unless such an encounter is WHY he has a good healing factor, lycanthrope would not be contagious for him.
For other people, it is VERY contagious. Any break in the skin could transfer the condition.
Depends on the mythology/literature you follow on the subject. Some list it as bite transmittable others not so much.
Finally, a breakthrough. And it seems none of his past nightmares are part of the Wapsi crowd
This means we still might get to see his reaction to finding out about Bud. I still want to see that.
Speaking of the Wapsi-crowd, given how kinky the GGG can be, I can’t help but wonder if one of those 3 ever tried something similar with their animal morphs.
Well we know that Jin had just the reverse kink several Halloweens ago. http://wapsisquare.com/comic/nothing/
Nothing to see here! Move along!
(One of my favorite strips, BTW.)
One word: EEWWW! seriously a true BDSM relationship is built on trust. That sounds like abuse bordering on rape…
Agreed. “Safe word? You don’t need a safe word. You don’t GET a safe word.” Uggh. Abuse/rape on a whole bunch of levels, physical and emotional… seriously twisted and nasty.
That sounds like a werewolf that the Silver Bullet Squad would be looking for.
Applesapplesapplesapplesapples!!!
huh???
From the TV show Castle: Castle is a writer working with NYPD. He says, “My safe word is ‘apples’.” Castle is one of my favorite shows. This is me running and yelling the safe word.
hmm, well if it was peeps first thought, you would not be *able* to run… 😛 😮
:ROFL:
😆
:LOL:
On “Family Guy” Peters’ wife Lois, as she was casually getting into her Dominatrix outfit reminded Him the ‘saafe word’ is “Banana”.
Sounds like one of those high risk questionable consent border crossing abusive unhealthy relationships.
Not everyone gets the needed inner strength to get away from that gutter life. Hence my understanding of why he was a knee jerked-panicked ass a bit ago.
Once you are out you do *not* want to go back.
This is the point I’ve been groping after since Shelly ripped Jason to the bone.
I think there’s a good chance, now, that they can help each other heal.
Erm… Why does -asking- to be tied up and taken count as abuse exactly? Is the wording wrong on this strip or something? This seems too much info, but hardly bad… >.>
I agree, this is less than clear, but I think Justin’s saying that he was forced to do that. I take it that either Justin’s not into sex with wolves, or that bad things happened to him during or after the transformation.
Or maybe just the she was one of the milder ones, one of the few he had some degree of affection for.
It really is an odd bit of back story, in this context.
“Hey, I’m not against dating outside my species…you and I can still get it on as long as you don’t slice me open when you get over excited.”
My reading of what he said was backwards, actually… misinterpretation on my part. So, it’s probably not as abusive as I had thought on first reading.
Still seems icky, and maybe ethically dubious… e.g. if a were loses sentience when changing to were-form, and truly becomes animal. A were could use up a lot of partners that way (ropes breaking, etc.) which is no doubt why Justin would have been sought out.
He said she would have him do it. He never said she would ask…
One of the reasons it can be very difficult to break out of an abusive relationship is the abuser’s skill at manipulation.
OTOH: “The difference between a co-dependent and a toilet is that a toilet doesn’t follow you around when you’re not using it.”
People who hate themselves. People who have a lot of shit and drama about themselves and the world around them and have no idea or outlet on how to handle it so they turn inward and destroy themselves.
It takes various forms to various extreams.
Shelly was doing it herself but *she* didn’t put herself in abusive situations. Mostly because she herself was the bully lashing out .
Not to the extream that Justin has dealt with. But a bully is a bully and Shelly was indeed a bully.
His wording. First the last comic, HE is the “fetish”, not “I run into chicks with a fetish…” but “people consider ME a fetish”, if you know anything about people who fetishize someone they’re in a relationship with, it tends to be abusive. Some are good, but if that were the case he wouldn’t be so scared/negative about it, it sounds like he fell in with the people who barely give a fuck about his wants and personhood and just care that they’ve got a fucktoy that they can do what they want to without risk of incarceration.
Also the wording. It’s not “she liked… she wanted… she asked me…” but “she would have me [do X]”. It’s a very different connotation, not QUITE “she forced me/made me” but certainly not “I wanted it, too”. Wanting to be tied up- sure, fine, awesome. Pushing your partner into doing something they don’t want to do, and he does not come off as wanting it- bad.
Consent is sticky. It’s more than just “Did they say yes or no?”, if someone emotionally manipulates a person into a ‘yes’, it’s still not really consent. It doesn’t help that when Shelly and him got together, the situation did not feel terribly consensual. I stopped reading the comic for over a year after it because it left that bad a taste in my mouth. If he’s mostly been in abusive relationships, it’s not surprising that he’d be with someone after a questionably-consensual sexual encounter because it’s what he’s used to.
We need more information, I don’t think anyones saying it’s definitively rape, but it does come off as being highly questionable.
Worst of all, he may be giving Shelly ideas.
They already did the tying up thing, and I sincerely doubt he’d be giving her any ideas in regards to shifting. :p
No, I’m thinking Shelly is recalling all the rough consensual healthy sex they’ve had and not liking the obvious similarities between the two.
Nah, with her body language (eyes, stance, arms crossed, and droopy word balloon), it looks more like the way somebody looks when their boyfriend is raving on, and on about the sex they had with one of their EX girlfriends, and that Shelly doesn’t really want to hear about it… not that she doesn’t want his back story, but not the intimate parts detailed out like he’s doing right now… ie… T.M.I.
i know. seriously. I’m dunk right now and i know that is seriously fucked up. And creepy. Justin is fucking creepy. Fucking a were while they are in the middle of transforming. I thought that transforming was painful. seriously fucking creepy
Well, it is an improvement…
But the question remains — who/how/what is he?
Tune in next week! Same Wapsi time, same Wapsi channel!!
Doubtful on the Monday thing. This is usually the point at which the story switches to another set of characters and their doings.
i’d rather not find out what he is.
Yes. We must find who Justin is. So…off to see Tina!!!
Horrible thought — what if he is just an incarnate plot device, drifting from story to story so the heroine can angst their way through some situation? Now that would Really be using somebody!
A sort of Moorcockian “Eternal Companion”?
… and the seeds of understanding are sown.
Really bad joke about sex comes to mind. Too crude to post.
That would depend on which version of werewolf lore is relevant here. Many stories attribute werewolves with the control to change forms at will, regardless of the moon’s current phase. (Cf. Teen Wolf, The Discworld series, &c.)
Either way, that lady was a real bitch before she changed.
The pun jar is just asking for your credit card.
Like the moon, my card is maxed out.
Can I just drop the card itself into the jar?
Noooooooo!!! Not werewolves in Wapsi! I thought Paul was better than that. Now I guess there are vampires too. Of course I hold out the hope he may just be joking.
I’ve read way more vampire fiction than were fiction, but if the ratio of author-to-creature capabilities and liabilities holds, then there has to be some decent were fiction somewhere, and I’d put money down on Paul making it.
If I didn’t owe my soul to the pun jar, that is.
Patricia Briggs, if you want it more-or-less serious, or MaryJanice Davidson, if you want smart-ass with (very) occasional moments.
Also parts of Charlaine Harris’s “Southern Vampire” books. (Not the ghod-awful teevee version.)
Barbara Hambly’s Those Who Hunt The Night is one of the best of that genera. Very serious treatment of the theme by a very good writer.
I beg your pardon, I miss-read the comment. Those Who Hunt The Night is not a book about werewolves, but rather, a story about vampires.
Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series is interesting too, with a different twist.
Can we just agree to disagree there? I like ’em (the books and the TV series) both, and they’re different enough to not just be simple rehashings of each other…
Relevant to relationship drama, Molly Harper’s “How to Flirt With a Naked Werewolf” and “The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf”. Also just in general, ‘d recommend Kitty Norville. Kitty neeeeeever gets tired of hearing how funny it is for a werewolf to be named “Kitty”.
Yay! Thank you all for the suggestions. I will have to see how many of them I can get. 😀
The werewolf in question could just as easily been a trickster like Nudge or just a run of the mill (well for the Wapsiverse anyway) meta-morph. A meta-morph can make up all sorts of crap to get attention.
Just because something is overdone doesn’t mean it can’t be interesting.
Depends on what kind of werewolf.
Twitard version = No
Dresdenverse werewolves = Neat! Especially since there’s 4 types of werewolves in the Dresdenverse
“Classic” – Uses magic to transform into a wolf
Hexenwolf – uses magic item to transform into mutant superwolf
Lycanthrope – Channels a spirit of rage. No shifting, but gets a physical boost
Loup-garou – Cursed human. Forcefully transformed into a wolf like creature every full moon. Big, strong, fast and the human mind is suppressed in the process
…. @ the burninator….
I once made a chart of various vamp characteristics (I wanted to write a vamp novel without doing something gawd-awful like glitter). I learned two things: vampires in books have grab-bag powers along with the sucking of fluids (here’s lookin’ at you, Bunnicula!) and that every writer seems to have a slightly different take on the subject, so that I was listing single characteristics down a couple pages and single novels across a couple pages… 🙂
Meh, I’m okay with werewolves vamps and other sundry run of the mill fantasy critters. Wapsi seems to be kind of a Fantasy Kitchen Sink anyway. Besides, the implications that weres and vamps and the other standards of modern urban fantasy are the white trash of the Wapsiverse amuses me no end.
Que mental image of a Sparklepire in a stained wife beater being dragged out of a mid 70’s Camaro that is four different colors (two of which are primer) by an irate Sphinx wearing a badge.
“I tol’ you about them underage high school girls Vlad, now you goin’ down to the big house.”
Heh, indeed.
that SOO.. reminds me of how the elves were portrayed in the Monster Hunter Inc. books, they were literally “white trash”, and it was the ORCS that were the “Lawful Good” ones… they even said that Tolkien had met both races, and kinda fudged his story there, i don’t remember exactly WHY though. Werewolves are portrayed very well in that series, with a few twists, as well.
LMAO!
I think SoWhyMe’s reaction is kinda what Paul is shooting for.
The notion that all these overdone genre monsters are the underclass is very… punk. He’s focussed on the suburban middle/upper middle class of his universe– it may have looked elite to us, but this explains Phix saying she’s way down on the totem pole: Saving the Milky Way from time looping is not super important to some of the beings. (What? The universe with the monkey planet? I heard they started writing, breaking their local spacetime, the usual demon trap, but nothing terribly eyebrow-raising…)
Even the Lanthian “princesses” are at best adventurous technocrats; clever hobbits in a backwater. But out there somewhere are the transdimensional gods, the 1% at their cocktail parties.
Paul is completing the class structure of his universe, and drawing us into feeling it. Werewolves and vampires!? How common.
Apparently he doesn’t yet know the “I killed fifty-some-odd versions of myself by various means including radiation poisoning” part yet.
Probably wont come up until she has a nightmare about it one night. The real threat is if someone tells him that she had to stick a paranormal ice pick into Monica’s head to stop the Calendar and save the galaxy.
There’s a greater chance of her not having told him that because she didn’t refer to Phix by name.
Yes, it would be a problem for their relationship. However, if she’s smart, she should be able to explain her actions. Then again, this is Shelly.
meh, the galaxy goes on without knowing… :/
– only a few girls knew the truth.. they wanted to get a ‘normal’ life…..
The Galaxy was resetting once every four thousand years or so. Eventualy that was likely to cause problems with the orbits and gravitational relationships of the galaxies in the local cluster. It would take untold billions of years, but the imbalance might have spread wider and wider afield causing problems on a truely universal scale. Kind of like a cosmic version of the butterfly effect.
OTOH, other galaxies are far enough away–millions of light years. Even the Magellanic Clouds are something like 150k light-years away, which means the resetting of the Galaxy, if it propagated at light-speed, would only be getting halfway there by now. It might have long-term effects, but prolly not major ones.
I’m fairly sure any apreciable effect would be well after humanity’s time in the universe was said and done, heck, it would probably be after the sun itself had burned itself to a cinder. Still, the old camping adage applies, “leave it like you found it.”
Another thought. What if the Calender resets had gone on indefinitly? Imagine a universe where the Galaxy kept going through time loop after time loop after time loop while the universe slowly wound down to entropy. Imagine, from your perspective, that you woke up one morning four thousand years ago and that a good portion of the night sky was simply…gone. Could a time looping Galaxy survive the death of reality itself?
Sorry, my mind wanders off to some wierd places sometimes.
You think your brain goes off into weird places?
This whole discussion had my brain spending some time earlier today, envisioning a $BEING walking into some sort of extra-dimensional space-time store, tossing our whole continuum onto the counter, glaring at the proprietor, and angrily exclaiming
I will not buy this galaxy. It is skkkkratched!
Boxilar, it can be hard to leave the galaxy/cosmos exactly as it was when we arrived–since our very presence changes it. But to leave the disruptions to a minimum is an outcome very much to be desired.
I agree. I have a question though. Does gravity propagate at the speed of light, or is it instantanious? Has someone anwered this question in physics? One of my brother’s professers described gravity as the magic force. We can observe it and measure its effects, but to my understanding, no one can really descrbe HOW it works. If gravity were/is instantanious, 80k years of galactic resets might have a more immediate and profound effect on its immediate surroundings. Granted, those effects would still take hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years to manifest. But Bud, Brandi and May would probably be around to witness it.
Which leads to the question of how tough the GGs are. Can they survive a supernova, or the weight of a nutron star. Could they feel a solar wind washing over them? (John Cavil would be so jealous) Could they survive the depths of a black hole or entropy itself. Could they out live the universe and witness the birth of a new one?
I think I need to cut back on the burbon before bedtime.
@bmonk
You are a fan of Q, I presume? That comment had about six references in it and I ROFLOL’d.
Actually, for various reasons, I have seen very few Star Trek shows. So the references must be from the common unconscious Dr. Jung discovered.
We don’t know that didn’t come up. We don’t know how long they’ve been talking.
Oh.
He was dating the stars of Twilight, I guess.
Time to revisit Reasoning with Vampires now. And, Justin, this means you too.
Is an emowolf better or worse than a sparklepire? On second thought, I’d rather not think about it too hard.
It is better to just set the Lycans and Vamps of Underworld on them. That would stop the problem right quick.
No, I have someone better in mind…
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/9186/twilight-ending-blade.jpg
Team Blade. It actually exists for people that expend energy on that sort of thing.
Oh great, now I have an image of Emo Philips turning into a werewolf. One with a high pitched growl.
“Once I had a strange dream. I was being chased by some villagers, and tried to hide in the woods. Suddenly I found myself in a sewer, then my mother appeared. She said ‘Emo, before you turn completely into a wolf, eat some of my cole slaw.’ And then I collapsed, falling face down nto the water.
That’s when I had the dream.”
ROTFL
in both cases: Kill it with fire, LOTS of fire 😛
Nuke it from orbit, it’s the ONLY way to be sure!
And, just in case, nuke the cinders?
In the sparkleverse, vampire venom is flammable. Technically you’d just have to shove a light cigarette in Ed’s sparkly face and he’d explode. BOOM!! 😀
Hmm.. That IS a rather satisfying thought.
By the by ( before fatuncle finds-oot aboot it: it’s ” lit cigarette” 😛 )
No, no, she’s dead on — a Marlboro Light will do the trick nicely. 😉
*facepalm* My internal editor is on strike. Sorry all.
Aaaaaand we are back to our regularly scheduled programming.
So Justin, tell us about yourself. That fire demon you dated, was she hot?
She was okay, but the Gorgon just left him cold.
beep, beep, beep *drives-up big motha of armoured money-truck to recieve pun-jar donations…*
/@
\ \
___> \
(__O) \
(____@) \
(____@) \
(__o)_ \
\ \
He was too stoned to notice
O/~ “EEEEEeverybody Must get STONED!” O/~
WPOD!
I heard he once dated an eskimo maiden, but one cold night she broke it off…
Was she a relative of Lorena Bobbitt?
We are definitely gonna need a bigger pun jar.
Let’s go all out and replace the pun jar with the Punjab.
Does that mean we’d have to throw in the occasional “peccavi”? (=”I have sinned/Sindh”)
There’s always Punjabi pecari pesto, in season, of course!
+1 British military trivia points
relax, the pun jar is infinite. we went digital a while ago… so now what ever you drop in becomes binary data, and is stored in Paul’s bank account.
Yes, but are there enough numbers?
Oh, that’s not right!!
Sounds to me like Justin needs to be properly introduced to the rest of the cast. Mabye even a Bros’ Night Out with Kevin and Alan.
Maybe find some suitors for Bud, Brandi and Katherine (sorry, but I miss her).
Points for Galaxy Quest reference!
Did he say “ten tickles” or “tentacles”?
“Let’s get out of here before those things kill Guy!”
Warwylf? How absoludely fassinading!
When they got really kinky, they did something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHWmNBQEcUM
Must have been some strong ass ropes Justin used to tie his werewolf ex down with.
Also puts a whole new spin on throwing her a bone as well. *plink plink*
Knick knack paddy whack… indeed!
The rope must’ve been made of : The sound of a cat’s footfall
The beard of a woman
The roots of a mountain
The sinews of a bear
The breath of a fish
The spittle of a bird
I see you know your Norse mythology.
As do you. Norse Mythology. For when Greco-Roman Mythology isn’t violent, bloody, or messed up enough. Blood eagles, sheesh. Norse Mythology. I blame it on the climate. 😉
Norse mythology is what you get when Hermes is the head god.
ok…I’ve been our of the loop…I know she’s a sphinx…but since when did his nigh miraculous come to light???
healing that is…
Day before yesterday. Shelly in Sphinx form was taking Justin to the ER, he said she didn’t need to bother, she squealed she’d slashed him so deep she could see ribs through the muscle and OF COURSE he needed help, he said he didn’t, enough time had passed and he was healed, she just needed to take him back to his car. And we saw his chest and he was right…
This week. Although, there may have been hints.
TMI.. heheheh
Shelly’s face cracks me up. A laugh to start the weekend.
definitely a pleasant change from the cliffhangers of the last few fridays
Was that Werewolf woman Kate McAllister or Luna Diaz?
Moar sexy wulfis!
Furries..well..in limited doses *turns red* but werewolves? No thanks … 😮
*still has a thing for Felicity* ahem :blush:
Who’s Felicity?
Start reading “the dreamlandchronicles” and all will be explained.
Greatest thing? That comic can be read together with one’s kids. It’s the classic ” great fun for young&old”
I realise who you mean now as I do read it.
I didn’t make the connection because Felicity’s not a wolf.
As a reader of The Dreamland Chronicles, I also get what you’re driving at. Seems like all those furry gals tend to be drawn pretty hot.
Hot bod or not, though, I’m not sure I’d enjoy making out with a female furry if they existed IRL, though. Couldn’t get past the animal-like face, I think… and all that fur on your tongue–bleagh!
Well.. That’s why it gets me’ face all red, because the “thing” for furries is more of a teen-crush thing, where ” hangin-out is the epitomy of a relationship.
The kind of innocense that hasn’t yet discovered that that different things are possible with ” them”
The technicalities of bangin’ them furries .. Yeah.. Well.. Eeeeww. The reason ” twokinds” , though a good read every now&then, sort of triggers the eeew-button in me.
Well, Jay-em.
There is a wonderful ‘reveal’ in two-kinds occurring this week.
I knew it was coming and I’m glad it has finally happened. I very anxious to see the results.
I don’t think Kate would be into that sought of thing and she’s too into Mike to even look at anyone else.
Whoops! That’s “sort” not “sought”.
<< wondering if he should take some paracetamol and go back to bed
you’re obviously delirious if your shipping Kate and Mike. go to bed old man.
Part III, pages 119 and 120 is all I’ve got to say to that. 😉
Touching though, that Shelly somewhat hesitantly admits that Phix has become the “Mother” she so dearly missed during her troubled youth.
Yeah, but I don’t think she’ll find Phix to be the brush your hair and tuck you into bed kinda mom.
I don’t know lionesses can be very affectionate with their cubs.
I wonder if Shelly is still enough of a cub, that Phix would do the mama-cat thing of carrying her around by the scruff of her neck?
Imagine the look of chagrin on Shelly’s face, especially if Monica should happen to be present to observe the indignity…
😀 I can already see it in my minds eye.. Paul should do a drawing of that…
..espcially because kitten’s hind-paws always do that cuuuuute sort of clenching, when picked-up by their neck-fur.
That would look so utterly adorable on Shellinx.. And Bud would probably wet herself from laughing. She seems the type. M would just giggle unstoppable.
That would be so cute! I agree, we should see a sphinx picture like this sooner or later.
interesting thing about it is lionesses are even MORE devoted to their cubs than ‘the lion king’ showed.
also, a recent scientific discovery about a lion pride explains an old mystery.
the mystery is why lionesses hate cheetahs with such a passion… yet lions couldn’t care less. It has been a well known fact for centuries that a lioness (even in a hunt) will completely abandon the hunt to go after a cheetah, She will kill any cheetah she can catch, and it is not for food (she doesn’t eat the cheetah).
a recent film discovered cheetahs have a… peculiar habit of ‘visiting’ lion prides at high speed. Usually, a cub leaves the pride with the cheetah after such a ‘visit’.
Seems cheetahs ‘prey’ upon lion cubs and the lionesses’ wrath is a direct result of this.
Heh. Heh.
He said, five years later.
Love Shelly’s expression in the final panel.
…and the ice dripping off the balloon…
No one likes being reminded that they were not the first, even in jest.
Wait a minute, is justin has only been dating paranormal girls. Does that make him a Parasexual?
No, just one.
*bring*
[i]”Hello, Dispatch?”
“We’re gonna need another pun payment truck.”
“Yeah, another one. The first one is about to bust an axle.”[/i]
DOH! Bad nerf. HTML not UBBS Code.
“Dispatch”.. Hmm..hm hm.. WHAT?? AnOther one? Sjeesj, what is that forum of yours, a friggin clown-car??
-ehhmm.. Well.. Now You mention it…..
Just an unwilling Yiffer
*googles “yiffer” *
.
.
.
O_0
.
.
Whimper..eeep.. Exactly what I meant in my comment on twokinds
you accidentally pressed to Google image button, didn’t you?
“No officer, she wasn’t a dog when we started”
Well. It looks like Justin is going to become part of the regular crowd after all. Good, I like him – and once Shelley thaws out, we may learn a bit more about his background.
That whole ‘tied to the bed whilst changing’ bit sounds like the remake of Cat People…
To pick a nit, that would actually qualify as TMFI and not jut normal everyday TMI 😀
Ugh. I agree with Shelly. That mental picture would take a couple gallons of brain bleach right there…
However, I do think Shelly and Justin should stick it out with each other. Not to mention that Shelly has one thing that Justin seems to have never had and really seems to need: a support group.
Good point on the support group.
It still applies if they break up (if it’s an amicable break up).
It does feel as if Justin has been very alone in this… no “decent” paranormals to associate with, quite possibly no normal but aware-of-the-paranormal friends to talk with about what was going on in his life. No wonder he seems to have been seeing the world as being starkly divided between “normal” and “crazy”.
Being gently introduced to a crowd of ODPs (ordinary, decent paranormals) and the humans who have learned to relate to them, could be the best thing that has ever happened to him.
Perhaps that is the point of his character getting such a past, whether or not Paul intended it when OfficerTB was first introduced.
All of the Wapsi crew had a support group to deal with their own supernatural induction
Tepoz (birth) = May, possibly immortals like Kukuklan
May (golemizing) = Tepoz + Jin
GGG (golemizing) = GGG + Tepoz, then later Monica + Shelly
Tina (resurrecting) = Nudge + Rest of Tina 2.0 demon comittee
Monica (awakening) = Tepoz + Shelly + Tina + GGG (+ later Kevin, Katherine, and Amanda)
May (return from demon realm) = Bud + Jin
Jin (becoming mortal) = Bud + May + Allan
Shelly (sphynxing) = CreepyGirl + Phix + Nudge, then later Monica + Bud
Seems like OfficerTB never had a support group, rather just fear of being discovered + abuse by those in the know. Gives a bit of a contrasting viewpoint to the supernatural than most others we’ve seen in-comic to date.
I think it be good for Justin to hang around with “the gang”. I would do him a lot of good. He’s very close to being “normal” even among the Wapsians.
The only downside on Justin meeting “the gang” is if one of them turned out to be one of his exes. Like Euryale, for instance.
Euryale doesn’t strike me as the kind who likes to hurt anyone, really.
I agree that she’s unlikely to be one of his exes for that reason.
However, I don’t think their meeting is going to go all that well. Given that she fangirled over Monica that implies either:
1) Somebody in the gang is writing everything down (and it’s available in the library),
2) Phix told her about Monica’s adventures,
3) She found out through some other means available to her (e.g. the ability to directly monitor what’s happening to the gang),
4) Any combination of the above.
If it’s 1*,3 and/or 4 then she may go beyond what she’s officially been told by Shelly and, therefore, create more trust issues for Justin.
* If Shelly is the one keeping a diary
The more I think about it, the more I think her reaction to Monica was akin to a modern historical researcher meeting Charles Dickens after spending a lot of time reading his drafts, letters, etc.
I’m not sure what the privacy policy of the library is to mundane things from people currently living. However, I have a feeling that they never got round to writing one as:
1) They didn’t think that anybody would be interested and/or
2) Humans live relatively short lives that it wasn’t really a problem.
The more I think about it the more I feel that Shelly may be keeping a diary as she’s the only one I can think of in the gang who’s slow enough to immediately realise that a library that contains every written work contains her diary.
Actually, Charles Dickens is a bad example. The gang’s activities are closer to Lois Pasteur.
Sorry, that should be “slow enough not to immediately realise…”
Brandi was keeping a diary.
Euryale wouldn’t hurt Justin Cute Buns intentionally, I agree. On the other hand, I can imagine the breakup going badly anyway – for example, what if the carpet matches the drapes? (Completely safe for work link, BTW.) It would freak ME out…
But, possibly one or more of the GGG in earlier incarnations???
Either too much information, or not enough… O_O
I beg to differ Shelly. Now Justin, if you would, please continue…
I’m with Shelly there.
NGL; that sounds crazy hot. GO ONNNNNNN.
My mind is reeling from the images.
I agree somewhat with Shelly and somewhat with the others. It is too much of the wrong info and not enough of the right.
way too much info >_<
Ah, so that was Justin in “Howling 2” eh?
The big question is did he make her howl at the moon?
Never moon a werewolf.
*clink of coins in the pun jar*
Or the experience could bite you in the ass?
Fetching.
Ok, you two…
>>>shakes pun jar<<<
Guilty! [contributes a Roman assarius]
It’s going to be interesting to see how many different suppositions are offered over the weekend . As I write this we have 139 comments . I’d say in excess of 265 by the time Monday rolls around .
it’s only saturday afternoon and it’s already over 200.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it tops 300.
Depends on how many we get on Superbowl Sunday.
well, it got to 278 (now 279) before the next strip was posted.
And now I have to stop laughing at the next strip. Bud finally ‘met’ Shelly’s main squeeze.
I know that this is not directly related to this page but I’ve been thinking about an idea for a while:
Considering The Library has everything written down then, if Justin is granted access to it, he could use it to help track down criminals:
e.g.
“I want everything that the Lake Killer has written in the past year.”
After taking photocopies of eveything and getting back to the station:
“Sarge, you may find this useful.”
I just realised why he can’t do that: The 4th and 5th amendments to the constuition, and, to be honest, I find myself in agreement with the constitution.
Do you TRULY think the library would be (or could be) regulated by the US constitution?
The fourth or fifth amendments would not prevent Justin (or any other law-and-order type) from gathering the information.
In fact, gathering information in this manner would be very similar to digital forensics (getting the information from a suspect’s own computer or using information made available by the suspect on a computer).
Now, how the information is used could be a different matter… legally and officially. That would NOT stop a dedicated L-n-O type from ‘unofficially’ using it.
On a totally different tangent, I had a freakish dream about this webcomic last night. It wasn’t a nightmare, at least, not the ‘jerk up in bed and scream’ type.
I laid in bed shivering (not frightemed and not sure if I should be) and wondering “WTF was that?”
Care to share whatever details of the dream you can remember? I admit to being curious.
well, Bud is the character i can relate most to.
She is a loner with a fierce temper, a lot of violent ability, and a desire to keep it ‘under wraps’.
she is walking… somewhere.
she meets someone… don’t know size, or even species. she DOES recognize the person.
a calm and quiet voice says:
“though we have just met, I have always been with you.
“Though I leave, I shall always be beside you.
“I have known you, know you now, and will know you to come.
“I am your history, I am you now, I will be your future and your doom.
“I am you. I am your Fate.”
Then Bud’s eyes rolled up into her head and she fainted.
Like I said. It was freakish.
I did not wake up trembling and frightened; but i was shivering.
I know that it doesn’t stop the library from having the information but it means that, if it is used by American law enforcement, there’s a strong chance that they would lose their case when it comes to trial. There’s also the problem of explaining how they got it and how they can be sure that it is both related to the case and related to the defendant.
I’m pretty dang sure the library itself has some sort of by-laws against that.
After all, I’m certain Justin would not be the first Law and Order type to have access. Maybe it has indeed been used in such a manner.
and maybe it has been used by ‘the other vein’ to select victims, as well.
The sphinxes are “LnO” for paras, after all.
Let’s not overlook the fact the library itself is sentient and apparently of very high intelligence.
I just realised: The Library is the key to understanding why there are so many supernaturals in the city. The annex is one of the few access points on Earth so, at least for the acedemics in the supernatural community, there is reason to live there.
Of course that doesn’t explain why the others are there.
I think I can explain why other supernaturals may gather around that city:
We humans find the presence of trees and other plants reassuring. It has been suggested that this may be down to the fact that the existence of plants, especially large plants, tells an ancient part of ourselves that water, food and shelter exist in that location.
Similarly, I suspect the mere existence of the annex may, on a subconscious level, be reassuring to supernaturals. They don’t know why but they feel a little more secure when they are near the city. They may not know of the annex, may never have seen it or recognised it but it still reassures them. I suspect that, as the libraries are run by the sphinxes, the annex represents law and order. Most beings, including criminals, are reassured by the presence of an organising authority because most people flourish in an orderly society.
So… you’re basically saying that “The Annex” is a Weirdness Magnet? and that all the Para’s are “attracted” to it? and since that most humans that are NOT “in the know” they act like aluminum does, compared to iron in respect to a magnet’s ability to influence them? AL isn’t magnetic and neither are the humans, so they go about their lives blissfully UN-affected by the Annex or the rest of the paranormal community which surrounds them?
Exactly.
The problem with that theory is that the annex is a very rrecent addition. All the paranormals we know about were already there long before it’s “construction.” Not sure about Euryale, but I get the impression she was already there as well. She is probably using it now for it’s convenience to non-poiters. Monica doesn’t need it so it wasn’t placed there just for her. I suppose Euryale had to ask someone for a “ride” to the main library before that.
I can’t remember most of them but:
Tezpoz was posted to Monica’s museum
Tezpoz hinted that the GGs were actually in another dimension (but Jin may have been an exception)
However, it should be noted that Jin actively manipulated people into being there for CM problem (even spending time with Monica’s grandfather)
I see it as one of several possibilties. One would be that Minneapolis has an unusualy dense paranormal population compared to the world at large. Another would be that the overall para population is concentrated in urban areas as a whole and Wapsi isn’t actualy that unusual. A similar possibility would be that the paras are actualy distributed evenly througout the world as a very small percentage of the overall population but seem concentrated in cities simply because of population density. Say, to pick a number out of the air, the paras made up roughly a tenth of one percent. Minneapolis, as of the 2010 census, had 382,578 people living in the area. Even at a measly .1% that’s still nearly four hundred supernatural folks bumping around. The number may not even be that high. Most of them would probably be low level, like Justin. And while the comic can give the impresion that everybody is para, Monica’s inner circle is really quite small. I can see small groups forming like hers without much contact with things above them on the social ladder (or food chain). If you’re a were or vamp cashing in on your “coolness” with a bunch of impressionable humans, do you really want to draw the attention of a Gorgon or Gaurdian Sphinx. Probably not. And they probably wouldn’t bother with you either, unless you gave them cause. They have bigger fish to fry.
The annex is a recent addition to Minneapolis, but access to the library for paranormals from Minneapolis is not.
Phix stated straight right to the demon-collection barrister (can’t remember her name) the annex allows Monica access (unless she’s under duress). This implies the ‘authority’ decided Monica should not have to ‘poit’ to get access to the library.
One must wonder why the authority decided to do that (hint for another subplot in that question, somewhere).
Anyway, it is obvious from Euaryle’s (gross misspell) statements the annex is available to other paranormals without ‘poiting’. Not that “E” couldn’t do so; but she decided the access to the library without ‘poiting’ was a welcome change.
LOL.
I just came up with an idea that would explain why the authority decided the library should have an annex reachable by beings who can’t ‘poit’.
What if there’s a force (or a being) in Minneapolis who is making ‘poiting’ impossible. What if this being does not even realize he/she is doing it.
example: A ‘normal’ human who has no other ‘paranormal’ aspects except if his/her skin touches a paranormal’s skin, the paranormal is no longer capable of using their ‘paranormal powers and abilities’. There could even be a standard length of time for the ‘negation power’ (like ‘his touch removes your powers for a day’).
Now if this person isn’t even aware of the paranormals, this could truly be troublesome (especially if the ‘authorities’ can’t figure out who is doing it).
The ones who don’t read hang out at the Cerberus Club.
I just figured they were on a Hellmouth. 😛
Francisco, since you’re on this tack, and since the para-amours Cherish predicted are out in the open, I’m going to elaborate on my facepalm from Monday.
My facepalm was because I should have seen the time travel.
Justin’s para-amours have flocked to Minneapolis because they knew he was going to become Shelly’s boyfriend.
Euryale referred to Shelly being “one of the sages”– her wisdom was a proven thing to the fangirl. She must have read all about her, and had access to her own words. But from where…?
1. Shelly, or someone who visited her, must have written something down, or the Forest itself recorded more than the passing of time.
2. With the Time Forest running “backwards”, this may have raised flags in Library’s recording system: Shelly’s entire corpus of writing would suddenly manifest before the Calendar reset the Milky Way to AD 562 for the first loop, with any subsequent “editions” being less and less complete.
3. Whatever condition these words are being created in, the Library would dispatch apotropaic sphinxes to investigate the Time Forest. The first ones there encounter an 80,000 year old feral sphinx and its never-before-seen Companion, aka the authors. Library, we have a problem.
4. Phix, who’s been Head Librarian for only a millennium or so, reads the work, and realizes she has to take this situation hands-on. She visits. Fortunately, the feral sphinx recognizes her, and she has the eerie duty of educating Shelly in reverse for 80,000 years.
5. The work remains available in the Library to those who can access it. Humans have been forbidden to use the Library since probably AD 391 (Theodosius’ orders to Alexandria), so only paranormals read about Shelly in the run up to the Calendar being destroyed (available for 1450 years for those stuck in the loop, 80,000 for those, like Phix, who are not).
6. At some point Phix, Nudge or someone else tells a much younger Shellinx that she will come to forget everything she knew. This spurs Shelly to write everything she can remember down, if only on bark or leaves, since the Library will record it all, and she has some hope of recovering it once she is free. Thus creating the Sage’s corpus.
7. The work would contain Shelly’s recollections of Justin, her last lost lover. Quite possibly very detailed recollections of Justin.
8. Para-amorous fangirls flock to Minneapolis, and discover the ultimate collector trophy before Shelly has a chance to meet him.
And it’s not just Justin:
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/justweird/
Alan may have been more of a conscious dabbler than we suspected–that scene with Bud at Jin’s apartment ended abruptly, and always felt a little staged for Bud’s “benefit”. He always seemed much better… prepared for Jin, and he did ultimately settle with her (so far).
Kevin, on the other hand, well, his reveal to the rabbithole was witnessed by Shelly. Trying to bag him would be “non-canonical”. So no touching Monica’s man, or it’s not just the apos and the golems that you have to fear.
You don’t want to face the wrath of Paranormal Fandom.
I seem to remember Kevin had ‘a little help and encouragement’ to hooking up with Monica.
Something about encouraging Kevin to actually tossing a Frisbee and later declaring “KEVIN, YOU OWE ME!!!” as a certain very intelligent dog pursued him.
Your post gives a lot to think about.
However, there’s one thought I wonder if you had:
If your theory’s correct then does it have to be a fan who got involved with Justin? After all, every famous person has detractors.
very good point. I would so “no” for this reason only…
the detractor would be tempted to kill him.
now how about sadistic somebody who is not a fan; but knows the ‘history’. As long as they didn’t kill him, he/she could say they were ‘fulfilling the need’ stated by the record.
now, how sadistic would a tormentor get if he/she ‘knew’ as long as the victim survived, they’d be forgiven by the authority most likely to discover the sadism?
Oh, was that a shiver I saw go down all those spines?
Forgiven? How about sent.
Apo payback for 80,000 years of being shown up by one sphinx and one demon.
She never wrote how crazy his exes were. Hey, it’s the law of the book.
@Francisco – Believe me, sometimes it’s mighty hard to tell the difference.
But, you’re right. Imagine fighting against the information pouring out of a universe consisting solely of Shelly, shooting off her stylus in desperation before learning how bad an idea that would be. Keeping everyone safe took Jin ~56 tries for a reason.
Phix’s cryptic silences are looking more merciful all the time.
And that doesn’t even consider the very precise definition of “safe”–such as this person getting a dagger in the head, that person kept from knowing these details, and suchlike.
Why did this end here????
I’d so do it if I was him. I’d fuck a werewolf, but then there’s the question of becoming a werewolf by fucking a werewolf. Does it work the same if its a girl werewolf because nothing is going in you as a boy, right?
If lycanthropy can be transmitted like an STD (and there are stories where that’s been done), then yes, it would — after all, a man can contract HIV from a woman, for example.
I would think it would be hit and miss for either gender if it’s like an STD. It would need an opening for infection to occur. Unless, of course, were-fluids are really industrious and can bore into the skin, which could be.
It also depends which werewolf myths or were-type the story has/wants. There are at least three categories of were-types: those born (you can’t be a were any other way) are not infectious and it’s depending if they can breed with non-weres or not.
Those infected (those can transmit through bite or exchange of blood and potentially pass it on to their offspring)
and those cursed – those can be infectious (most often are) or not, depending on the curse/story.
And there’s the occasional Techno-types, one example from Ghost Rider 2099. Kenshiro Cochrane’s buddy, who used the VR moniker “Ware-Wolf” was literally made into one by the bad guys through Nanotechnology.
I take it back, I don’t want to see any of his ex-girlfriends! :0 :0
Wuurwilf!
“There.”
“What?”
“There wolf. There castle.”
“Why are you talking like that?”
“Oi thot yew wanted to.”
“No, I don’t want to talk like that.”
“Soot yurself then Oi’m easy.”
I was going to whine about the late update again, but it’s Saturday, so that is no good. Time for a stupid joke then:
Q. How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Not a clue, but I’m sure somebody somewhere is writing up a research grant application.
A-2. Only one, but the light bulb has to want to change.
A-3: “How many do you think it takes?”
and
“And how does that make you feel?”
So…what is he? A Twilight vampire?
The mind spins to the implications.
First, Shelly is considered ‘a sage’? This is not exactly her own opinion of herself, but it appears her time in the forest was not ‘completely wasted. She may have done a bit of writing (which turned up in the library).
Though Shelly may not have remembered Justin (there is a self-contradiction made by her after she returns), her history with him seems to have been well known in certain circles not directly involved with the ‘Waspis’.
Second, there is an extensive and enthusiastic fan club for the “Waspis” among the paranormals. Shelly’s involvement with Justin would be well known to them. It appears this knowledge precludes the actual occurrence. This seems to be a direct result of Shelly’s ‘reverse-time’ in the forest. Somebody may have written about her relationship with Justin due to her membership in the ‘club’.
the contradiction here is Shelly herself didn’t remember him while in the forest… who did?
if this supposition is true, the other men associated with the ‘club’ were likely labeled by the ‘fans’ as ‘too valuable to touch’ before they even met Monica and company; but Justin’s ‘history’ of being abused by paras would be well known.
thus, Justin was in deed being targeted… by enthusiastic fans. Could there be a worse form of abuse?
No wonder Justin is a head case.
and what would happen when the involvement of this ‘fan club’ is revealed?
I’m not exactly sure of the rest of the Waspis; but I suspect Shelly’s response would be… very enthusiastic.
Right, and would not Justin, at some point, have found out about the fan club and how it came to be. He would know Shelly was the cause of much, if not all, of his maltreatment by the para-trailertrash crowd. This doesn’t seem to be the case. Unless it’s all part of an elaborate plan of revenge upon Shelly.
Justin has just revealed surprise there seems to be a culture of paranormals.
It would seem to me he was pretty much kept in the dark about the background.
Not very difficult when you consider Monica, Bud, Jin, Shelly, and all the others (who are the focus of this ‘fanfare’) had been in the dark about it until Monica ran into Eurayle at the annex.
Eurayle did in fact state there were a great many paranormals who were fans of the ‘Wapsis’. Despite this, Monica and company had not known of it.
In fact, Monica and Shelly were barely aware there was a culture. The entire dealings with the Calender Machine were virtually without ANY interaction with the paranormal culture.
Remember that little trip they took to the para-bar? It was quite obvious they were already VERY well known for something… though they had not yet done anything.
Justin, as a well known future associate of the group… and with a well-known ‘history’ of abuse by paranormal females in his part of the tale PRIOR to being included in the group… was simply a wide-open target for paranormal fan gals.
this whole idea takes ‘fan-dom’ to a completely new realm of frightening.
Think of it. A fan club of paranormals devoted to a famous group you have not yet met, have not even heard of.
Yet the paranormals would know you would be part of that group years and even decades before you actually meet any of the others…
AND you are supposed to have a ‘history’ of abuse by paranormals before then.
This is precisely why the various Temporal Police organizations exist, in various SF continuities, and why they almost universally seem to have utterly no senses of humor.
They’re dealing with complex, scary nasty sets of chronological feedback that have a potent effect on the lives of all of the people in their universes. Also, they almost always have bad headaches from thinking about this stuff… especially if their native languages are like English and haven’t yet adapted to verb conjugations which apply to reversed time and possible-but-excluded-by-paradox situations.
Hannibal Fortune, elite agent of the Temporal Entropy Restructure and Repair Agency, with his License to Tamper… has something of a sense of humor. Of sorts.
I don’t know if Shelly would count as a sage, though she probably had enough thyme to become one. (On the other hand, there may be some paras out there who would want to curry flavor with her now…)
The real question I have with Shelly’s time in the forest is: We know it had been going on for 80,000 years, but had it been going on for 80,000 years before she touched the relic?
That is, Shelly touched the relic and was is transported to the Forest, where time flows directly opposite to the passage of time in Wapsiverse Minneapolis. Does that mean that Wapsi comics published before the one where Monica touches the relic take her time in the Forest into account, or does her time in the Forest create a new version of the past — a version which we haven’t seen — where paras who would be privy to the fact that she was in the Forest know about it and perhaps gossip on the subject to others?
Kudos to anyone who can follow that last paragraph, by the way. It made sense in my head.
First: It looks like you’re a seasoned contributor to the pun jar.
Second: I opt for all that has gone the earlier strips taking the time in the forest into account.
explanation:
The ‘first’ Shelly of 80,000 years ago turned up in the forest, turned into a sphinx, and ended up watching each of the others arrive and die.
The last Shelly (#57), we saw touch the relic, claim the sword, cut down the tree, and put the plutonium in the relic. She died in the process.
Shelly #1 returned, not Shelly #57. She has all the memories of the other Shelly(s); but has also spent that 80,000 years in the forest and watching her alter-egos die.
Problem with that is Paul specifically stated that the sphinx of the TTF was, indeed the same Shelly who “left” from Monica.s house after holding the artifact. It was “Their” Shelly who left and came back in, what to them seemed like an instant.
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/kept-her-safe/#comment-50919
Kinky is when you use a feather, extreme is when you use the entire sphinx.
“USE” a sphinx? That is an interesting idea.
Exactly who would be using whom?
I’ve heard that before somewhere…
Ah! <a href="http://www.tadpolewebworks.com/art/wapsi/Feather_rough.jpg"Here it is!
Back from the Blank Label days. Never finished it.
Try again…
http://www.tadpolewebworks.com/art/wapsi/Feather_rough.jpg
Nice; I like that idea.
Perhaps Justin could submit his memoirs to Para-Penthouse (P-Penthouse). I hear P-GQ is looking for submissions. Does P-Oui Still exist? I believe Ms magazine flirted with the idea of a paranormal version until the first issue came out. It seems, P-MS did not sit will with the readers.
P-Oui is still around, but he is only recently making a kind-of comeback after his arrest. P-MS has never been popular with anyone, though many are subject to it.
SoWhyMe, that pun is just ‘over’
time to REALLY pay.
>>>signals with lit batons to the cargo jet<<<
It might be better to submit his memoir (and case history) to the Para-Docs magazine–but then he could only submit it if he didn’t submit it, and they could only publish if they had nothing to print.
[drops a negative gold Eagle into the pun jar.]
Back in the 1970s, Paradox Music Mailorder in LA had a wonderful corporate logo. It was a line drawing of a duck, looking down at its own reflection in the water… except that the duck was facing to the right and the reflection was facing to the left.
I really wish I had a copy of that, as a GIF.
Unfortunately they ran into financial problems, the CEO went loony and jumped from a crane, their stork lost value, and they sang their swan song.
you actually had me going until that last paragraph.
Four ‘bird’ puns in rapid secession and hidden as ‘serious’ writing and even a ‘mistype’?
>>>points to pun jar<<<
*clinkclankrattlerattle*
Actually, the PMM logo story is quite true… I have searched the Net a couple of times looking for that drawing but have never found it. I bought some really great LP albums through their import service… am sorry they are no longer around.
Some of the best shaggy-dog puns work that way… a really legitimate setup, and then WHAM off at an unexpected angle.
I’m not doubting you or the story. I’m just saying you did a respectable job of slipping those puns in.
That would be the “Reverse Proof” – very rare and valuable . Got any extras that you would like to sell ? I can get a good deal on having it certified by one of the top firms in that area . Just saying ..
Addendum to a discussion of a day or so ago, re whether Justin’s rapid healing power ought to eliminate his need for glasses…
Look at his face and eye positions today.. it appears from the way he has been repeatedly portrayed with the glasses low on his nose, and him looking over them, that he is probably farsighted, and needs the lenses only for close-in vision (e.g. reading).
The lenses could be zero-diopter flat glass (“Superman” lenses… i.e. unneeded and fake) I suppose, but if that’s not the case it looks to me as if he is being portrayed as using them in a way consistent with inborn farsightedness.
It’s possible even laser surgery wouldn’t help… he’d just heal back to his farsighted form.
Back here:
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/learn-a-lot/#comment-15132
Paul mentioned Justin usually wore contact lenses. I’m not at all sure, but I think contacts can only correct for blured vision of objects at a distance, and not for reading problems. If that’s so, then the glasses would be for correcting distant vision flaws since the post indicated the guys at work hid his contacts so he would have to wear his glasses.
Whether or not contacts can correct both mypia and close reading depends on whether or not you suffer from presbyopia, and how much, if you do.
When i wear my contacts these days, i need reading glasses – but then, i theoretically need bifocals, too. When i began wearing contacts back in the mid-1980s, i didn’t need reading glasses, nor did i need bifocals when i wore my glasses.
But, then again, back then, when i was properly corrected, i had 20/15 near vision.
They do make bifocal contacts, actually.
According to wiki contact lenses are used for near and farsightedness. But I do believe the farsightedness ones are more or less recent.
Near- and far-sightedness are both inherent in the shape of the eye and of the lens in the eye.
Near-sighted people (like me) have an eyeball that is too deep with regard to the backfocal length of the lens, so that images focus just in front of the retina*; in far-sightedness the images focus just behind the retina.
==============
*Because of the shape of the eye, near-sighted people (like my sister, who recently had to have surgery for it) are more prone to detached retinas.
Hey refugee… why do you keep calling the character Jason? His name is Justin.
Next week, Paul ends the strip:
*Poit* Shelly& Justin appear at the Cerebus Club.
Shelly: Hey, guys this is Justin. Uh, he’s “in the know.”
Monica: Yeah, we kinda’ figured that from–
Bud: Noooooooo!!!!!
The Earth disappears in an incandescent cloud of sexually frustrated rage.
Cut to: The Library
Phix: Tsk. What a shame. Well, let’s go see if those slime molds on Procyon 7 have devoloped sapience yet….
Just wow. That really works though. Good job Dane.
>>>Stares at monitor with mouth agape<<<
Phix’s reaction might be about like that. Who knows how many intelligent species she has seen come and go on various planets. She can be there for them, even join in for a while, becoming a part of their mythos, but, in the end, they go and she and her kind remain. It would tend to make one philosophical about the whole thing. This, despite being associated with earth for many, many tens of thousands of years. The demons would, likely, be even less concerned.
Phix: Nudge, see that the Earth collection gets placed in the Dead Civilizations section, would you?
…Nudge?
Brandi: Did Martin ever finish “A Song of Ice and Fire”?
Phix: Brandi! What are you doing… here. …Where’s Nudge.
Brandi: Ooh, Nudge had been invited to party at the Cerberus Club. That’s kinda gone. Don’t worry, she’s immortal.
Phix: She can’t poit, Brandi.
Brandi: Is that a fact? Well, Tepoz– oh, but Tepoz would need coordinates to find her. Well, May and them should be fine until the Procyoni evolve and rediscover ’em floatin’ in space.
Phix: Brandi, what did you do.
Brandi: Stop lookin’ so worried, no one can harm you here, Phix! But seriously, if George R.R. Martin didn’t at least leave a stack o’ outlines, I swear I’ll chase him down to hell and make him my–
Phix: Perhaps I should ask the apos up for tea.
Brandi: I’ve been wanting to meet them for some time! And pawn to Queen’s Bishop 7.
incandescent cloud of sexually frustrated rage.
Is that what’s in this bottle I found buried in my back yard? I wondered why it screamed when anything vaguely romantic is on TV.
Could be the contents just have better taste than the Neilsen families.
Random thought for the afternoon- Do sphinx purr?
I’d say no. Big cats that roar, don’t purr. Pumas purr, but they don’t roar. Just my $.02.
“Some aver that lions purr
Others say that’s rot
I, myself, am in two minds
– purrhaps, purrhaps not.”
(I don’t know the source. I read it some time ago.)
Yes and no. Joy Adamson said that Elsa (of Born Free fame) purred, but the type of purring would have been different to that of the small cats (Felis species). Small cats purr continuously as they breathe in and out, and can even purr while miaowing and swallowing. Lions, on the other hand, may make a purring sound, but have to take a breath in between purrs.
Georgina Hickey, editor, Nature Australia magazine, Canberra
that was for bmonk – should have put that in – my bad .
Looks like we’ll reach that 265 comment count after all. I wouldn’t have thought it.