Oh… oh you’re right. I was about to say, “Gee, Tina doesn’t seem TOO concerned. Like, “I hope Monica didn’t trip over a box in the dark” instead of “oh @%$& Monica just discovered my deepest, darkest secret.”
But you’re right… gray text is supposed to mean nudge is at work, huh? Interesting.
… … OH CRUD I just realized we’re not getting another update for a few days. Truly, we are dealing with not just your average every day comic artist, but a MASTER OF SUSPENSE!! :I
Well, it means that one of the demons that make up the collective is speaking directly – so far Nudge is the only one we know of who’s self-identified…
It’s also possible that Tina/Nudge believes there’s nothing down there worse than a mouse and the possibility of stubbing a toe. Then again, I don’t think that scenario is likeliest. I just really want to think that Tina would hurdle to the rescue if she knew something troublesome was after Mon.
Xiutecuhtli, maybe that’s the decor in the shop – woven wattled panels; we haven’t seen them that clearly – and that’s the fastest way to the basement stairs? And Tina, with M in danger, may finally have the motivation to face her fears of what lies down in the stygian depths?
The last couple strips outdo that one easily. Boiler Room has some creepy ambiance, but no content. Just “Okay . . . so yeah, that’s creepy, but why?” These last few days have definitely had the content to match the creepy.
And on monday, Paul will cut over to an all Heather story arc that runs for a while. It’ll be awesome and take our minds off this cliffhanger. Once he’s reasonably sure the edge has been taken off, he’ll cut back with a animated graphic with sound that will scare the crap out of us when the thing finishes loading.
Kidding aside (I hope) it actually would be nice to know how Heather is doing.
I did notice, though, that Tina’s “voice” in that last panel (who we’ve established is the voice of “Nudge”) is intentionally in a corner of the speech bubble. Given how Tina’s demons have spoken in the past, that might mean that Nudge is speaking while in hiding…
I don’t think we know which of the individual demons is talking. As I understand it, the gray text just means that one of the individual demons is bypassing the group filter. Nudge may be weakly trying to nudge Amanda or the other demons to something, but another demon might have a reason for saying the same thing, I suppose.
Im going with the 2 day hope of it not being something major as i am sure Tina would have locked the basement door should anything dangerous/evil be down there?
Maybe its a spider or a mouse! 😀
And looks like either Phix was just asking Tina if she knew her favorite without buying it or had her tea to go 🙂
I just looked at yesterday’s comic again and whoever is in the corner there appears to be hanging from the ceiling. You can see a rope and what appears to be a pulley above. Odd.
I think – it’s someone with a flashlight, with their back to us, who is replacing the bulb in the light fixture whose cords we can see (but the shade is blocked by theur head). The pulley widget is there to allow someone to lower the shade down and change bulbs, then hoist the light up high where it lights more of the basement.
Uboat, I think you’re right. The feet of whoever is in the corner do not appear to be touching the floor. Yike. Nothing like a cliffhanger to start off the weekend.
Tina seems back to normal in the first panel, but she’s not behind the counter so I’m wondering why she was leaning forward in the third panel yesterday. Then she seems strangely passive in the third panel.
Ohh! I think I know why. She’s said that she’s afraid of the dark. Monica said that there wasn’t any way to turn on the lights on in the basement. Tina has probably never been down there since she bought the place. Tina is probably afraid to go down and check on Monica. Beyond that, Tina has usually been noncommittal and would be even more on edge following her talk with Phix.
It looked like she had stock down there so I would think she went down regularly. Perhaps she has eyelights as well, or uses a flashlight like the rest of us mere mortals.
It’s also possible one of the demons has something down there the rest don’t know about.
I was thinking that the boxes were left behind by the previous mysterious owner.
The idea of a flashlight did occur to me, but I was chalking it up as one of those things the reader isn’t supposed to think about. It’s also possible that there is a light switch somewhere where Monica didn’t find it. We will have to wait and see.
Yeah, I think that figure in the basement might have eyelights as well, it is the only way the shadow could be made out. I also believe the shadow resembles Tina most closely, at least from this distance…
Actually, I think the eyelight / facelight thing is too special for someone like Tina to have. Other than reading auras, I don’t think Tina is very powerful. I would put her on about the same level as Shelly.
I guess we’ll see if my speculation about a scream summoning Bud, Brandi and/or Jin is correct.
To date, as best memory serves, we haven’t had dealings with ghosts, with the possible exception of Jin’s haunting. Is Monica now seeing dead people? Demonstrably new talents are awakening; perhaps this is one of them?
I can’t remember a specific strip, but I seem to remember someone saying that ghosts don’t exist. In any case, ‘ghosts’ don’t seem to be a part of this strip’s mythos. Imprints, etc, in mica or quartz, sure, demons, sure, but there’s never once been any positive evidence of ghosts in the strip except for Jin’s mom. Being trapped in the demon world, I’m not 100% sure Jin’s mom actually qualifies as a ghost of the dead.
I wouldn’t use a television show to prove that intelligent life exists. But the fact that Monica likes to watch it from under a blanket shows that she can get into that frame of mind. Not the best frame of mind to wandering around a dark scary basement.
Actually, now that I think of it, I can’t even remember if Jin’s mom actually died before being trapped there – and being on my way out the door, I won’t be looking it up.
Jin’s mother was turned into a golem before being trapped in the demon realm. Ghosts and a spirit realm have been mentioned before as if they could exist.
Oh, yes, and Monica, Tina, and Bud all contributed to a conversation about the temples that concluded that they were meant to be a phone booth to the dead. But we haven’t yet seen any ghosts (that I recall) in this storyline.
Yet, this was explained away scientifically by Monica, who seems to have absolutely no place in her worldview for something as unscientific as ghosts, while merrily dealing with Golems, Demons, Sphinxes, and other mythos.
And the strip so far seems to be conforming to that worldview – whatever Mythos is out there, there’s some kind of explanation for it, however whacked. I think if we see a ghost, I don’t think we’re going to see them as a natural part of some spiritual cycle. More likely, we’ll see them as an abnormality, much like the Golems are – created by man, not a natural thing.
Hmmm, I’m thinking Amanda is going to see Monica in full eye light+face light/symbol mode — with that panic Monica should be fully “on”. That should be interesting for Monica to explain (and I don’t think claiming new skin cream and contacts will cover it) — I’m still hoping Monica finally breaks down and cuts all the BS, lies, and evasions and just lets Amanda into her world.
Actually, I had contacts the glowed under black light. (It was a pain — I couldn’t see anything, but it was good for spooking kids who were standing near bug zappers.) All she would need to do is carry something that passed for an ultraviolet light source and have an explanation for why painted a weird symbol on herself with clear fluorescencent goop.
Ah, but once “in” there is no getting out again. Once you’re aware of these things (and your demons know you know) things will be forever changed in Amanda’s world. It’s not right to drag someone into Monica’s world without their full knowledge and consent first. Not to mention a bit of prep work. The BS and lies are as much to protect Amanda as any other reason. Knowledge is not only power, but also makes you a target. In many cases ignorance really is bliss.
Monica hasn’t been sprouting BS, lies or evasions. Of all the circle of friends, Amanda is the one that had no paranormal abilities or experience, was not caught up in the shadow world swamping Monica, and had nothing to contribute to a very risky situation. And things were coming to a head very quickly; Monica had no time.
Amazing how much better these things work if you include all the little arrowheads and equal signs and thingees that tell the program what to do.
Also a pity there is no delete function on this site, and I have no choice but to leave the decaying carcasses of my failures underfoot for everyone else to trip over …
If you are so inclined, please delete this post, and the four above it – all the ones in this string with the really ugly cigar-smoking dog avatar. I’d do it myself, but …
On a somewhat unrelated topic, I was surprised at the recent talk about Amanda saying negative things, but it matches the earlier conversation. (I found that by clicking through your links, so thanks.) If Amanda tends to react cynically, Monica would be particularly reluctant to tell her about paranormal things. Instead, Monica may value her cynicism, which would help balance any tendency of Monica to get carried away.
Looking for something else I found this where Monica tells Amanda about Tepoz the day she released him from his statue form. http://wapsisquare.com/comic/01232002/
It’s working under Firefox for me, but in IE it goes to the home page. As a matter of fact, putting the url: http://wapsisquare.com/?randomcomic into the address bar of IE just brings up the home page, with http://wapsisquare.com/?randomcomic still in the address bar. I used IE 8, FWIW.
More reason to use firefox. I tried it out and it took me to the comic when the rogue demon came out of monica while she was attached to the calendar machine…and I got hooked and read from there to the latest. My employer’s gonna have my hide…
First of all – there is no index.asp, as WordPress is written in PHP, and so it could at most be index.php, if the server isn’t configured to serve up a totally different default index file.
And second – I’ve just clicked on the “random” button in both FF3.6.5 and IE8 while running WireShark, and for FF the server sends a “302 Found” redirect response, while for IE it sends the same regular “200 OK” it would serve if you just had gone to http://www.wapsisquare.com/ – strange.
But in essence that means it must be some code or configuration problem at the server side that treats FF and IE differently.
Again in IE8, http://wapsisquare.com/index.xxx just returns a page not found page, no matter which xxx I try. I don’t have any adbocker running. Also, I don’t even know what the difference is between ASP and PHP so I can’t analyze it further.
Actually, I had http://wapsisquare.com/?randomcomic. work correctly twice while I was playing around. One time was just after deleting some cookies, but I can’t repeat it.
Perhaps there is a short Index.asp file, the only function of which is to redirect to the Index.php file. There may be others for other languages as well, all designed to prevent needless errors. Basically part of a boiler plate of files placed in all similar directories.
Well, that was in my first paragraph. But I discovered, thanks to the history, that I had typed “http://wapsisquare.com/index.psp”, when I tried not using any parameters, so it’s not surprising that I got the page not found page in that case. “http://wapsisquare.com/index.php” results in the same thing as “http://wapsisquare.com/”, and index.asp and index.aspx don’t seem to exist.
Don’t go in the basement (reminds me of Sally Cruikshank’s short film, “Face Like a Frog.” Well, you’d have to see it; Danny Elfman music!).
I keep thinking of Shelly’s ghost child self that Tina sometimes sees. All growed up? I’m probably so off base! Another version of Tina? (Doppelganger?) Personally, I dig a good cliff hanger! But waiting till Monday…Ack! (;
The combination of upright head, back-lighting, and the position of the feet on the silhouetted figure makes me wonder. The position of the feet looks like they’re on the floor and the figure is facing Monica. The upright head is not consistent with a person hanged by the neck, since in such cases the victim’s head droops away from the knot. However, if the figure is standing facing Monica, what’s the source of the light on the wall behind the figure? Maybe the “pulley” system is actually the cord for a low-power lamp behind the figure.
There’s still the question, “Who (or what) is causing the silhouette?”
I agree with you on the position of the feet. I also don’t think anyone is being hung. It’s not at all clear to me that the person / thing is even under the pulley. It looks like the pulley is closer to the back wall, as a matter of fact, but I’m not sure. Also, there is a slack section of cord or rope. It doesn’t look look like it runs through the pulley, but if it does, the pulley can’t be supporting anything because of the slack. If the slack section isn’t part of the rope through the pulley, we can’t tell what the pulley is doing at all, because we have no idea what, if anything, is at either end of the rope. There is a horizontal pipe, board, or something head high that the rope could be attached to, be we can’t see that.
It would be strange to run a power cord through a pulley, but the slack cord or rope might be a power cord. I don’t know why it would power a lamp so dim, but but it might power something else that happens to glow.
One argument against a person’s eyelights lighting up the corner is the fact that Monica’s eyelights don’t seem to be casting any shadows, despite being able to produce lens flare. Yet they did seem to provide light in the temple ruins.
One thing that’s been in the back of my mind is the idea that what we are looking at another female golem. I would think that the wooden thing next to it might have been a shipping container, except it seems to have a hinged door. I also don’t know why it would be vertical or what purpose the pulley would serve.
(cackling and rubbing my dry, withered, claw-like hands together)
Thank you, I do try!
But seriously, there are two people down there (I think) and if I were poking around where I wasn’t supposed to be, in a basement that is reputed to have housed a murder, and someone behind me spoke, and I looked around and there was something with glowing eyes — !
Hey, it’s a theory.
Doh! If I came upon someone in the corner of said basement and they suddenly turned around and screamed, it would probably be just as bad. So, I’ll stick with thinking that Monica screamed, whether or not she was the only one.
BTW, “AAAAAHEEIIIII!!!!” seems like a Hispanic scream, doesn’t it?
Originally called “Man Being Eaten by Alligator”. Used in many films since Strar Wars sound designer Ben Burtt found it in a sound-effects library. Probably originally recorded by Sheb Wooley {“Purple People Eater”}…
I agree for the simple fact that when you want to make a supernatural revelation that isn’t in itself big, but can begin a big story arc, there’s no reason to start with a whimper when you can start with something memorable.
I think we’re meant to THINK someone’s hanging.
But I think when the lights come on, we’ll see something quite different.
Yes! Remember way back when Monica was just getting to know Katherine, and there was a scene where it APPEARED she walked into Katherine’s office to see her hanging corpse. BUT, that’s not what happened. This is when I began to suspect Paul is Evil……………..
I agree with eshmenk, to me it looks like someone standing there. The ‘rope’ looks like is running down from the ceiling on the left and through a ring, not pulley, and dangling behind the figure. If it is a power cord it would explain the backlighting effect. Or it could be a thin cord used as a leash.
Oh, and the box looks like a locker in a dressing room sort of thing.
Remember that this is Nudge speaking here, not Tina’s full entourage as usual. In this case, Nudge is probably trying to get Amanda to go down herself, instead of sending Tina down while she calls 911, or something.
For some reason, Nudge wants Amanda down there with Monica.
Short of finding a new ice cream stand, I have trouble imagining Monica being that delighted with any new discovery. Her mind seems to jump to the complications. She’d probably start worrying about the papers she might have to write and dealing with the press and stuff like that if it didn’t involve anything paranormal and she would come up with other things to worry about if it did. She hates things she doesn’t understand and likes it if she discovers something that confirms something for her, but I don’t think she had any ideas to be confirmed at the moment. That’s my take on her, anyway.
She may still hate things she doesn’t understand, but she is not as closed-minded as she was. She’s willing to accept that there are things she can’t explain, and is able to live with them.
Yeah, I didn’t mean to make it sound so negative. Probably the biggest issue on her mind would be trying to understand what she found better. What it was, why it was there, etc.
I just right-clicked on the pic of Brandi and selected “properties”…it is a legit gravatar, just not mine. Maybe some signals got crossed, but it seems to have been fixed…
Arrrgh !
That’s Nudge in the last panel, prolly goading Amanda to go down there…oooo! another cliff on which to hang!
Oh… oh you’re right. I was about to say, “Gee, Tina doesn’t seem TOO concerned. Like, “I hope Monica didn’t trip over a box in the dark” instead of “oh @%$& Monica just discovered my deepest, darkest secret.”
But you’re right… gray text is supposed to mean nudge is at work, huh? Interesting.
… … OH CRUD I just realized we’re not getting another update for a few days. Truly, we are dealing with not just your average every day comic artist, but a MASTER OF SUSPENSE!! :I
Well, it means that one of the demons that make up the collective is speaking directly – so far Nudge is the only one we know of who’s self-identified…
I think it’s slightly more of a “Uh…… Well. Dang.” And also a ‘there-might-be-a-reason’ where she’d need to worry.
PS: Whatever happened to Kevin? And Jin’s mom….
It’s also possible that Tina/Nudge believes there’s nothing down there worse than a mouse and the possibility of stubbing a toe. Then again, I don’t think that scenario is likeliest. I just really want to think that Tina would hurdle to the rescue if she knew something troublesome was after Mon.
Um, actually, Tina said that stubbing a toe in the dark is her big phobia. 🙂
Seriously, I think that she’s just too frightened to go into the dark basement and doesn’t even know what’s down there.
Correct.
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/irrationalfear/
Thanks for the link!. My searchfu wasn’t working . . .
Umm, “hurtle” to the rescue? As in “run quickly and a little recklessly?”
‘Cos I really doubt she’s going to jump over a bunch of woven wattled panels.
Xiutecuhtli, maybe that’s the decor in the shop – woven wattled panels; we haven’t seen them that clearly – and that’s the fastest way to the basement stairs? And Tina, with M in danger, may finally have the motivation to face her fears of what lies down in the stygian depths?
BTW, I do not recall seeing this one during yesterday’s “creepiest Wapsi Square edition” debate. To me, it is a no-brainer!
Uh huh.
If you like that one, may i direct you to the 99 Rooms?
The last couple strips outdo that one easily. Boiler Room has some creepy ambiance, but no content. Just “Okay . . . so yeah, that’s creepy, but why?” These last few days have definitely had the content to match the creepy.
Well , my girl Tina seems alright , but now what about Monica ? Tune in Monday !
Just when I think Tina can’t get any creepier, her spiral eyes go concentric…
I think the concentric circles are just the spiral when viewed somewhat edgewise.
Quick Tina, you need to distract Amanda so she does not run into the basement!
That didn’t quite sound okay to me.
Z
that sounds like someone just ran into something frightneningly unexpected, but harmless.
In other words, she’s okay.
Bad news: she screamed. Good news: she was able to scream?
That soun’s like a EMT’s reaction, or my grandma’s. “He can scream that loud, he’s fine, have a waffle.”
And on monday, Paul will cut over to an all Heather story arc that runs for a while. It’ll be awesome and take our minds off this cliffhanger. Once he’s reasonably sure the edge has been taken off, he’ll cut back with a animated graphic with sound that will scare the crap out of us when the thing finishes loading.
Kidding aside (I hope) it actually would be nice to know how Heather is doing.
No, Paul isn’t THAT evil.
I did notice, though, that Tina’s “voice” in that last panel (who we’ve established is the voice of “Nudge”) is intentionally in a corner of the speech bubble. Given how Tina’s demons have spoken in the past, that might mean that Nudge is speaking while in hiding…
Add to that the fact that it’s in what I like to call “demon color”…
I don’t think we know which of the individual demons is talking. As I understand it, the gray text just means that one of the individual demons is bypassing the group filter. Nudge may be weakly trying to nudge Amanda or the other demons to something, but another demon might have a reason for saying the same thing, I suppose.
Also, don’t tempt Paul to prove you wrong. 😉
A good call – I’d missed that …
Let me see. Is seeing this this better … or worse … than seeing Dietzel and Dylan watching TV at Monica’s place?
I don’t remember Amanda’s nose being quite that snub…
I restyled her profile in the more recent strips. 🙂
Is this the first full profile we’ve had since her nose job?
I was starting to give her a bump on the end of her nose here http://wapsisquare.com/comic/seleniumsaveus/
and exaggerated it here http://wapsisquare.com/comic/water-jugs/
and settled upon that look.
Distant relative of Jughead Jones?
At first, I had thought it was just a more jaggedly drawn style, to add a ‘shattered’ look to the screaming.
This is where her nose was more obvious to me: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/nothing-to-prove/. Paul squared it off a more today.
Makes me wonder if this will put Monica off of coffee for a while.
… probably not …
Actually, she’ll need a big honkin’ cupppa when this is over.
Yeah, nothing like a huge cup of caffeine to settle your nerves.
Im going with the 2 day hope of it not being something major as i am sure Tina would have locked the basement door should anything dangerous/evil be down there?
Maybe its a spider or a mouse! 😀
And looks like either Phix was just asking Tina if she knew her favorite without buying it or had her tea to go 🙂
I just looked at yesterday’s comic again and whoever is in the corner there appears to be hanging from the ceiling. You can see a rope and what appears to be a pulley above. Odd.
I think – it’s someone with a flashlight, with their back to us, who is replacing the bulb in the light fixture whose cords we can see (but the shade is blocked by theur head). The pulley widget is there to allow someone to lower the shade down and change bulbs, then hoist the light up high where it lights more of the basement.
Who is it, though? Have NO clue.
Uboat, I think you’re right. The feet of whoever is in the corner do not appear to be touching the floor. Yike. Nothing like a cliffhanger to start off the weekend.
Trying and failing to think of a pun there…
Don’t worry… you’ve got all weekend to think of one.
Meanwhile, whatever’s in the basement can just hang around until then…
…assuming they don’t have other plans for this weekend that would have them too tied up.
I would think knot!
Not a cliffhanger so much as a ropehanger?
Tina seems back to normal in the first panel, but she’s not behind the counter so I’m wondering why she was leaning forward in the third panel yesterday. Then she seems strangely passive in the third panel.
Ohh! I think I know why. She’s said that she’s afraid of the dark. Monica said that there wasn’t any way to turn on the lights on in the basement. Tina has probably never been down there since she bought the place. Tina is probably afraid to go down and check on Monica. Beyond that, Tina has usually been noncommittal and would be even more on edge following her talk with Phix.
It looked like she had stock down there so I would think she went down regularly. Perhaps she has eyelights as well, or uses a flashlight like the rest of us mere mortals.
It’s also possible one of the demons has something down there the rest don’t know about.
I was thinking that the boxes were left behind by the previous mysterious owner.
The idea of a flashlight did occur to me, but I was chalking it up as one of those things the reader isn’t supposed to think about. It’s also possible that there is a light switch somewhere where Monica didn’t find it. We will have to wait and see.
Maybe it’s the BODY of the previous owner – ya know, the freckled girl who didn’t know what black coffee was……………….
Yeah, I think that figure in the basement might have eyelights as well, it is the only way the shadow could be made out. I also believe the shadow resembles Tina most closely, at least from this distance…
Well, I think Tina’s hair has more of a square edge to it. To me, it looks more like Maya’s hair when it is up. The link that Kukki provided indicates that Tina doesn’t have eyelights and wouldn’t have been down there in the dark.
Actually, I think the eyelight / facelight thing is too special for someone like Tina to have. Other than reading auras, I don’t think Tina is very powerful. I would put her on about the same level as Shelly.
I guess we’ll see if my speculation about a scream summoning Bud, Brandi and/or Jin is correct.
To date, as best memory serves, we haven’t had dealings with ghosts, with the possible exception of Jin’s haunting. Is Monica now seeing dead people? Demonstrably new talents are awakening; perhaps this is one of them?
I can’t remember a specific strip, but I seem to remember someone saying that ghosts don’t exist. In any case, ‘ghosts’ don’t seem to be a part of this strip’s mythos. Imprints, etc, in mica or quartz, sure, demons, sure, but there’s never once been any positive evidence of ghosts in the strip except for Jin’s mom. Being trapped in the demon world, I’m not 100% sure Jin’s mom actually qualifies as a ghost of the dead.
I haven’t found them again, but there are several references to the tv series “Ghost Chasers” fairly early in the run.
And of course, we all know that TV shows about chasing ghosts are proof positive that they exist.
I wouldn’t use a television show to prove that intelligent life exists. But the fact that Monica likes to watch it from under a blanket shows that she can get into that frame of mind. Not the best frame of mind to wandering around a dark scary basement.
Actually, now that I think of it, I can’t even remember if Jin’s mom actually died before being trapped there – and being on my way out the door, I won’t be looking it up.
Jin’s mother was turned into a golem before being trapped in the demon realm. Ghosts and a spirit realm have been mentioned before as if they could exist.
Oh, yes, and Monica, Tina, and Bud all contributed to a conversation about the temples that concluded that they were meant to be a phone booth to the dead. But we haven’t yet seen any ghosts (that I recall) in this storyline.
Yet, this was explained away scientifically by Monica, who seems to have absolutely no place in her worldview for something as unscientific as ghosts, while merrily dealing with Golems, Demons, Sphinxes, and other mythos.
And the strip so far seems to be conforming to that worldview – whatever Mythos is out there, there’s some kind of explanation for it, however whacked. I think if we see a ghost, I don’t think we’re going to see them as a natural part of some spiritual cycle. More likely, we’ll see them as an abnormality, much like the Golems are – created by man, not a natural thing.
GODDAMMIT PABLO! ENOUGH WITH THE FREAKING CLIFFHANGERS ALREADY! YOU’RE KILLIN ME HERE!!!!
Hmmm, I’m thinking Amanda is going to see Monica in full eye light+face light/symbol mode — with that panic Monica should be fully “on”. That should be interesting for Monica to explain (and I don’t think claiming new skin cream and contacts will cover it) — I’m still hoping Monica finally breaks down and cuts all the BS, lies, and evasions and just lets Amanda into her world.
Actually, I had contacts the glowed under black light. (It was a pain — I couldn’t see anything, but it was good for spooking kids who were standing near bug zappers.) All she would need to do is carry something that passed for an ultraviolet light source and have an explanation for why painted a weird symbol on herself with clear fluorescencent goop.
Ah, but once “in” there is no getting out again. Once you’re aware of these things (and your demons know you know) things will be forever changed in Amanda’s world. It’s not right to drag someone into Monica’s world without their full knowledge and consent first. Not to mention a bit of prep work. The BS and lies are as much to protect Amanda as any other reason. Knowledge is not only power, but also makes you a target. In many cases ignorance really is bliss.
Monica hasn’t been sprouting BS, lies or evasions. Of all the circle of friends, Amanda is the one that had no paranormal abilities or experience, was not caught up in the shadow world swamping Monica, and had nothing to contribute to a very risky situation. And things were coming to a head very quickly; Monica had no time.
There’s yet that Monica didn’t clue in Amanda.
Well, that didn’t work …
“There’s yet another reason Monica didn’t clue in Amanda:”
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/happy-with-me/#comment-14844
Let’s see if I can build that on another try …
Once again, with profanity (no machine works without being lubricated with curses): Wapsi Square
Amazing how much better these things work if you include all the little arrowheads and equal signs and thingees that tell the program what to do.
Also a pity there is no delete function on this site, and I have no choice but to leave the decaying carcasses of my failures underfoot for everyone else to trip over …
The “on another try …” one seemed fine to me.
BTW, I use a FireFox addin called BBCodeXTra to help me with things like that.
PAUL:
If you are so inclined, please delete this post, and the four above it – all the ones in this string with the really ugly cigar-smoking dog avatar. I’d do it myself, but …
And there’s a reason Amanda might not want to initiate the conversation on her own. 😀
On a somewhat unrelated topic, I was surprised at the recent talk about Amanda saying negative things, but it matches the earlier conversation. (I found that by clicking through your links, so thanks.) If Amanda tends to react cynically, Monica would be particularly reluctant to tell her about paranormal things. Instead, Monica may value her cynicism, which would help balance any tendency of Monica to get carried away.
Looking for something else I found this where Monica tells Amanda about Tepoz the day she released him from his statue form.
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/01232002/
Ya know, looking at that, I think Amanda didn’t really buy it.
It’s been ages since I’ve said this….
GODDAMN YOU, PAUL TAYLOR!!!!
I’ve gone and bit all my nails off.
*shakes a fist*
nuh uh, spoilers. XD
urmm
very off topic here, but the site’s “random comic” button just always brings you to the current comic.
It works for me. Not sure what the problem could be.
It’s working under Firefox for me, but in IE it goes to the home page. As a matter of fact, putting the url: http://wapsisquare.com/?randomcomic into the address bar of IE just brings up the home page, with http://wapsisquare.com/?randomcomic still in the address bar. I used IE 8, FWIW.
Ahh, I got it! IE8 needs the URL to be http://wapsisquare.com/index.asp?randomcomic, which would work in other browsers, too.
I’ll send you my bill. 🙂
More reason to use firefox. I tried it out and it took me to the comic when the rogue demon came out of monica while she was attached to the calendar machine…and I got hooked and read from there to the latest. My employer’s gonna have my hide…
BTW, Tina looks smokin’ hot in the first panel…
I’m using Firefox and those links do the same thing to it here that they did with IE for you.
Ah, I just reloaded it and it works. I turned off adblock and it started working. Odd. I thought I’d already turned it off for this site.
First of all – there is no index.asp, as WordPress is written in PHP, and so it could at most be index.php, if the server isn’t configured to serve up a totally different default index file.
And second – I’ve just clicked on the “random” button in both FF3.6.5 and IE8 while running WireShark, and for FF the server sends a “302 Found” redirect response, while for IE it sends the same regular “200 OK” it would serve if you just had gone to http://www.wapsisquare.com/ – strange.
But in essence that means it must be some code or configuration problem at the server side that treats FF and IE differently.
np: Autechre – Autechre.ws Webcast – 02-03-2010
When in doubt, test it yourself.
Both http://wapsisquare.com/index.asp?randomcomic and http://wapsisquare.com/index.php?randomcomic work just fine.
Well, I tried http://wapsisquare.com/index.php?randomcomic in IE8 and I just get the homepage and the text in the address bar changes to http://wapsisquare.com/?randomcomic. Trying http://wapsisquare.com/index.asp?randomcomic or .aspx takes me to a random comic and the text in the address bar changes accordingly. I don’t know why it seems to work, but it does.
Again in IE8, http://wapsisquare.com/index.xxx just returns a page not found page, no matter which xxx I try. I don’t have any adbocker running. Also, I don’t even know what the difference is between ASP and PHP so I can’t analyze it further.
Actually, I had http://wapsisquare.com/?randomcomic. work correctly twice while I was playing around. One time was just after deleting some cookies, but I can’t repeat it.
Perhaps there is a short Index.asp file, the only function of which is to redirect to the Index.php file. There may be others for other languages as well, all designed to prevent needless errors. Basically part of a boiler plate of files placed in all similar directories.
What happens if you use http://wapsisquare.com/index.php?randomcomic so as to force the proper selection?
Well, that was in my first paragraph. But I discovered, thanks to the history, that I had typed “http://wapsisquare.com/index.psp”, when I tried not using any parameters, so it’s not surprising that I got the page not found page in that case. “http://wapsisquare.com/index.php” results in the same thing as “http://wapsisquare.com/”, and index.asp and index.aspx don’t seem to exist.
It’s always worked fine for me under Win-7 and IE8. Worked fine with XP and IE7 & IE8 before too. Perhaps it’s an Internet Explorer setting problem.
Either she’s scared silly, or just made an archeological discovery the likes as never been made in the basement of a coffee shop….
Tut’s “World’s Greatest Boy-King” mug.
Don’t go in the basement (reminds me of Sally Cruikshank’s short film, “Face Like a Frog.” Well, you’d have to see it; Danny Elfman music!).
I keep thinking of Shelly’s ghost child self that Tina sometimes sees. All growed up? I’m probably so off base! Another version of Tina? (Doppelganger?) Personally, I dig a good cliff hanger! But waiting till Monday…Ack! (;
The combination of upright head, back-lighting, and the position of the feet on the silhouetted figure makes me wonder. The position of the feet looks like they’re on the floor and the figure is facing Monica. The upright head is not consistent with a person hanged by the neck, since in such cases the victim’s head droops away from the knot. However, if the figure is standing facing Monica, what’s the source of the light on the wall behind the figure? Maybe the “pulley” system is actually the cord for a low-power lamp behind the figure.
There’s still the question, “Who (or what) is causing the silhouette?”
I don’t think whatever it might be is being hung by the neck. More like some sort of harness perhaps.
I agree with you on the position of the feet. I also don’t think anyone is being hung. It’s not at all clear to me that the person / thing is even under the pulley. It looks like the pulley is closer to the back wall, as a matter of fact, but I’m not sure. Also, there is a slack section of cord or rope. It doesn’t look look like it runs through the pulley, but if it does, the pulley can’t be supporting anything because of the slack. If the slack section isn’t part of the rope through the pulley, we can’t tell what the pulley is doing at all, because we have no idea what, if anything, is at either end of the rope. There is a horizontal pipe, board, or something head high that the rope could be attached to, be we can’t see that.
It would be strange to run a power cord through a pulley, but the slack cord or rope might be a power cord. I don’t know why it would power a lamp so dim, but but it might power something else that happens to glow.
One argument against a person’s eyelights lighting up the corner is the fact that Monica’s eyelights don’t seem to be casting any shadows, despite being able to produce lens flare. Yet they did seem to provide light in the temple ruins.
One thing that’s been in the back of my mind is the idea that what we are looking at another female golem. I would think that the wooden thing next to it might have been a shipping container, except it seems to have a hinged door. I also don’t know why it would be vertical or what purpose the pulley would serve.
What if it wasn’t Monica that screamed?
yer evil
(cackling and rubbing my dry, withered, claw-like hands together)
Thank you, I do try!
But seriously, there are two people down there (I think) and if I were poking around where I wasn’t supposed to be, in a basement that is reputed to have housed a murder, and someone behind me spoke, and I looked around and there was something with glowing eyes — !
Hey, it’s a theory.
Good point! And I wouldn’t even need to be in a basement, somewhere where I didn’t belong, or anywhere where there might have been a murder, either.
Doh! If I came upon someone in the corner of said basement and they suddenly turned around and screamed, it would probably be just as bad. So, I’ll stick with thinking that Monica screamed, whether or not she was the only one.
BTW, “AAAAAHEEIIIII!!!!” seems like a Hispanic scream, doesn’t it?
Yes it does sound like a Hispanic scream, but one they might give when having a good time, rather than in fear.
WIlhelm Scream?
Originally called “Man Being Eaten by Alligator”. Used in many films since Strar Wars sound designer Ben Burtt found it in a sound-effects library. Probably originally recorded by Sheb Wooley {“Purple People Eater”}…
Terry Pratchett quotes, E-man quotes, and now Wilhelm Scream? I thinking of changing my name to ‘Fairportfan-fan’….
I agree for the simple fact that when you want to make a supernatural revelation that isn’t in itself big, but can begin a big story arc, there’s no reason to start with a whimper when you can start with something memorable.
I think we’re meant to THINK someone’s hanging.
But I think when the lights come on, we’ll see something quite different.
Yes! Remember way back when Monica was just getting to know Katherine, and there was a scene where it APPEARED she walked into Katherine’s office to see her hanging corpse. BUT, that’s not what happened. This is when I began to suspect Paul is Evil……………..
I agree with eshmenk, to me it looks like someone standing there. The ‘rope’ looks like is running down from the ceiling on the left and through a ring, not pulley, and dangling behind the figure. If it is a power cord it would explain the backlighting effect. Or it could be a thin cord used as a leash.
Oh, and the box looks like a locker in a dressing room sort of thing.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for AAAAHIIIEEE! scream…
Just how does one prounounce that anyway?
aaaiiiieee? Ahh~~ . . . . yee~~. Soft on the ‘ y ‘, hard on the vowels.
I see. Stil, I’ve never heard anyone actually scream like that. It’s usually one monosyllabic discharge.
Try “Aye” or “Eye”.
I don’t have a wealth of experience hearing people scream, so I really can’t comment further. 🙂
Horror movies can be very educational in this regard.
Like in the “lemons” song (which was played for a Clorox Bleach commercial).
AHHH CLIFFHANGER AHHH
Cliffhanger right before the weekend.
OMG, Paul is the Sith Lord we’ve been looking for! *runs* 😉
You know if I was in a dark basement and there was a body hanging, I too would scream.
Well said Dr. Jeff… “I hope she is ok…” what part of bloodcurrdling scream leaves you with the idea that she is anywhere near ok… so wrong… lol
Remember that this is Nudge speaking here, not Tina’s full entourage as usual. In this case, Nudge is probably trying to get Amanda to go down herself, instead of sending Tina down while she calls 911, or something.
For some reason, Nudge wants Amanda down there with Monica.
Not necessarily Nudge, remember – just a single demon instead of the committee.
Any chance Monica is screaming with delight? As if an important discovery was just made?
She’s found an old prop from ‘La momia azteca contra el robot humano’!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050717/
THAT MOVIE WAS ON TURNER CLSSIC MOVIES a week or so ago! Gah, it was the hispanic ‘Plan Nine from Outer Space’! a classic.
Short of finding a new ice cream stand, I have trouble imagining Monica being that delighted with any new discovery. Her mind seems to jump to the complications. She’d probably start worrying about the papers she might have to write and dealing with the press and stuff like that if it didn’t involve anything paranormal and she would come up with other things to worry about if it did. She hates things she doesn’t understand and likes it if she discovers something that confirms something for her, but I don’t think she had any ideas to be confirmed at the moment. That’s my take on her, anyway.
She may still hate things she doesn’t understand, but she is not as closed-minded as she was. She’s willing to accept that there are things she can’t explain, and is able to live with them.
Yeah, I didn’t mean to make it sound so negative. Probably the biggest issue on her mind would be trying to understand what she found better. What it was, why it was there, etc.
Why do you have a different avatar?
Just curious…
You know, I have no idea…my gravatar is the same green triscele in every other comment, and I have no others…
Possibly didn’t link to you having a Gravatar?
I just right-clicked on the pic of Brandi and selected “properties”…it is a legit gravatar, just not mine. Maybe some signals got crossed, but it seems to have been fixed…