Better than having them as enenies, even with the GGGs at your command. Although the Golem Girls seem to be her true friends. Tina and Phix could change in a moment. I don’t think I could ever really trust either. Especially given they have agendas and responsibilities that could trump friendships, even if noone wanted it that way. We are all swept up in things bigger than ourselves.
I dunno about the Golems either. Jin defiantly is out, even before she was crazy, she was a master manipulator and pretty heartless. Brandi… I dunno… she is depicted as kind of a ditz, but everyone says how brilliant she is… Bud… Bud doesn’t like anyone. Except Brandi. If push came to shove, you know whose side she’d be on… even if it was against her other friends.
Heartless? She WAS kind of having to work to actually let time continue on instead of looping over and over. She had a justifiable reason to be a jerk at times.
I think Jin gets a bad rap cuz she HAD to play the jerk/villain in order to get everyone together to save the galaxy. Remember, this chick has lost her friends and loved ones about 60 times, give or take?
and a lot of her jerkiness came from Brandi’s instructions. well, not current brandi but one of the earlier brandi’s.
But yeah, I’ll second that The Golem Girls are good friends of Monica’s with her well being a primary concern. And that’s without their job description as ‘Guardians’.
This is the most down to earth , matter of fact , I remember hearing Tina sound .
Sounds like she’s telling Monica about the facts of life , as it were . Still , I don’t expect Monica to let this slide , no matter how things are done in the supernatural world .
The role of Phix has been discussed here on the 21st of June.
I talked to Paul this weekend at FallCon and we agreed that we still do not know what exactly her job is.
BTW: Thanks again for the books, giclee print and the original art! The repro sketch of Phix/Tina is a nice contrast with the previous sketch of Monica/Doubt!
That means that I acknowledged that I have not specifically said in the comic what Phix’s job is. I have shadows of what her job entails and where they are going and I like it that way. It keeps me from steering the characters or the story.
So, when Monica was in a panic about the Apotropaic Sphinxes of Southern India(21st June), this was a foreshadowing of the more recent confrontation between Tina and Phix.
So, when do we get back to Jin and her problems?
So Monica’s shoulder angels are Tina and Phix? Herd of demons on one side and the Sphinx on the other — that works out pretty well actually. Interesting to see Tina being totally straight.
Yep, the neat part in having shoulder angels that are mostly chaos and mostly order — with a lot of shades of gray thrown in — is that when they agree with each other, you know you really need to pay attention.
Susan in El Goonish Shive has “Logic” and (i think) “Enthusiasm” – Logic looks like a Spock version of Susan, Enthusiasm like an anime version, as i recall.
Still might be a good idea to take Bud along when she talks to Phix again, if she is going to confront her about the Tina incident. Phix may be just as much of a wild animal when provoked.
All in all, though, it doesn’t make really good sense that this group of wild animals is running a coffee place. If they are that bad, I don’t see them settling down well enough to do such a “domestic” thing.
Sentient wild animals would be the most dangerous of all.
Sorry, “sentient” is the wrong word. It means “capable of feelings”. Cats, dogs, and horses, et al, are sentient. They get happy, sad, angry, etc.
Although “sentient” sounds better, the real worry is a “SAPIENT” wild predator. A sapient wild herbivore could be a nasty pest, but not as dangerous as a sapient wild predator. Just ask any wooly mammoth or passenger pigeon.
You are technically correct. It is homo sapiens sapiens after all.Cape buffalo or elephants are not to be messed with. Any big game hunter will tell you that cape buffalo are the most dangerous animal to hunt in Africa. If they were sapient, it would be a bad thing. As it is they have been known to stalk and kill hunters. Elephants, legend has it, have been known to destroy entire villages because they were pissed off. We are small and weak, it is a good thing we have brains and opposable thumbs.
Moose Breath:
Actually, “sentient” has several meanings, one of which is aware. Implicit in awareness is some degree of intelligence, so you can see why the terms are sometimes interchanged.
W:
We seem to be redefining sapience lately; the recognized ability to think is no longer a property of man alone.
As for being small and weak – so, individually, are fire ants.
The word sapience means “wisdom,” which can also imply “self-awareness”. When did we begin to believe that instinctive, animal-level emotions were key to sapience?
I think Monica is beginning to learn that everything is not sweetness and light with Tina or Phix. That appearences are deceiving and the nice side of Tina and Phix is just that, one side only. Cookies and Tea Phix is not the only Phix there is. She is getting a taste of the not so nice side of those involved and the reality behind the social masks both wear. Monica has never seen Phix at her worst, as she probably was with the rogue demons. She needs to spend some time in the demon world and see what it’s really all about. See Phix, or one of her fellows, dispensing justice. The demon world idea of justice anyway. Perhaps Phix could give her a sort of Dante’s Inferno tour. That would make a great story in itself.
the way tina said it makes it sound like she is protecting phix like a friend would sort of a you’re both my friends and I don’t want to see you fight about me.
IT’S A SCRATCH FOR PETE’S SAKE! Good grief! Talk about freaking out over nothing. Phix was warning her, animal to animal and (if you’ve ever seen bears or tigers disciplining their young) for an animal a scratch just deep enough to smart and draw a drop or two of blood is a waring.
True enough, but it’s highly symbolic. It’s that next step up from just words (as in their previous encounter). So, while it’s hardly anything as far as harm is concerned, it convey’s the message that harsh punishment is waiting just around the corner for breaking the rules any more than she already has.
Am I the only one confused? What “rules” did Tina break? I don’t recall any time where she was endangering Monica or doing anything to harm anybody? What did I miss?
The Rules The rules…Tina is dead. The original Tina, anyway, and Her demons should be banished back to limbo, or wherever. They are breaking the rules just by staying here, or in Tina’s body. Yet, they are doing the something good FOR NOW. Phix is just telling the TIna Collection that they are being watch.
So, keep doing good.
PBH
I’ll have to start rewarding my good students in class by stabbing them in the chin with a 3 inch knife to remind them they’re doing good. I’m sure their parents will understand. It’s a reading rainbow.
The skin prick was not a reward, but a warning not to screw up any worse than she already has. She is not saying keep up the good work, but rather indicating the consequences should Tina stray too far afield of her present course. I get the impression none of the “judges” would mind if Tina bit the big one (again) and was no longer around to be a bother to them and the order of the demon realm. After all, if they allow her continued existance, how could they refuse others the same chance? I think it’s an exception to otherwise rigid demon rules they would rather not have thrown in their face again.
Way back when, it was Tina’s demons who chased young Monica into the path of that bus, thereby setting everything in motion. Now while this was apparently part of Brandi’s plan, and necessary to (finally!) fix the Calendar Machine problem and keep Jin’s Doubt from gaining control of all, it was still a major violation of the absolute “Never harm anyone but your host” rule and why Tina 2.0 has no memory of her past, human or demon. Since she’s already a known rule breaker, Phix probably comes down on her harder than normal. Also, it would seem Tina’s demons are exceptionally creative and in the past came up with ideas so incindiary there was some desire to eliminate her solely on that basis. Phix’s claw was a warning to keep things in bounds from now on.
yes, you can shout ans scream all you like at some people, they dont seem to notice, just keep blabbing…
Something more ‘physical’ or worse sure helps them to focus!!! (glass of water in face, etc..)
– I think the scratch would help the memory
better, too… 🙂
Could you repeat that?
One problem with this site is that we can’t delete one of our own posts. And then there’s…
TWO! Yes TWO problems with this site are that we can’t delete one of our own posts and we can’t edit a post after it’s been made. The third… I’ll come in again.
UGH!!! The more people say Phix is just doing her job and Tina needs to behave, the more I want to see Phix get her ass handed to her by something more powerful, more merciless, and .. well .. less expedient than her.
I agree about Phix. Gotta wonder who really set this all up. God? Chance? White mice? Are all these beings creatures from other worlds who evolved into intelligent beings billions of years before us, clashed with one another, and this is the result? Who is really pulling the strings?
Who are the “They” Phix talked about, I got the feeling she was on Tina’s side, defending her and the scratch was the result of the stress of having to defend her. [URL=”http://wapsisquare.com/comic/relish-your-ignorance/”]http://wapsisquare.com/comic/relish-your-ignorance/[/URL]
The enemy of my enemy is my friend… unless my friend’s enemy is my enemy because my friend’s friend is the enemy of my enemy’s friend who was My enemy’s friend’s enemy as my friend who was my previous enemy and became my enemy’s friend! Right?
With friends like these…?
Better than having them as enenies, even with the GGGs at your command. Although the Golem Girls seem to be her true friends. Tina and Phix could change in a moment. I don’t think I could ever really trust either. Especially given they have agendas and responsibilities that could trump friendships, even if noone wanted it that way. We are all swept up in things bigger than ourselves.
I dunno about the Golems either. Jin defiantly is out, even before she was crazy, she was a master manipulator and pretty heartless. Brandi… I dunno… she is depicted as kind of a ditz, but everyone says how brilliant she is… Bud… Bud doesn’t like anyone. Except Brandi. If push came to shove, you know whose side she’d be on… even if it was against her other friends.
Heartless? She WAS kind of having to work to actually let time continue on instead of looping over and over. She had a justifiable reason to be a jerk at times.
I think Jin gets a bad rap cuz she HAD to play the jerk/villain in order to get everyone together to save the galaxy. Remember, this chick has lost her friends and loved ones about 60 times, give or take?
and a lot of her jerkiness came from Brandi’s instructions. well, not current brandi but one of the earlier brandi’s.
But yeah, I’ll second that The Golem Girls are good friends of Monica’s with her well being a primary concern. And that’s without their job description as ‘Guardians’.
Who needs enemas?
Who needs Batman!? Yeah, I get triggered in strange ways…
Hmm… did not think the reply would land here. Aii-yoh…
Is M biting her lip?
Monica, that’s dangerous. Better let ME do that for you…………..Oh hi, Kev. Good to see you back on your feet (grumble)/
This is the most down to earth , matter of fact , I remember hearing Tina sound .
Sounds like she’s telling Monica about the facts of life , as it were . Still , I don’t expect Monica to let this slide , no matter how things are done in the supernatural world .
So – Tina (and the others?) are time bombs and Phix makes sure the clocks keep ticking — because if they stop….
Then Phix has too….fix them?
Phix and Tina are two of the most tantalizing characters in this strip. I can’t wait for their figurines to add to my collection.
Word .
Phix to scale with the others?
That’s a lot of resin. It’d take some serious problem solving to make it not cost $500.
I’d pay it.
Aren’t the Patch Together figures vinyl?
Why not a Phix plushie to scale?
What – only about half-again as tall as Monica and…
Oh! You’re talking about her in her real shape!
… of course, so was i.
Yes…
Friends we DEFINATELY don’t want to piss off!!
Remember… we are your friends. Look into my eyes…
We are your friends…
…now squawk like a chicken!
(I had the idea of hypnotic eyes too… It’s just Tina’s spinny silver eyes…)
The role of Phix has been discussed here on the 21st of June.
I talked to Paul this weekend at FallCon and we agreed that we still do not know what exactly her job is.
BTW: Thanks again for the books, giclee print and the original art! The repro sketch of Phix/Tina is a nice contrast with the previous sketch of Monica/Doubt!
What does that mean? That even Paul is not sure or Phix’s job in the story line (as yet)?
Hm-m-m…
“We” as in Paul and I, or “we” as in us readers?
Hm-m-m…
That means that I acknowledged that I have not specifically said in the comic what Phix’s job is. I have shadows of what her job entails and where they are going and I like it that way. It keeps me from steering the characters or the story.
So, when Monica was in a panic about the Apotropaic Sphinxes of Southern India(21st June), this was a foreshadowing of the more recent confrontation between Tina and Phix.
So, when do we get back to Jin and her problems?
I just noticed that the TopWebComics Vote button is up and Wapsi Square is NOT in the top 100! THIS MUST NOT STAND!
>CLICK<
Hey! My comic isn’t in the top THOUSAND of TWC! 😀
Yes, but your comment isn’t Wapsi Square!
On this page we complain about Wapsi being slighted.
Arrgh. “Your comic…”
Uh … what button? No can find.
Just above the friends list .
So Monica’s shoulder angels are Tina and Phix? Herd of demons on one side and the Sphinx on the other — that works out pretty well actually. Interesting to see Tina being totally straight.
Neither qualify as actually good here though. So they should be battling it out on the same shoulder.
Good and evil are irrelevant.
Chaos and order.
Yep, the neat part in having shoulder angels that are mostly chaos and mostly order — with a lot of shades of gray thrown in — is that when they agree with each other, you know you really need to pay attention.
Susan in El Goonish Shive has “Logic” and (i think) “Enthusiasm” – Logic looks like a Spock version of Susan, Enthusiasm like an anime version, as i recall.
I have still bitched out one friend for mistreating another. Authority be damned, bloodletting is not acceptable.
I can see M being the same way and snapping at Phix, then getting a sit down and chat over tea….
Still might be a good idea to take Bud along when she talks to Phix again, if she is going to confront her about the Tina incident. Phix may be just as much of a wild animal when provoked.
All in all, though, it doesn’t make really good sense that this group of wild animals is running a coffee place. If they are that bad, I don’t see them settling down well enough to do such a “domestic” thing.
Sentient wild animals would be the most dangerous of all.
“Sentient wild animals would be the most dangerous of all.”
Yes. People are.
You speak truth here.
Sorry, “sentient” is the wrong word. It means “capable of feelings”. Cats, dogs, and horses, et al, are sentient. They get happy, sad, angry, etc.
Although “sentient” sounds better, the real worry is a “SAPIENT” wild predator. A sapient wild herbivore could be a nasty pest, but not as dangerous as a sapient wild predator. Just ask any wooly mammoth or passenger pigeon.
You are technically correct. It is homo sapiens sapiens after all.Cape buffalo or elephants are not to be messed with. Any big game hunter will tell you that cape buffalo are the most dangerous animal to hunt in Africa. If they were sapient, it would be a bad thing. As it is they have been known to stalk and kill hunters. Elephants, legend has it, have been known to destroy entire villages because they were pissed off. We are small and weak, it is a good thing we have brains and opposable thumbs.
Moose Breath:
Actually, “sentient” has several meanings, one of which is aware. Implicit in awareness is some degree of intelligence, so you can see why the terms are sometimes interchanged.
W:
We seem to be redefining sapience lately; the recognized ability to think is no longer a property of man alone.
As for being small and weak – so, individually, are fire ants.
The word sapience means “wisdom,” which can also imply “self-awareness”. When did we begin to believe that instinctive, animal-level emotions were key to sapience?
Either way, I like Tina’s outlook on Phix.
I think Monica is beginning to learn that everything is not sweetness and light with Tina or Phix. That appearences are deceiving and the nice side of Tina and Phix is just that, one side only. Cookies and Tea Phix is not the only Phix there is. She is getting a taste of the not so nice side of those involved and the reality behind the social masks both wear. Monica has never seen Phix at her worst, as she probably was with the rogue demons. She needs to spend some time in the demon world and see what it’s really all about. See Phix, or one of her fellows, dispensing justice. The demon world idea of justice anyway. Perhaps Phix could give her a sort of Dante’s Inferno tour. That would make a great story in itself.
Reading your post I hear Billy Joel’s “The Stranger” playing in the background.
I love what Tina is carefully NOT saying. “I am your friend, and so is Phix… that doesn’t mean we are friends…”
…Actually, I’m surprised how well everyone gets along in this strip.
See “Amanda” and “Shelly”.
the way tina said it makes it sound like she is protecting phix like a friend would sort of a you’re both my friends and I don’t want to see you fight about me.
Phixx had banished herself to the library as she had been such a monster in the past. Her hurting tina seems as though the monster was sneaking out.
The potential will always be there.
IT’S A SCRATCH FOR PETE’S SAKE! Good grief! Talk about freaking out over nothing. Phix was warning her, animal to animal and (if you’ve ever seen bears or tigers disciplining their young) for an animal a scratch just deep enough to smart and draw a drop or two of blood is a waring.
True enough, but it’s highly symbolic. It’s that next step up from just words (as in their previous encounter). So, while it’s hardly anything as far as harm is concerned, it convey’s the message that harsh punishment is waiting just around the corner for breaking the rules any more than she already has.
Am I the only one confused? What “rules” did Tina break? I don’t recall any time where she was endangering Monica or doing anything to harm anybody? What did I miss?
The Rules The rules…Tina is dead. The original Tina, anyway, and Her demons should be banished back to limbo, or wherever. They are breaking the rules just by staying here, or in Tina’s body. Yet, they are doing the something good FOR NOW. Phix is just telling the TIna Collection that they are being watch.
So, keep doing good.
PBH
I’ll have to start rewarding my good students in class by stabbing them in the chin with a 3 inch knife to remind them they’re doing good. I’m sure their parents will understand. It’s a reading rainbow.
The skin prick was not a reward, but a warning not to screw up any worse than she already has. She is not saying keep up the good work, but rather indicating the consequences should Tina stray too far afield of her present course. I get the impression none of the “judges” would mind if Tina bit the big one (again) and was no longer around to be a bother to them and the order of the demon realm. After all, if they allow her continued existance, how could they refuse others the same chance? I think it’s an exception to otherwise rigid demon rules they would rather not have thrown in their face again.
She tried to “Nudge” Monica into revealing the existence of the library to Amanda prematurely.
Seems likely.
Way back when, it was Tina’s demons who chased young Monica into the path of that bus, thereby setting everything in motion. Now while this was apparently part of Brandi’s plan, and necessary to (finally!) fix the Calendar Machine problem and keep Jin’s Doubt from gaining control of all, it was still a major violation of the absolute “Never harm anyone but your host” rule and why Tina 2.0 has no memory of her past, human or demon. Since she’s already a known rule breaker, Phix probably comes down on her harder than normal. Also, it would seem Tina’s demons are exceptionally creative and in the past came up with ideas so incindiary there was some desire to eliminate her solely on that basis. Phix’s claw was a warning to keep things in bounds from now on.
I suspect it’s something more than that because of the conversation before she got cut.
yes, you can shout ans scream all you like at some people, they dont seem to notice, just keep blabbing…
Something more ‘physical’ or worse sure helps them to focus!!! (glass of water in face, etc..)
– I think the scratch would help the memory
better, too… 🙂
“warning” – typo attack!
yeah, any ‘edit’ mod possible yet???
“I’m a naughty girl and Mistress Phix makes me behave.”
Okay. I’ll be sixty-two next Friday, and i have just had proof that i am definitely a Dirty Old Man.
The Images that that conjured up…
Phix in a leather corset.
Big paddle and whip.
Stiletto heel boots on her paws…
“I’m a naughty girl and Mistress Phix makes me behave.”
Could you repeat that?
One problem with this site is that we can’t delete one of our own posts. And then there’s…
TWO! Yes TWO problems with this site are that we can’t delete one of our own posts and we can’t edit a post after it’s been made. The third… I’ll come in again.
I didn’t expect some sort of spanish inquisition…
I’m not going to say it, I’m not… dang it: “Nobody expects The Spanish Inquisition!” *bows head in shame*
“The Inquisition, The inquisition”
God could you Imagine Phix and Tina in the swim scene?
our main weapon is surprise, surprise and weapons…
Our TWO weapons are……. :):):):)
Cardinal Fang!
Read the charges.
oh god, I don’t wanna think of Tina saying that.
it sounds so… wrong…
I don’t think Monica is buying it…
The way I see it is more that Monica is of a mind to charge off an challenge Phix about her behavior.
Niiiiiice plot hole resolution, Pablo.
And no, SquishyD, I don’t think she buys it for a minute.
Plot hole?
“Plot hole” – why Phix and Tina are “at odds” with each other.
what? .. plothole? … RESOLUTION?
… I’m sorry, WHAT???
Hmmm. I changed my gravatar hours ago, but it doesn’t seem to have propagated. (Just checked the Gravatar.com site, and it does show changed there…)
Is it a pair of eyes staring nervously through a rectangular slit? I see it fine.
Yeah, it finally flipped.
As to what it is – look higher up the page.
UGH!!! The more people say Phix is just doing her job and Tina needs to behave, the more I want to see Phix get her ass handed to her by something more powerful, more merciless, and .. well .. less expedient than her.
… or better yet, being humbled out of her fucking self righteous attitude. (Phix that is).
I agree about Phix. Gotta wonder who really set this all up. God? Chance? White mice? Are all these beings creatures from other worlds who evolved into intelligent beings billions of years before us, clashed with one another, and this is the result? Who is really pulling the strings?
Who are the “They” Phix talked about, I got the feeling she was on Tina’s side, defending her and the scratch was the result of the stress of having to defend her. [URL=”http://wapsisquare.com/comic/relish-your-ignorance/”]http://wapsisquare.com/comic/relish-your-ignorance/[/URL]
“they” are the bigger bosses!!… there is *always* someone higher up, more powerful, etc… I’ll bet phix is only a ‘temple guard’ to them…
Screw all that, where’s Lakshmi???
You know, Monica’s hair looks really cute in that last panel.
Tough being friends with both a convict and their probation officer.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend… unless my friend’s enemy is my enemy because my friend’s friend is the enemy of my enemy’s friend who was My enemy’s friend’s enemy as my friend who was my previous enemy and became my enemy’s friend! Right?