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"Sudden Interest"
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Sudden Interest

by Paul Taylor on October 20, 2010 at 12:00 am
Story: Wapsi-Archive
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Discussion (95) ¬

  1. jwhouk
    October 20, 2010, 12:03 am | # | Reply

    “In people”… I’m thinking about that for a second.

    • jwhouk
      October 20, 2010, 12:04 am | # | Reply

      …Oh. OHHHHH! Ohhhh. (/edithbunkerimitation)

      • Amishrakefight
        October 20, 2010, 3:50 am | #

        Edithbunker?!! If anyone can relate to that name, wouldn’t make us prehistoric?

      • dadman
        October 20, 2010, 8:34 am | #

        Pipe down, you whippersnapper. People are trying to think in here!

      • Julie
        October 20, 2010, 8:52 am | #

        Not necessarily. I’m certainly not prehistoric. 🙂 My parents and other family members just ensured I was exposed to things they enjoyed. Well…plus Nick-at-Nite usually aired a bunch of older TV shows that I thought were interesting when I was a kid.

  2. Taz
    October 20, 2010, 12:05 am | # | Reply

    remember the wall of skulls the first time we met phix? She killed thousands……

    and now… she is bored

    • Paul Taylor
      October 20, 2010, 12:11 am | # | Reply

      You’re right about the wall of skulls, but there are no more rogue demons.

      • Taz
        October 20, 2010, 12:14 am | #

        which is why she is now bored…. One of the reasons for her life is not longer around. I hate to see her have a mid-life crisis.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 20, 2010, 1:32 am | #

        Maybe she’s having that now.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 20, 2010, 1:44 am | #

        No more for now. Who’s to say other rogue demons could not spring up again? Maybe not with the same purpose, but serious lawbreakers nenetheless.

      • StJason
        October 20, 2010, 3:04 am | #

        Re-he-heeely…? So Monica’s are law-abiding? Even though they conspired with Jin’s (and Brandi) to set up Monica as a portal (ie, kill her)?

        Methinks someone is hiding from the fuzz. And by fuzz, I mean Phix. Phuzz?

      • eschmenk
        October 20, 2010, 10:18 am | #

        Yes. Really. That was perfectly legal under their laws.

      • Francisco
        October 5, 2011, 7:14 am | #

        I suspect the rule breakers were probably Jin’s demons as I suspect they initiated the contact.

      • Hawk
        October 20, 2010, 12:12 pm | #

        You haven’t met my niece… {shudder}

    • Fatuncle
      October 20, 2010, 12:14 am | # | Reply

      No, not bored. Just no wish to return to the monster she once was. And if she killed demons by killing those who were “infected” with them … and her instincts were difficult for her to overcome …

      This gives one suddenly to think about just what was going on at the gates of Thebes.

      • Taz
        October 20, 2010, 12:15 am | #

        And true boredom is probably the wrong word. Seeking purpose may be better.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 20, 2010, 1:34 am | #

        She had a purpose. Running the library. Somehow it kept her occupied for a very long time.

      • eschmenk
        October 20, 2010, 11:46 am | #

        I think that was supposed to be self-punishment, though. IIRC, Brandi also called it a “hell of her own making”.

      • Eee
        October 20, 2010, 8:45 am | #

        I can see several reasons Phix might be willing to leave the Library and mingle with humans; but the main one is, with the Calendar Machine gone, she can now form relationships that will last past 2012, and be part of human social development. Including helping Monica et al with new problems…

      • Artemisia
        October 20, 2010, 12:18 am | #

        Yes If Oedipus was worthy of defeating her then what were the other Thebans doing… anyways not Oedipus’ fault… stupid self fulfilling prophesy

      • SoWhyMe
        October 20, 2010, 1:58 am | #

        Yes, well, these myths often have glaring “plot holes.”

      • SoWhyMe
        October 20, 2010, 5:49 am | #

        When a human dies, their demons don’t die. So killing a human should not kill a demon in the process. Seems to me Phix would have to do that directly, in the demom realm.

      • Atomic
        October 20, 2010, 7:02 am | #

        But the Demon moves on to another human, yes? Then the chase is on — again!

      • eschmenk
        October 20, 2010, 10:00 am | #

        Perhaps the demons don’t die as long as the person isn’t eaten by something that eats demons. Alternatively, perhaps Tina doesn’t know what she is talking about.

      • eschmenk
        October 20, 2010, 10:17 am | #

        One thing: the rogue demons couldn’t have gone rogue the way the did until Monica was hit by the bus. That’s what opened the doorway enough for them to cause problems with the general public. Tina’s involvement was what made them realize that the punishment was really a blessing in disguise. Perhaps in legendary times she was hunting demons merely for sport.

        I agree with Taz that she probably is bored, but also disgusted at what she is done in the past. Being bored doesn’t imply that she would revert.

      • Artemisia
        October 20, 2010, 11:09 pm | #

        But people have sacrificed themselves for ever and if you assume that there were more glyph readers in those days there very well might have been rogue demons: in the sense of criminals not following the rules
        anyways they don’t really know what will happen to Tina, maybe because up until now the rogue demons had an EXTREMELY short life expectancy so the demons figured that it wasn’t worth the risk. however Phix’ involvement in the modern world is far from what it used to be in the Theban/Egyptian days, so they may be thinking that it is worth it. I doubt Phix would make a full appearance in the world anymore and her human form lacks some of the hunting abilities of her natural form.

      • W.
        October 20, 2010, 12:13 pm | #

        So are you saying that the riddle was kinda like the test in Blade Runner? The demons would never have gotten it because they don’t grow old and die. So if they were in charge they would never have thought of the answer?Then WHAM Phix fixes them! *places another skull on pile*

      • Fairportfan
        October 20, 2010, 2:36 pm | #

        “I didn’t mean stupid creatures of demonic evil…”

      • txmystic
        October 20, 2010, 2:57 pm | #

        heh heh

      • Fairportfan
        October 20, 2010, 11:57 pm | #

        Thanks. I was pretty sure i misquoted slightly…

  3. Artemisia
    October 20, 2010, 12:20 am | # | Reply

    Tina’s mannick face resembles one I get occasionally except my tendons stand out l… VERY convincing Tina

  4. Alex C.
    October 20, 2010, 1:06 am | # | Reply

    Tina’s face in panel one is freaking me the hell out

    • SoWhyMe
      October 20, 2010, 2:33 am | # | Reply

      I find it amusing. Puts me in mind of the Aardman animation characters (Wallace and Gromet).

    • Eee
      October 20, 2010, 8:47 am | # | Reply

      Tina’s face is being… bizarrely… expressive today.

    • Dantelives
      October 20, 2010, 8:56 am | # | Reply

      Agreed. I think it has to be the creepiest Tina expression we have seen.

    • kramegame
      October 20, 2010, 10:45 am | # | Reply

      kinda reminds you that she has Vampire-Goth chick teeth implants

      • Fairportfan
        October 20, 2010, 2:38 pm | #

        Not implants/veneers – that was just a story she tells to explain them.

  5. Joe Minotaur
    October 20, 2010, 1:18 am | # | Reply

    And this week had started out so full of “Sunshine”.

  6. Jim
    October 20, 2010, 1:19 am | # | Reply

    I love Tina .

  7. Alechsa
    October 20, 2010, 1:22 am | # | Reply

    Yes…. it is so hard to think of Tina as a wild animal… when she is grinning with her canines exposed and her eyes all unfocused like that…

    Monica, you are seriously one giant living silver lining of a rain cloud.

    • SoWhyMe
      October 20, 2010, 1:41 am | # | Reply

      Yes, hard to think of her as a wild animal. Grinning lunatic with strange motabolism and prone to shape shift while delivering prophetic, yet manical monologues, but not a wild animal.

      • txmystic
        October 20, 2010, 3:00 pm | #

        what on earth do you mean??

  8. Fairportfan
    October 20, 2010, 1:31 am | # | Reply

    First panel – i was half-expecting Tina to disappear, leaving only her grin behind…

  9. NOTDilbert
    October 20, 2010, 1:42 am | # | Reply

    “Our name is Legion, for we are many……And we are having a two-for-one special on any fruit-filled bagels with purchace of any beverage!”

    • dadman
      October 20, 2010, 8:38 am | # | Reply

      Excellent offer—I believe I’ll have TWO!!

      Oh, and the conceit was so well crafted, the misspelling didn’t temper my appreciation. Well played!

  10. NOTDilbert
    October 20, 2010, 1:42 am | # | Reply

    “purchase”

  11. Locuranis
    October 20, 2010, 1:43 am | # | Reply

    Even though it’s a little creepy, I like freaky looking Tina for some odd reason.

  12. SoWhyMe
    October 20, 2010, 1:54 am | # | Reply

    Which is worse? Killing a human with a very short life span anyway, or killing an intelligent creature who has been around for uncounted ages, and would have been around for ages more? Especially considering the fact they have no afterlife in which to continue to exist. Once dead, they cease to exist at all. I’m also assuming humans do have a soul that goes on after death.

  13. Paula
    October 20, 2010, 1:56 am | # | Reply

    Hmm
    Yesterday she was pro-phix. Today Tina is anti-phix.
    Telling M that Phix prolly just killed people – not so good.

    When M closed one eye she could see Tina appearance. Maybe she can’t actually see the manic look that we can see?

    • SoWhyMe
      October 20, 2010, 2:02 am | # | Reply

      I think Tina was saying the demons could have ended up in people, not that they did. I don’t believe any human slaughter was involved.

      • eschmenk
        October 20, 2010, 3:17 pm | #

        I think it was more that they were in people until the lock/vacuum thing sucked them back into the demon realm. Once that was done they could be killed without killing people.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 20, 2010, 3:45 pm | #

        I’m not sure they would have ever been “in” people. As it is now, Tina’s demons aren’t in Tina as such. They, like all the demons, are still in the demon realm, exerting influence from there. As I understand it, the rogues were not planning on inhabiting people, as in replacing that person’s soul, but doing what Tina did and controlling them as groups. I’m not sure if this means they would have to take over dead bodies, like Tina’s demons, or they had to kill their host first, or what exactly. Their main goal was to replicate what Tina did in some way so they could forget and start all over again, time after time.

  14. Paula
    October 20, 2010, 1:58 am | # | Reply

    (off topic)

    It amuses me that the advert is for colgate plax with tina grinning like that ^^

  15. NOTDilbert
    October 20, 2010, 2:57 am | # | Reply

    Good news/bad news – the date conversions from the Mayan Calendar to the western one may be off by 50 – 100 years either way, per a news story on Yahoo. So the Apocalypse may be a century from now – or we may have already missed it.

  16. NOTDilbert
    October 20, 2010, 3:02 am | # | Reply

    The story at this URL (I hope):

  17. NOTDilbert
    October 20, 2010, 3:04 am | # | Reply

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20101019/sc_livescience/endoftheearthpostponed

    Maybe that worked.

    • SoWhyMe
      October 20, 2010, 5:27 am | # | Reply

      If I may suggest. It’s usually better to “reply” to your own post so as to keep everything related in one thread (white box).

      Anyway, that’s too bad since it will give the doomsday predictors a way out when we are still here on Jan. 1, 2013. A lot of people have made a lot of money selling that snake oil to the gullible. Now they can carry it on for many years more. I was so looking forward to the responses these idiots were going to give when their pet theory failed to pan out. On the other hand, the ones who used planetary and stellar alignment on that particular date to “prove” it all, will still have to do some fast talking. That may be fun yet.

      • dadman
        October 20, 2010, 8:43 am | #

        On your last point, I always appreciated the term “Moronic Convergence” to describe the planetary alignment of a few decades ago. Seemed much more apt than “Harmonic Convergence” in addressing the hyperventilating predictions of doom and destruction that went on before it happened.

        “Moronic Convergence” is still a useful phase, though I doubt Edith Bunker would have used it. 🙂

      • SoWhyMe
        October 20, 2010, 6:33 pm | #

        Indeed. the Coast to Coast radio show is probably the epicenter for Moronic Convergence on a nightly basis.

  18. Season
    October 20, 2010, 3:49 am | # | Reply

    I think SoWhyMe’s right about Phix keeping the demons out of people (though at first I thought it meant she was offing the people inhabited by rogue demons). Hmm. What makes a demon “rogue” anyway? What makes one not rogue? Does it mean a demon who’s free of a physical body? (Ow; my brain hurts, lol!)

  19. StJason
    October 20, 2010, 5:37 am | # | Reply

    If only Gravitar did animated gifs!

    • StJason
      October 20, 2010, 5:39 am | # | Reply

      Grr… Apparently the comments section doesn’t do IMG tags…

      http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j390/StJason/wapsi1_6.gif
      …I think Paul should adopt this as his new tagline. Very pithy.
      :[ <—-Fangs

      • SoWhyMe
        October 20, 2010, 5:51 am | #

        I like it! Very good.

      • Linux Learner
        November 20, 2010, 11:52 am | #

        Very solid concept, but it goes by a little quickly for me.

  20. ziggy78eog
    October 20, 2010, 8:07 am | # | Reply

    Monica is four foot nothing, how did she get up on that counter? Did Tina give her a stepping stool?

    • RayvenWolf
      October 20, 2010, 8:59 am | # | Reply

      You must not be tall still as an adult. First skill you learn and hone to a fine edge; hopping on counters without help. I’m short I know it, learning how to get to stuff when there is no step stool is just something that goes in the short gal/guy’s bag o tricks.

    • Julie
      October 20, 2010, 9:33 am | # | Reply

      Bah! Climbing is easy if you’re determined enough. I hopped onto many a tall counter as a child (before I broke the 4′ mark). Heck, my parents even tell a story of walking into a room to find me (at the age of 3) sitting on a counter taller than I was, when there wasn’t anything nearby that would have aided my climb.

      • eschmenk
        October 20, 2010, 11:10 am | #

        Perhaps you could poit, but forgot how? (Or maybe you still do it?) 😉

        Monica could poit up there if she really needed to, but I agree that it shouldn’t have been that hard to jump up, even though she isn’t athletic. Her legs aren’t as short as her torso, relatively speaking. How tall the counter is relative to her seems to vary, but I think this page is typical.

      • Julie
        October 21, 2010, 8:23 am | #

        Ooo…perhaps I should have hypnosis therapy to remember how to poit then. 🙂

      • Fairportfan
        October 20, 2010, 2:43 pm | #

        Grandkid Vellie – she’ll be three in January – climbs everything.

        … and she can be ninja-quiet when she likes – first you know she’s been Into Stuff is when you see her disappearing back upstairs with Something She Shouldn’t Have..

        We’ve come to the conclusion that she’ll support her parents in their old age by working as an international jewel thief.

      • Julie
        October 21, 2010, 8:25 am | #

        Heehee…I never mastered ninja quiet. That said, I was “too smart for my own good.” My parents had to learn the hard way not to tell me how they knew when I was lying or doing something wrong. I started mimicking the sounds they wanted or expected to hear when I was doing something I shouldn’t. 😀

    • eschmenk
      October 20, 2010, 11:15 am | # | Reply

      She is 4′ 10″. http://wapsisquare.com/about/cast/attachment/monica-villarreal/

  21. txmystic
    October 20, 2010, 9:21 am | # | Reply

    would have been in people?? Anyone seen this year’s crop of congressional cadidates?

    (heh heh)

    • PBHunnydew
      October 20, 2010, 10:40 am | # | Reply

      Yes The door is closed, so what about the demons who are still here in people or (rogue)loose? Did they get suck into the demon realm before the M’s portal close? Or Is Phix busy huntering them down as their hosts’ die?

      PBH

      • eschmenk
        October 20, 2010, 11:35 am | #

        The one rogue demon that we saw got sucked into the demon realm. I think the other ones did, too. I think we didn’t see them because they had been sneakily messing with other people. Only the rogue “queen” and Monica’s doubt wanted to interact with anyone in the temple; the rest were keeping themselves invisible. I think the idea was that Monica had enough control of her end of the doorway to banish a demon if she were aware of them, so the rogue demons weren’t normally revealing themselves to her.

      • txmystic
        October 20, 2010, 2:50 pm | #

        And a lot of them were chasing after Bud and Mayahuel…

      • SoWhyMe
        October 20, 2010, 3:25 pm | #

        It was my understanding that the rogues were about to break out, but had not, at that time, done so. Just the one came out, and only because she thought Monica was about to die and was going to do something about it (like slugging Shelly on the way). The rest were biding their time, waiting for the right moment to emerge and inhabit someone else, perhaps as a group to pull a “Tina.”. I think Monica had to be the first victim, because, once in control of her, they could come and go as they pleased.

      • eschmenk
        October 20, 2010, 10:08 pm | #

        I took it that the rogue demons were already using Monica’s doorway to get inside other people’s minds and thereby causing the sort of stupid self-destructive behavior shown on reality TV and so on. Of course, matters didn’t actually improve as soon as the doorway was locked. Oops! (Maybe they did in the Wapsiverse?)

      • eschmenk
        October 20, 2010, 10:47 pm | #

        The rogue “queen” uses the present perfect tense (I had to look that up) here to indicate that this has been going on for some time as I take it. Also, I think that what the rogue demons were doing basically amounted to what the demon was doing right then to Monica — just bothering someone that they shouldn’t be bothering — except that the demon was doing more gloating than anything else in that case.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 20, 2010, 11:22 pm | #

        Hmmm … you may be right. So how were they going to recreate what Tina did? As to the reality show thing, etc., people’s own demons can probably be blamed for most of that. Not to mention natural stupidity and ego. The rogues may have simply exacerbated the situation in some.

        Paul is being no help whatsoever on all this. I think he enjoys the confusion.

      • eschmenk
        October 21, 2010, 11:09 am | #

        I think the idea is that it’s fair if a person has to deal with their own demons, but any extras are too much and not allowed. Monica’s demons weren’t enough to make her suicidal, but when Tina’s joined in, it was enough. (When Shelly told Tina why she was being punished it was more explicit that Tina’s and Monica’s demons had been working together.) Likewise, if the rogues can tip the balance and make someone do something that they otherwise would be able to resist, that’s a problem.

        One thing that’s not clear is why the rogues were so sure they would get the same punishment that Tina’s demons got. The seem to have been wrong about that.

      • Linux Learner
        November 20, 2010, 12:01 pm | #

        something to bear in mind is that rogues required permission from Jin’s Doubt to use Monica as a doorway, which limits how many would have done so.

      • Linux Learner
        November 20, 2010, 12:01 pm | #

        oops: see http://wapsisquare.com/comic/notmortality/

  22. eschmenk
    October 20, 2010, 9:55 am | # | Reply

    So, is this true? It certainly doesn’t match what Phix said, but often people have multiple reasons for doing something. It also doesn’t explain why Phix was apparently in her self-imposed exile before Monica was hit by the bus. I don’t think Tina understands as much as she think she does.

  23. kingklash
    October 20, 2010, 11:32 am | # | Reply

    Why mingle now? Obviously there are more shops that cater to tall librarians than there used to be.

  24. txmystic
    October 20, 2010, 1:09 pm | # | Reply

    My take on Tina’s comment is that if rogue demons were allowed to escape through an open portal like Monica (had she not been “shut” after 55+ attempts), the humans they inhabited would have been destroyed along with the demons by Phix and the other sphinx/hunters, and the carnage would have been massive…

    • SoWhyMe
      October 20, 2010, 6:49 pm | # | Reply

      I wonder how massive it might have been. The one comic that showed the group of rogue demons only depicted a few. Of course, there may have been many more, but I always had the impression it was a relatively small band.

      We really need some clairification from Paul on all this.
      To wit:
      1) What sort of numbers were in the rogue group?
      2) Were the rogues already out and about doing mischief before the calendar machine incident?
      3) Were they going to actually inhabit people’s bodies instead of doing their thing from the demon realm?
      4) Were humans also killed during the rogue purge?
      5) Are Tina’s demons acting from the demon realm, or are they inhabiting her body directly?

      Perspiring minds need to know.

  25. kramegame
    October 20, 2010, 2:29 pm | # | Reply

    I think panel 1 is the best shot we’ve seen of Monica in a long time, you know with the short hair and all.

    • SoWhyMe
      October 20, 2010, 3:31 pm | # | Reply

      I’ve noticed Paul has gone back to drawing the hair like he did originally, as opposed to the brushed forward pixie look Monica had when the hair was first cut. This, despite it being short, makes her look more “normal.”

  26. jwhouk
    October 20, 2010, 7:21 pm | # | Reply

    Paul Taylor interview: When Cute Gets Creepy

  27. Lily
    October 20, 2010, 8:45 pm | # | Reply

    Oh god Tina is terrifying in the first panel.

    • SoWhyMe
      October 20, 2010, 11:24 pm | # | Reply

      I think it’s a cute and funny pose. In a macabre sorta way.

      • Fairportfan
        October 20, 2010, 11:59 pm | #

        Bingo.

  28. bogen papier
    October 21, 2010, 2:15 am | # | Reply

    Rut-ro Raggy! Like has anyone seen Scrappy lately?

  29. Centaur71
    January 16, 2024, 8:30 am | # | Reply

    Alas, you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few skulls…

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