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Latest Medusa Comic

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by Paul Taylor on October 25, 2010 at 12:00 am
Story: Wapsi-Archive
Characters: Monica, Phix, Tina
Location: The Library

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Discussion (163) ¬

  1. Jim
    October 25, 2010, 12:01 am | # | Reply

    Uh-oh !

    • DJenser
      November 17, 2011, 6:40 pm | # | Reply

      She looks like she’s getting ready to knock the “Nudge” out of her!

  2. Fairportfan
    October 25, 2010, 12:01 am | # | Reply

    Ooo-o-okay – Phix is in human form, but Even Bigger Than Before.

    Her fist is almost as big as Tina’s head.

    • NOTDilbert
      October 25, 2010, 12:15 am | # | Reply

      Seems like that’s about how big she’d be if her spinx form was fully human, IIRC.

      • Fairportfan
        October 25, 2010, 12:41 am | #

        Yep. Remember, yesterday we were discussing just what form she was in…

      • NOTDilbert
        October 25, 2010, 12:45 am | #

        So that fist weighs, what, twenty-five pounds?

      • Fairportfan
        October 25, 2010, 2:00 am | #

        Forget what it weighs. Consider the muscle behind it.

      • eschmenk
        October 25, 2010, 7:21 am | #

        Girl’s got biceps!

    • MAKATTACK
      October 25, 2010, 7:12 pm | # | Reply

      I’m actually curious about why she’s in her human form.
      You’d think her old-school monster form would be a better look for killing.

      …course, she prolly didn’t wanna get kitty fur on that dress…

  3. Joe Minotaur
    October 25, 2010, 12:03 am | # | Reply

    Sh-h-h! This is a Library, not a Tag-Team Match!

    • eschmenk
      October 25, 2010, 7:21 am | # | Reply

      OK, you tell Phix that.

      • Julie
        October 25, 2010, 8:06 am | #

        Yeah…we’ll watch from a safe distance. 🙂

      • Joe Minotaur
        October 25, 2010, 10:01 am | #

        A Minotaur vs a Sphinx? I’d pay to see that!

      • DorthLous
        October 25, 2010, 4:12 pm | #

        There you go:
        http://yafgc.net/?id=480

      • Joe Minotaur
        October 25, 2010, 7:08 pm | #

        Thankx DorthLous,
        Now all I see are topless Phixes. Ah-mooo!

  4. Artemisia
    October 25, 2010, 12:04 am | # | Reply

    okay so someone Phixed the hulk?
    It must be terrible for Monica to see her friends fighting like that.
    *facepalm* of course it is captain obvious

  5. CrashFu
    October 25, 2010, 12:04 am | # | Reply

    Huh. For some reason the first two thoughts into my head were “Damn, Phix puts the she-hulk to shame” and “Phix should be a politician…” o,o

    Followed closely by, “Oh, right, TINA NOOOOOO!!!”

  6. Artemisia
    October 25, 2010, 12:05 am | # | Reply

    is that white stuff on the walls Tina’s blood?

    • Jim
      October 25, 2010, 12:07 am | # | Reply

      I don’t believe so .

      • Artemisia
        October 25, 2010, 12:10 am | #

        It just seemed that the reaction had two possible meanings:
        she was attempting to stop the fight, in which case those are just dramatic shadows
        or she was bemoaning the flattening of her friend by her other friend
        mind you Tina hasn’t had her full story so she is unlikely to die now so all that thought was irrelevant

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 12:32 am | #

        I’ve noticed, also, Monica’s exclamatory interjections have changed drastically from “Dear Goodness”

      • the Fansheep
        October 25, 2010, 2:47 am | #

        i belie the white is sunlight inside the room

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 4:46 am | #

        Would sunlight actually stream into a place that is in another dimension? Or is this the part of the annex that is in the real world?

      • Fairportfan
        October 25, 2010, 5:49 am | #

        If Phix wants sunshine streaming in her windows, then sunshine streaming in her windows she shall have!

        You going to argue the point with her?

      • eschmenk
        October 25, 2010, 10:04 am | #

        It looks to me like it’s dark outside and the lights are on. It looks very different in daylight.

      • Fatuncle
        October 25, 2010, 5:14 pm | #

        This sounds stupid of me, but it never occurred to me that the Library might have an outside.

      • Platonix
        October 25, 2010, 9:32 pm | #

        As someone who plays D&D and is thus very accustomed to extraplanar settings, I can say it is not stupid of you to think that.

  7. Raider Geek
    October 25, 2010, 12:17 am | # | Reply

    Sweet!

  8. The Old Wolf
    October 25, 2010, 12:18 am | # | Reply

    I get the Feeling that Nudge is not really an integral part of the collective. An interloper, perhaps? A rogue hiding out with the others? Or maybe I’ve just had too much Dr Pepper today…

    I am so addicted to Wapsi, it’s just not funny.

    • MAKATTACK
      October 25, 2010, 5:50 am | # | Reply

      hey! I thought of Nudge being a rogue last week! get your own ideas!
      ;p

      • Julie
        October 25, 2010, 8:09 am | #

        Now now….let’s not play the “I thought of it first” game. I’m pretty sure Fairportfan, eschmenk, Fat Uncle or someone else that theorizes frequently probably beat everyone to it. 😀

      • Fatuncle
        October 25, 2010, 5:28 pm | #

        “If you don’t write it down, it didn’t happen.”

        The fact that Nudge may be rogue has been explicitly stated some time ago, though most may not have seen what was said that way.

  9. Fairportfan
    October 25, 2010, 12:18 am | # | Reply

    There’s a scene in the silly Western “The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County“. Mickey Rooney, as the town drunk, has been teasing his friend, the Charley blacksmith, played by Dan Blocker about something that humiliated him in front of pretty much the whole town.

    Nothing malicious, just being an amusing asshole, as usual.

    Finally, Charley can take no more.

    For the first time in his life, apparently, he loses his temper. He reaches out, grabs Tom by the shirtfront, and lifts him off the ground, and slo-o-w-wly draws back a fist.

    We get a shot from Rooney’s PoV, up that long arm, past Vlocker’s enraged face, to that cannon-ball-sized fist.

    And then we get the reverse angle, down that long arm to his face above the hand clutching his shirt, and he says, almost wonderingly, “Oh, Charley, that’s gonna hu-u-u-r-rt…”

    I kinda get the same vibe from Tina here.

  10. SoWhyMe
    October 25, 2010, 12:19 am | # | Reply

    Well, I’ll be darned. They were in the library I didn ‘t think so. And noone was right about Phix. She wasn’t in her winged form or in her statuesque form. Hulk-Phix (Phulk?) is new.

    I wonder if Phix is pulling a “scare the demon out” routine, like in the pyramid. hoping to get Nudge to leave so she can deal with her bitch a bitch? Or is all this juat a dream? Gad, I hope it’s not a dream.

    Grab Tina and poit like you’ve never poited before!

    • SoWhyMe
      October 25, 2010, 12:25 am | # | Reply

      And there is the possibility for Phix’s fist to stop just short of Tina’s head and to nose flick her instead.

      • NOTDilbert
        October 25, 2010, 12:28 am | #

        Heh heh. Yeah.

      • Xavienne
        October 25, 2010, 5:00 am | #

        I was just thinking that. Although I am also thinking Tina’s going to need a chance of undergarments.

    • Fairportfan
      October 25, 2010, 12:27 am | # | Reply

      I don’t think they were in the library Friday. I think the transition came when Monica was distracted by Phix’s actions. Tina’s head was slammed onto the counter in the shop; Monica is still sitting on the counter next to her in Friday’s page; she’s on her feet in front of a different background in this one.

      • sq_rigger
        October 25, 2010, 5:21 pm | #

        I went back to Friday’s last panel and looked. The greyed-out background has the arched windows of the library, not the rectangular windows/signs of the coffee shop. Paul telegraphed what was happening and we all missed it.

    • SoWhyMe
      October 25, 2010, 12:51 am | # | Reply

      Come to think of it, Monica often poits like she’s never poited before. Perhaps I should say poit Tina away faster than you’ve ever poited someone before. She can poit bullets “around” her without even thinking about it in times of great stress, perhaps she will do the same for Tina.

      Of course, then she will have to deal with a Sphinx who is at her peak of blood lust and enraged that her quarry has just vanished. Monica better poit to Bud’s place not long thereafter.

      • Akamar
        October 25, 2010, 2:26 am | #

        Poit the Sphinx.

        … After that, I’m at a complete loss. Where could you run fast enough? Other than to the GG’s? And then, could you explain quick enough?

      • Fatuncle
        October 25, 2010, 2:45 am | #

        I have been thinking about a confrontation between the Golem Guardians and Phix for some time. I think it would last just about as long as it took Phix to utter the phrase that shut down the GGG’s and returned them to inert clay form. Remember, Phix has every record ever made in that language.

      • Artemisia
        October 25, 2010, 5:51 am | #

        wouldn’t she have to write it on their bodies… that would be some pretty intrusive fighting, personal space much

      • eschmenk
        October 25, 2010, 8:00 am | #

        Phix said that she can’t be harmed in the library, but she also said that Brandi could have protected Monica from her. That made it sound as if the GGGs are more powerful.

        It sounded as if Phix was equating herself with the books in that strip, so I’m not sure if Phix could be harmed by the GGGs or not.

      • Wyvern
        October 25, 2010, 1:10 pm | #

        Good point, Fatuncle. Artemisia, it’s likely the GGGs are more powerful, but that’s not the same thing; Phix has access to all the golem design notes ever made and could know of any back doors into their systems. If I were designing a doomsday device, I’d put in several shutdown features – and be selective about who I told about them.

      • Fatuncle
        October 25, 2010, 5:36 pm | #

        Artemisia, I have been thinking that the writing on the G3’s is something like the program or mechanism, and the spoken word of command the key that triggers it. Do you remember, in the wine cellar, Monica commanding Bud to remember, with a word? I’d link to that strip, but can’t find it.

      • Fatuncle
        October 25, 2010, 3:45 am | #

        If, in fact, Phix hasn’t shut down Monica’s capability to poit from within the Library.

        I don’t think we have seen a fraction of what Phix can do. And the Library is the place of her power, and she is in it.

  11. deitydrjeff
    October 25, 2010, 12:19 am | # | Reply

    Goodbye, Nudge. It’s been nice knowin’ ya. *scratches name off Xmas list* :p

  12. txmystic
    October 25, 2010, 12:22 am | # | Reply

    How/when did they poit over to the library? And is this the annex, or the actual library?

    • Fairportfan
      October 25, 2010, 12:28 am | # | Reply

      Right after Phix slammed Tina’s head on her own counter, apparently. See my comment above.

  13. txmystic
    October 25, 2010, 12:23 am | # | Reply

    Dontcha jest luuuuuuuv it when the Monday edition after a cliffhanger is an even bigger cliffhanger??

    • NOTDilbert
      October 25, 2010, 12:29 am | # | Reply

      Yeah – there’s a shorter wait for our next fix.

      • Joe Minotaur
        October 25, 2010, 12:46 am | #

        Don’t you mean “Phix”.

      • StJason
        October 25, 2010, 2:51 am | #

        Get a gryphon yourself, we’ve done the ‘Phix’ pun to death. Unicorn come up with other mythological puns if you try.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 4:26 am | #

        I think we know who to send Phix after next. You are clearly possessed by a rogue pun demon. And they are the hardest for Sphinxes to scrape off the bottom of their shoes afterwards.

      • Artemisia
        October 25, 2010, 5:53 am | #

        What? Sphinxes wear Converse yay!!!

      • Fatuncle
        October 25, 2010, 5:53 am | #

        ICK! But worth the trouble, just to squash ’em.

      • W.
        October 25, 2010, 3:26 pm | #

        Now don’t be catty because you aren’t feline fine about the punny things being batted around. You should just pounce on the opportunity phix it.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 4:07 pm | #

        AAAAAUGH! Shock treatments! Now!

      • Analyst
        October 25, 2010, 6:26 pm | #

        Youse Guys are Phixated.

      • MAKATTACK
        October 25, 2010, 7:40 pm | #

        hey Analyst! you ain’t Lion

  14. Biker Matt
    October 25, 2010, 1:01 am | # | Reply

    Nudge is an independent, not a rogue. That’s likely why she could give an answer that stumped Phix.

    That said, if Phix causes any real harm, she undoes all of the progress she made over the millenia.

    Not to mention it now looks like Tina is in a similar (if inverted) situation as Shelley. Definitely something worth investigating.

    • SoWhyMe
      October 25, 2010, 1:07 am | # | Reply

      Not really, Tina’s already dead. She would not be killing a human as such anymore. Besides, she may have already backstepped when she “delt” with the rogue demons.

      • Akamar
        October 25, 2010, 2:27 am | #

        And this is her function, no?

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 4:28 am | #

        Normally, yes, but I have the impression Phix had not done any of that stuff for hundreds of thousands of years. Until recently. But I could be wrong.

      • Artemisia
        October 25, 2010, 5:45 am | #

        57×1451 ya Id say quite a long time

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 7:49 am | #

        Thats just the time loops. As I understand it she was in the library long before those even began.

      • eschmenk
        October 25, 2010, 8:45 am | #

        I think it’s more like tens of thousands, not counting the loops. The sphinxes started going after the rogue demons after humans learned to write. I’m not sure, but I think IRL that happened less than 10,000 years ago. In the Wapsiverse, Lantis civilization was destroyed 12,500 years ago. If you give that a few thousand years to develop, I still think it would have only started to develop ~20,000 years ago. Still, it was well before the looping started.

        I keep wanting to add a zero myself. It’s strange how recently civilization developed.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 4:02 pm | #

        You’re probably right. Still, I seem to remember seeing the number 200,000 years somewhere. Perhaps is was in a post or some such, or I’m getting comics confused (again).

      • Centaur71
        January 16, 2024, 8:39 am | #

        TAG! YOU’RE IT, SPIRAL EYES!

  15. Little Sister
    October 25, 2010, 1:09 am | # | Reply

    Oh no! Somebody please save Nudge.

    • jwhouk
      October 25, 2010, 6:00 pm | # | Reply

      …why?

      • MAKATTACK
        October 25, 2010, 7:42 pm | #

        Cuz nudge is inside Tina, and we don’t wanna see Tina broken just so Phix can get some ole fashioned revengence on Nudge

  16. TlalocW
    October 25, 2010, 1:14 am | # | Reply

    Must have been one hell of a riddle that Nudge stumped Phix with to get the latter all worked up like this. Normally, only puns induce this kind of rage.

    • SoWhyMe
      October 25, 2010, 1:41 am | # | Reply

      I’ll bet it was a pun and probably had something to do with the sphincter.

      • Artemisia
        October 25, 2010, 5:57 am | #

        or she was in the library reading our never ending “Phix” puns and never got around to eating nudge

  17. SoWhyMe
    October 25, 2010, 1:15 am | # | Reply

    Wonder if this could be part of Nudge’s plan too (assuming she actually has one). She is, after all, in the library now.

    • kramegame
      October 25, 2010, 9:40 am | # | Reply

      hmm, didn’t phix say ANYONE who acts with agression in the library, the books turn to dust in their hands? maybe her plan was to make Phix unable to be the librarian, thus making her life a living hell?

      • MAKATTACK
        October 25, 2010, 7:44 pm | #

        uh… I think the turn to dust bit only works for those who are aggressive towards the BOOKS. otherwise Sphix wouldn’t be able to maul any trespassers in her realm.

      • Linux Learner
        November 20, 2010, 2:35 pm | #

        Any OUTSIDER. http://wapsisquare.com/comic/turntodust/

  18. quasarmogul
    October 25, 2010, 1:16 am | # | Reply

    Despite the fact I love Nudge to death, I can’t get over how awesome musclebound Phix looks like.

    • Wyvern
      October 25, 2010, 1:16 pm | # | Reply

      You’re just distracted by the Little Black Dress. Wait until you see her in her ragged purple pants. Phix smash!

      • quasarmogul
        October 25, 2010, 4:55 pm | #

        Technically wouldn’t it be a Big Little Black Dress?

  19. D. Walker
    October 25, 2010, 1:34 am | # | Reply

    Is it me, or is this sort of… goofy?

    Phix looks like an older sister rough-housing her sibling. She sort of looks like she’s grinning, and “Tag!” is such a non-threatening and playful thing to say…

    And then Monica is just inadvertantly hilarious how silly she looks. She’s reacting as if she’s really worried, but it comes across as comedic and campy rather than actually worried.

    It’s like that one scene from Troll 2. “They’re eatting her! And then they’re going to eat me! OH MY GOOOOOOOD!”

    ~D.

    • Julie
      October 25, 2010, 8:20 am | # | Reply

      I think it’s just you. 🙂 I mean, Monica’s face in the last panel…if viewed by itself…might be a little giggle inducing, but Phix looks terrifying to me. I think the use of “Tag” is a bit sinister and not goofy at all.

      • eschmenk
        October 25, 2010, 10:22 am | #

        Perhaps Paul is showing Phix acting like a cat. Cats play with their prey. That’s a bit sinister from the point of view of the prey, at least. 🙂 I wouldn’t take it as being goofy, either.

  20. Leak
    October 25, 2010, 1:36 am | # | Reply

    Ah, so they’re just playing tag in the library?

    • SoWhyMe
      October 25, 2010, 1:47 am | # | Reply

      Tag for keeps. You’re it! I mean … you’re dead! If it is tag, it’s a really looooooonnnng time between moves.

      • StJason
        October 25, 2010, 2:48 am | #

        It’s like freeze tag. But permanent.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 4:17 am | #

        Toe tag?

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

        Oooo…that was bad. 🙂

      • Opus the Poet
        October 25, 2010, 3:51 pm | #

        Agreed, that one was bad. And besides Tina has already been “toe tagged”.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 8:22 pm | #

        But don’t puns have an inverse ratio of badness to quality? The worse they are, the better they are?

  21. StJason
    October 25, 2010, 2:47 am | # | Reply

    Crap. This ruins my theory that poiting is a skill associated with the runes. But if Phix does it too… unless she has some runes in/on her too…

    Theory: If Tina’s demons ran her because Tina died (and somehow Nudge got in there then…), then killing her again might drive Nudge out and let Tina’s demons to regroup.

    …More likely, Phix views it as expedient to eat them now and deal with it later…

    Interestingly enough, ‘Apotropaic’ implies repulsion. Crucifixes and garlic are apotropaic to vampires. In theory, Phix’s presence alone should be enough to drive off demons.

    • Artemisia
      October 25, 2010, 5:48 am | # | Reply

      maybe she tapped into Monica’s power and the fact that monica was thinking about the library in order too induce poiting

    • eschmenk
      October 25, 2010, 7:34 am | # | Reply

      I’ve been wondering if she was trying to frighten Nudge into leaving. Is it possible that she’s trying to frighten Nudge to jump into Monica?

      I don’t think she’s tapping into Monica’s power. Phix made it to the Earth from the library and back before.

      • Fairportfan
        October 25, 2010, 2:43 pm | #

        As Head Demon Wrangler?

      • StJason
        October 26, 2010, 1:21 am | #

        @eschmenk: But I had the impression she went through the ‘branches’ of the library. Putting one down can be done by magic, but until this weekend, I didn’t think that Phix could just poit herself. Kinda like an elevator, she could set the floor, but had to travel through the box. But M and the GGs could just jump between floors.

  22. Jim
    October 25, 2010, 4:19 am | # | Reply

    I can’t help but imagine Phix lightly punching Tina’s arm and says , ” Twice for flinching . “

    • SoWhyMe
      October 25, 2010, 4:49 am | # | Reply

      And one more for cardiac arrest.

  23. MAKATTACK
    October 25, 2010, 4:20 am | # | Reply

    That’s an impressive dramatic “no” from Monica

    • SoWhyMe
      October 25, 2010, 4:35 am | # | Reply

      Yep, and better than showing her face scrunched up and saying “EWWWW!” I’m surprised her eyes haven’t lit up by now.

    • jwhouk
      October 25, 2010, 8:10 am | # | Reply

      Don’t you DARE link to “that website” over the Dramatic NOOOOO!

      • Fairportfan
        October 25, 2010, 2:43 pm | #

        ?

      • jwhouk
        October 25, 2010, 6:02 pm | #

        No, you are NOT going to get me to link to TVT.

  24. jordinyc
    October 25, 2010, 4:24 am | # | Reply

    OK so, let me guess: both Monica AND myself are having inappropriate, irrational, needless, and invalid reactions, and everyone saw this final epilogue coming but us?

    I’m not sure what’s going to upset me more, zombie girl doing her last panels here, or the inexorable smug 4chan-esque jokes that follow. “Another one bites the dust. Twice!” “K THX BAI” “Boom, headshot” “Dibs on the trailor!”

    • Dusty668
      October 25, 2010, 5:38 am | # | Reply

      For one I saw nothing heading this way, much less coming. Frankly along with the screaming, I would also be dampening the tile.

  25. Xavienne
    October 25, 2010, 5:04 am | # | Reply

    I’m just envisioning Phix suddenly giving Tina a noogie from hell and then bringing out the cookies.

    • Fatuncle
      October 25, 2010, 5:13 am | # | Reply

      Knowing some of the things Paul has pulled out of his hat in the past, that may be more plausible than any theory I’ve managed to come up with!

  26. Davecom3
    October 25, 2010, 5:28 am | # | Reply

    Actually, it’s going to turn out to be a pat on the head and Phix saying, “You pass!”

  27. Artemisia
    October 25, 2010, 6:04 am | # | Reply

    hate to raise a sour subject but their hair looks exactly the same. to the effect that it took me a while to realize that this was indeed Phix rather than some weird combo of Monica and Shelley

    • Xavienne
      October 25, 2010, 7:37 am | # | Reply

      Has it never happened around you that women’s hairstyles tend to follow trends?
      I’ve worked places where the styles changed in waves; the trend-setters get the latest cut and then little by little everyone else follows. Not a big shock to anyone who has observed women in large groups.

      • Fairportfan
        October 25, 2010, 2:45 pm | #

        …and if the worked really closely together, they got cranky on the same days, too.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 3:01 pm | #

        Yes, cycle synchronization is a terrible thing to behold.

      • Artemisia
        October 25, 2010, 3:53 pm | #

        Yes but I doubt Monica was basing her look on Phix or vice versa

      • StJason
        October 26, 2010, 1:24 am | #

        I’ve worked in situations like that. You learn to keep your head WAY DOWN when you are the only male in those situations…

  28. Andy
    October 25, 2010, 6:29 am | # | Reply

    ummm….. A B C, base on me?

    …..meep…..

    • SoWhyMe
      October 25, 2010, 8:42 am | # | Reply

      What?

      • txmystic
        October 25, 2010, 8:55 am | #

        I think it might be a reference to calling yourself “safe” in the middle of a game of tag…kinda like calling “time” in dodgeball when three red rubber balls are inches from your face…

      • Andy
        October 25, 2010, 10:09 am | #

        Correct. You tag base, say that then proceed to wreak havoc by blocking whoever’s “it” from tagging others. Oh and you can totally form chains 🙂

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 3:04 pm | #

        Okay, I’ll take your word for it. I never did that sort of thing.

  29. Atomic
    October 25, 2010, 7:12 am | # | Reply

    I’m voting for the “Scare Nudge Out Into The Open” option.

    M’s Doubt has revealed that the destruction of the Calendar Machine has caused/allowed for a Demon Rules of Order change — specifically, Nose Flicks! Demons are now allowed a form of direct physical action on the humans they manifest in, not just nightmares and whispers anymore.

    Phix is a guardian of sanity in this whole affair, authorized and empowered to terminate human life, if necessary, to halt/destroy the demons who are screwing people over big time.

    Nudge, as previously pointed out, is outside the loop it seems, both in terms of the Calendar Resets and Tina 2.0’s prior existence. Tina 2.0s demons have lost their collective memories for reasons unknown but Phix describes as a punishment. Nudge seems to have moved in with the crowd (hiding from Phix, no doubt) and relying on the other demons amnesia to blend in as one of them

    Likely Outcome: Nudge flees Tina 2.0, showing some empathy for once in her existence, thus letting Phix use other measures to allow Tina to live and separate Nudge from her. Nudge then is dealt with in some incredibly interesting way keeping all of us on our toes for the coming months while Tina goes back to her coffee shop little the wiser but somehow relieved, as all those memories have fled her.

    Or it’s something else entirely! Hey — it could happen!

    • eschmenk
      October 25, 2010, 7:43 am | # | Reply

      Is Phix trying to get Nudge to hop into Monica? Why else would Phix have transported Monica to the library?

      We know why the collective demons lost their memories. They were punished because they got Monica to hurt herself by making her try to commit suicide by running in front of the bus. (Tina asked what she had done 5-10 strips earlier.) The same thing was confirmed when Jin’s demon visited Monica.

      • Atomic
        October 25, 2010, 9:14 am | #

        Thank you for pointing out that strip! One of those tip-of-the-tongue memories I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

        So that raises the question — since all turned out well in the end (Calendar Machine Gone), is there any point to the punishment (amnesia) now?

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 3:18 pm | #

        Sonofagun. I never paid attention to that. That essentially means Brandi killed Tina.And it wasn’t really the demon’s fault. “But … but we got permission from a golem!” They were just doing what demons do under Brandi’s direction/influence.

      • jwhouk
        October 25, 2010, 6:05 pm | #

        Which essentially explains why Brandi doesn’t remember anything about her “past” self.

    • eschmenk
      October 25, 2010, 7:52 am | # | Reply

      I think that only doubt demons can do the nose flick. I think it was a reward for helping with the rogue demons and didn’t have anything to do with the calendar machine.

    • Julie
      October 25, 2010, 8:40 am | # | Reply

      I don’t think that Tina 2.0 will get to forget this little episode. They’ve only forgotten everything up until the time their punishment began, and I don’t know about you, but this would leave an indelible mark on my brain.

    • Artemisia
      October 25, 2010, 3:58 pm | # | Reply

      would it be any better for Tina 2.0 if they did scare nudge out? remember she did that experiment where nudge left and then she stood around and “looked into a spider” we can’t have forgotten that Nudge leaving Tina wouldn’t be showing Compassion It would be leaving the rest trapped in a shell that was utterly paralyzed

      • jwhouk
        October 25, 2010, 6:06 pm | #

        …or would it be? If Nudge left, the other demons would still be able to function. Nudge was just the “platoon leader”, not the “sole operator”.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 6:12 pm | #

        I didn’t get that from that strip. Though I did wonder why she shut down just then and there. You may be right.

      • Platonix
        October 25, 2010, 9:49 pm | #

        It would explain a discrepancy. I thought that was just how Tina “sleeps”, but we’ve also seen her sleeping in a more human fashion.

        Problem, though: When Tina “wakes up” (frying the spider) she doesn’t say or do anything suggesting that Nudge returning is what just happened.

      • StJason
        October 26, 2010, 1:28 am | #

        I think it was to increase the creep factor. Though Tina has admitted that she doesn’t sleep as much as lay in bed and wait until morning.

        …I can remember when I first read that strip thinking that maybe the demons were battling inside, hence the flames. I may have to re-adopt that theory depending on how this pans out…

  30. ziggy78eog
    October 25, 2010, 8:02 am | # | Reply

    I think we’re about to see just how indestructible Monica is; I just know she is going to impose herself in between Tina, and that great big club, also known as Phix;s fist.

    • SoWhyMe
      October 25, 2010, 8:40 am | # | Reply

      I doubt she’s that fast. But she must be there for a reason known only to Phix. She could have taken Tina at any time when Tina was alone. Must be a reason to drag Monica along.

      • Julie
        October 25, 2010, 8:46 am | #

        Ooo…good point! I hadn’t even gotten far enough past my initial reaction to the strip to think of Phix’s reasons for poiting Monica, too.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 3:51 pm | #

        I should have added this was not entirely my idea as Eschmenk had already conjectured Monica might be there for Nudge to flee into.

      • ziggy78eog
        October 25, 2010, 6:10 pm | #

        With all of the demons she already has, does Monica have any vacancies for one more?

      • Atomic
        October 25, 2010, 9:26 am | #

        Excellent!

        This may be a setup for an apotheosis of sorts,or at least a synthesis, of Tina 2.0 for all of her demons.

        Sequence: 1a. Nudge flees Tina to save Tina and face the music. Nudge demonstrates empathy and responsibility.

        or:

        1b. Monica interposes her self to protect Tina and halt Phix. Again, Nudge reveals herself to protect Monica and Tina.

        2. Phix relents, but calls the remaining demon host to exit and reveal. “See? These are who you’re dealing with.”

        3. Delightful “Come to Jesus” meeting with Phix sorting out what’s what and Monica learning tons of background. Tina 1.0 is simply an empty shell at this point and rests, catatonic. (insert Spider Sunrise comic link here)

        4. Phix works with the demons to coalesce within Tina 1.0 to become Tina 2.1 — A new Soul is born!

        Happy ending? Problems solved??

      • Fairportfan
        October 25, 2010, 2:46 pm | #

        Poiting is (theoretically) instantaneous.

      • SoWhyMe
        October 25, 2010, 3:35 pm | #

        Ya know. I think poiting is actually a relatively low tech scam. Here’s how I see it working. When the poiter thinks to poit, some being stops all time, at least in the solar system, or whatever. Everyone and everything freezes. A couple of the beings swoop in via a flying craft and pick up the poiter. If anyone else is nearby, they leave a little self destructing device, which they can suspend in mid air. This device will, when time resumes, make the poiting noise and flash of light. They fly to the other end and the poiter is dropped off, with another little device. Once out of sight, time is resumed, the little device goes off, and, *poof* there they are! Simple.

        1) Suspend time and pick up client
        2) Drop off client and resume time
        3) ???
        4)Profit!

      • StJason
        October 26, 2010, 1:37 am | #

        Question: If time is stopped, how are these beings moving? If D=v/t, then by definition, they cannot move if there is no time (t=0).

        The answer is in the noise. If it were simply moving of mass, then there would be a bang, as air was displaced. Instead, we get a nice energy sound (as well as occasional velocity changes, as evidenced by Monica in the porta-potty). Far more likely is that ‘poiting’ is a conversion to energy and reassembling at a set point. This also makes the ‘only poit to places you have been’ rule make sense too.

    • fairportfan
      May 24, 2021, 6:36 pm | # | Reply

      That comes {much} later.

      She gets he face ripped off.

      {For realz}

  31. W.
    October 25, 2010, 8:30 am | # | Reply

    Phix is a power level up from the sexuh librarian, but she is not in sphinx form. I think if this was going to be a lethal confrontation Phix would be manifested in her true Aspect, sphinx-form or maybe even Winged lion.

    • Opus the Poet
      October 26, 2010, 12:06 am | # | Reply

      I think you might be right, this is only going to be a beatdown and not something fatal.

  32. eschmenk
    October 25, 2010, 9:03 am | # | Reply

    I just realized that I was interpreting the game of tag backwards. If Nudge is “it”, then Phix needs to run and hide! The person who is “it” tries to tag the other players. Does Phix not know how to play the game?

    I’ve been wondering if Phix is doing this for Monica’s benefit. Phix brought Monica there for some reason. What is it? I suggested above that maybe Phix was trying to get Nudge to jump into Monica. Perhaps Phix is trying to get Monica to save Tina by utilizing some power that Monica doesn’t know she has.

    • eschmenk
      October 25, 2010, 9:47 am | # | Reply

      Well, I guess Phix tagged her on Friday. Is that why Phix said, “Tag, Nudge! You’re it?” So is today’s pose daring Nudge to tag her back?

      Did Nudge ever tag Phix in the first place? Is it possible that sphinxes are susceptible to personal demons? Was Nudge ever Phix’s demon? Could Nudge have nudged Phix somehow and made her be overly aggressive or punish herself?

      • The Old Wolf
        October 25, 2010, 11:47 am | #

        “Will Beowulf conquer the Dragon? Will Tristan return to Iseult? Will Peewee find her dolly? Tune in this channel tomorrow night and in the meantime, wake up and hurry to your neighborhood druggist for a cake of Skyway’s Kwikbrite Armor Polish, the better polish used by the better knights sans peur et sans reproche.” -Heinlein

      • eschmenk
        October 25, 2010, 3:14 pm | #

        “Will Peewee find her dolly?”

        :confused: (probably won’t work)
        Um, Pee-Wee Herman was a “he”, more or less, and I think he was missing a bicycle, not a dolly. Actually, Dolly found his playhouse, so she wasn’t missing. I don’t know what other Peewees might be missing dollies (dollys?). Peewee is a brand name for camera dollies, though. That’s about all I could figure out from Google.

      • NOTDilbert
        October 26, 2010, 1:49 am | #

        Old Wolf is quoting Robert Heinlein’s HAVE SPACESUIT – WILL TRAVEL, one of Heinlein’s “juvenile fiction’ stories. Sigh. Good stuff.

      • Platonix
        October 25, 2010, 9:54 pm | #

        I interpret Phix saying “Tag you’re it” as a one-liner describing what she’s about to do. Next strip, unless something prevents it as has been discussed, will depict a roughly ten-megaton tagging.

  33. Hawke
    October 25, 2010, 3:31 pm | # | Reply

    Man, I hope Phix doesn’t kill Tina. I love Tina..

  34. Mark
    October 25, 2010, 6:24 pm | # | Reply

    No reason to get to worried yet. This is not a strip that has bad things happen to be people, but it loves to tease something might happen. We should get some good information out of this though. ^_^

  35. UncleRice
    October 25, 2010, 6:31 pm | # | Reply

    Ok, I take back any implication of innocence on the sphinxes’ part. The evidence suggests that the sphinxes are unstable and prone to flipping out over non-standard answers to riddles and sent by an Authority of questionable morality.

    • Fatuncle
      October 25, 2010, 8:18 pm | # | Reply

      I’m not sure that any definition of morality to which humanity holds is binding upon Phix. We tend to think of the universe, our religions, and our interactions with other species in a very human-centric fashion. I am beginning to suspect that to the Library, and its agents, humans are much like dogs. It would explain Phix killing humans to get to demons. If your pet contracts rabies, no matter how beloved and valuable he may be, there is only one thing you can do — put the dog down.

      Do you remember this strip? It puzzled the hell out of me when Paul posted it. I am beginning to wonder if he was showing us a metaphor as to the status of humanity in this tale. Are we collectively a Deitzel? Are we even capable of understanding just what Nudge’s crime may be? Could Monica explain a Ponzi scheme, and the resulting damage to the pensions of widows and orphans, to Dietzel? The concept would be beyond him.

      Monica’s dismay is much as Dietzel would react if Monica was taken into custody by the police.

      ——————————————————————-

      I think SoWhyMe and Fairportfan pretty well nailed it — Phix had a diagnostic tool that suddenly started showing false positives. So she stopped using it, and had to find another way.

      There are at least three ways this situation can progress (that I can see) and danged if I can see any indication as to which is more likely — or if Paul has a fourth way, which is just as likely!

      • Fatuncle
        October 25, 2010, 8:21 pm | #

        Sorry, This strip ; I forget I can’t copy and paste directly from MS Word.

      • W.
        October 25, 2010, 9:03 pm | #

        You just had two quotes trailing the the address, that’s why it didn’t work.
        http://wapsisquare.com/comic/dietzel-speak/” as opposed to: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/dietzel-speak/ amazing that ” can mess stuff up. I mess up a lot so I always look for why stuff doesn’t work.

      • Linux Learner
        November 20, 2010, 2:52 pm | #

        I’d never compose code of any sort in a word processor. I would stick with a text editor. You’re almost certainly in Windows, which has Notepad as its bundled text editor, and some very grave limitations. You might prefer Notepad++ or some other giftware text editor, available from this page on nonags.com, a wonderful resource for Windows users.

  36. sco3tt
    October 25, 2010, 6:39 pm | # | Reply

    Phix in a murderous rage . . . still hot.

  37. Bizarro
    October 25, 2010, 7:38 pm | # | Reply

    This is off the topic of the current comic but I felt I need to say this.Wapsi Square is like a really good novel. One of the ones that keeps you reading and you just can’t seem to put it down. Hell, reading through, I had to wait for a lull in the plot so I could go to bed. The story and plot is truly riveting!! Thank you, Paul, and keep up the amazing work

  38. Alechsa
    October 25, 2010, 8:50 pm | # | Reply

    Aaannnd….. cue tickles.

    No. Seriously. Think about it. Tina JUST got a scratch, a fresh one, earlier that day… Nudge hasn’t done jack or shit enough to warrant another one yet. Also, Phix wouldn’t want Monica upset… she could easily accidentally unlock that locked door in her mind through uncontrolled rage/trauma.

    This isn’t gonna go any more violent. That’s my prediction. Either Monica will jump in the way and Phix will have to stop, or Phix’ll pull a “Gotcha! Omigod you should see your face! XD”

  39. Centaur71
    May 16, 2011, 7:27 am | # | Reply

    I don’t think i’ll EVER get used to Monica having a Pixie hairstyle. :-/

  40. Cassidy
    October 29, 2011, 6:14 am | # | Reply

    Oh you did NOT just do that Phix. Normally I’d be terrified and run away, but you mess with Tina, you mess with me. The gloves are coming off.

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