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"The Former"
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Latest Medusa Comic

The Former

by Paul Taylor on September 15, 2011 at 12:00 am
Story: Wapsi-Archive
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Discussion (145) ¬

  1. nerf-dweller
    September 15, 2011, 12:09 am | # | Reply

    Ahhhh.

    • Atomic
      September 15, 2011, 12:10 am | # | Reply

      Much better!

      Makes owie hurt less.

      Carry on.

      • illiad
        September 15, 2011, 4:58 am | #

        so plain and simple, then… 🙂 🙂

      • Patrick
        March 28, 2012, 5:30 pm | #

        I can’t stay silent any more. I may not have been here as long, but I have been reading these nonstop. This comic made me think comment about what it means to me. :’)
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR-qQcNT_fY

    • MidnightDStroyer
      June 8, 2017, 3:55 pm | # | Reply

      But this time, it’s a good hurt.

  2. nobody
    September 15, 2011, 12:09 am | # | Reply

    You know, could just remove the symbol, or alter it to retain her imperviousness, but have a lifespan.

    • Fairportfan
      September 15, 2011, 12:44 am | # | Reply

      No, because that would require another reset to clay, and i really think they needed the artifact for that.

      • zacharaiaha
        September 15, 2011, 3:27 am | #

        Power on reset. Pull the artifact out. Let her reboot, then put it back in. Reboot again. Just like holding down the power switch on the laptop when the system freezes.

      • illiad
        September 15, 2011, 4:55 am | #

        Buuuut… :/

        what happens when the battery is almost drained, so you have a ‘bad boot’ corrupting vital startup files???
        yeah just put it in recovery mode, plug in your system disk….

        trouble is the ‘vendor’ ceased to exist a few thousand years ago…… 🙁 would you risk it??

      • StJason
        September 15, 2011, 6:17 am | #

        Whaaaaat? What are you talking about?
        The creator and architect of GOS* is her Mom! I think she’d be totally willing to rewrite the buggy portions of the code for her only(?) daughter.

        *Golem Operating System, of course…

      • illiad
        September 15, 2011, 4:47 pm | #

        StJason: you are forgetting… the **power source** is the key… and May did not recognize it at first, it was so old!!

        and yes, she is the GOS expert, but.. what tools do you think she used? what chance of even finding them, after thousands of years??

        If you had a 1980’s PC, how easy would it be to find DOS 2 on 5 1/4 disk so you could use it??
        – and note the disk may be corrupted due to magnetic decay or bad storage…
        remember old CDs that were attacked by a fungus??

        techrepublic.com/photos/the-beginnings-of-the-pc-revolution-photos/6276102

      • AvengerReloaded
        September 15, 2011, 11:35 am | #

        NO MORE resets. I could do without any more handgun incidents.

      • Sniper Bob
        September 15, 2011, 8:46 pm | #

        .. and who keeps a loaded 17th Century pistol in their house?

      • nattyB
        September 15, 2011, 1:29 pm | #

        Is there still a hatch under those broken ribs?

      • illiad
        September 15, 2011, 4:58 pm | #

        note there is a powerful apotropaic perception field – normal people will only see/feel what they expect.. (doctor who, ST:voyager)

        I believe the artifact has enough power to turn that field into *actual* skin and bone with good and bad sensations too.. only qualified programmers will know how to access the ‘debug mode’ 🙂

        Only guesses, please correct if you know…. :/

      • Jabberwonky
        September 15, 2011, 1:12 pm | #

        May as said that she found a ‘Galaxy Alternator’, if the artifact didn’t fix Jin, it would. So there’s that.
        And/or a fix for Bud or Brandi, but not both….how would that go down?
        Both of them would be way too ‘No, you use it.’ for their own good.

      • Jabberwonky
        September 15, 2011, 1:14 pm | #

        May has said…

  3. Yamara
    September 15, 2011, 12:09 am | # | Reply

    Zowie.

    • Leak
      September 15, 2011, 7:30 am | # | Reply

      Duncan Jones?

      • Fairportfan
        September 15, 2011, 7:53 am | #

        Hisss.

        He attended school here in Atlanta for a while, and his mommy worked as a DJ in one of the clubs.

  4. Bob!
    September 15, 2011, 12:10 am | # | Reply

    Awwwww…

  5. Opus the Poet
    September 15, 2011, 12:11 am | # | Reply

    Awww, he wuvs her.

  6. CluelessInNC
    September 15, 2011, 12:11 am | # | Reply

    Everybody needs hugs. After millennia, I’m glad Jin’s getting hers!

    • The Old Wolf
      September 15, 2011, 7:00 am | # | Reply

      Alan’s got his work cut out for him, if Jin’s going to get caught up. From where I stand, he’s just the man to do it.

      • ChrisHerself
        September 15, 2011, 10:15 am | #

        If he’s up to the task. Today’s strip was touching. <3

  7. RSinAustin
    September 15, 2011, 12:13 am | # | Reply

    I like how it looks like he had a rough night of soul-searching too 🙂

  8. Dave
    September 15, 2011, 12:14 am | # | Reply

    Pshew. Much better.

    Good that he had the guts to come over to find out whether her reason left room for hope… and it did.

    • Dave
      September 15, 2011, 9:30 pm | # | Reply

      It took me entirely too long to notice that her eyes were filling up with tears as she looked at him.

      All the sweeter… wow!

  9. ikem
    September 15, 2011, 12:16 am | # | Reply

    damn i hoped for a angry shelly to show up but well this is good too. ^^

    • SoWhyMe
      September 15, 2011, 1:14 am | # | Reply

      That could still happen. We could use a little comic relief.

      • Maark30
        September 15, 2011, 1:48 am | #

        Brandi playing with Stinky in her giant Lioness form. I would think that would be adorable.

  10. DJ
    September 15, 2011, 12:16 am | # | Reply

    About damn time Jin got her “happy ever after” but something tells me Paul must still have something else up his sleeve yet. After all tomorrow is Friday.

    • Casey
      September 15, 2011, 12:18 am | # | Reply

      There are three sure things in life. Death, taxes, and Paul having something up his sleeve, and I’m not sure about that first one.

      • ShadOBabe
        September 15, 2011, 12:21 am | #

        Hahaha!! That’s a great way to put it. XD

      • Ari
        September 15, 2011, 12:28 am | #

        Haha! Fantastic. That is my new favorite quote. 😀

    • Dave
      September 15, 2011, 12:39 am | # | Reply

      Hmmm… maybe Alan has a shoe of his own to drop? cf the speculation recently that he just possibly might not be a bog-standard Wapsiverse human?
      If he’s got something like this to tell Jin, then in some ways this is probably the best opportunity he’ll ever have.

      • jwhouk
        September 15, 2011, 1:06 am | #

        He’s looking a bit messy there, actually. Did the economy finally catch up to him as well?

      • Maark30
        September 15, 2011, 1:49 am | #

        Nah that is what about 24 hours of sleepless freaking out will do to you (been there, done that).

      • Yamara
        September 15, 2011, 5:12 am | #

        And/or. He could have spent at least some of that time freaking out over how he’d get by without Jin’s imperial fortunes.

        Yes, yes, love conquers all, world you wished you lived in. I’m just saying, it must have crossed his mind while playing hooky from his injured suicidal girlfriend.

        Perhaps no one’s mentioned to Alan that the other two parts of the Chimera don’t take it well when they’re lied to? Because if they have, thinking you’re on the lam from them for 24 hrs (or even, it looks like twelve) is enough to get you a bit disshevelled, and question your options.

        Okay! Love conquers all! Fear is just sayin’.

    • Stigmartyr762
      September 15, 2011, 7:38 am | # | Reply

      I agree as well. Somewhere out there is a shoe just waiting to drop.

      • Deuce
        September 15, 2011, 8:13 am | #

        Obviously, Alan is pregnant.

      • Yamara
        September 15, 2011, 9:33 am | #

        And not by Jin.

      • Dave
        September 15, 2011, 4:58 pm | #

        Oh, great. Just what we need.

        A Wapsiverse / Jerry Springer Show crossover.

      • Maark30
        September 15, 2011, 9:35 pm | #

        Ehh, there has been worse on the web.

  11. SoWhyMe
    September 15, 2011, 12:17 am | # | Reply

    Cue the Hallelujah Chorus

    • Opus the Poet
      September 15, 2011, 12:39 am | # | Reply

      Slight bit of irony; the first graphic in that video is a Valkyrie the Norse demi-goddesses that accompanied the souls of the honored dead to Valhalla. In a video celebrating Christ rising from the dead…

      • Dave
        September 15, 2011, 5:03 pm | #

        Well, if you don’t care for that one, try this one.

        At the very least, the artwork doesn’t suffer from “mixed spiritual metaphors” in the way that you pointed out.

        Musically, I think you’ll find this particular performance of The Hallelujah Chorus to be quite unforgettable.

    • scantron
      September 15, 2011, 12:49 am | # | Reply

      THEN… cue this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7KiY4_MtZ4

      Kevin: Best Man
      Justin and Darin: Groomsmen

      Monica: Maid of Honor
      Bud, Brandi, Shelly: Bridesmaids

      Tepoz: Ring-bearer (NO, NOT THAT Ring…)
      May: High Priestess of Lanthis (or equivalent from way back when, to do the ceremony)

      Phix, Tina, Amanda, Owen, Lakshmi, Shelly’s Dad, Katherine, Monica’s Boss, DJ Yummy Tea, Tina’s Pastry supplier (?Becky i think?), Jacquie and Luci: Wedding Guests

      Anybody i forgot?

      • zacharaiaha
        September 15, 2011, 3:29 am | #

        Deitzel. He can cater the wedding. I hope they like pizza.

      • Maark30
        September 15, 2011, 9:38 pm | #

        Nah, Deitzel can be in charge of entertainment, hope they like spin the bottle

  12. Jay-Em
    September 15, 2011, 12:18 am | # | Reply

    Wow..someone has been pacing all night, forgetting to shave……

    • Jay-Em
      September 15, 2011, 12:19 am | # | Reply

      Oh, wait, just a moment *ahem..*.

      DAAAAAAAAAWWWWWW!!!!!!!! 😛

    • DJ
      September 15, 2011, 12:20 am | # | Reply

      It’s an interesting picture of a guy that has a beard that has not shaved 😕

      • paula
        September 15, 2011, 11:13 am | #

        when i first saw it i thought he had had a bloody nose and that was blood
        took me a while to work out it was stubble 🙂

  13. ShadOBabe
    September 15, 2011, 12:20 am | # | Reply

    AWWWWWWW!!! YAY!! XD

    • ShadOBabe
      September 15, 2011, 12:38 am | # | Reply

      Alan’s alive, he’s with Jin, and I’m happy.

      One, quick question I would like to ask everyone though. It’s obvious that Jin is no longer invulnerable, but May said she was still a golem.
      So my question is, is Jin just basically a human but still has her other powers like turning into a snake and super strength, or was everything taken away along with the invulnerability?

      • Casey
        September 15, 2011, 1:05 am | #

        I would assume the other powers were gone, considering that she was described as being effectively human. One would hope the super strength is gone, due to the whole Newton’s third law issue with having super strength without invulnerability.

      • SoWhyMe
        September 15, 2011, 1:24 am | #

        I agree. I believe the power is gone because the relic turned her access to raw energy way, way down. It’s enough to keep her going but not enough to call upon for super strength and all the other usual golem tricks such as breathing fire. She may still be able to poit, however, since, as Monica demonstrates, it’s not a question of brute force to be able to do that. Perhaps even eye lights still work.

      • Casey
        September 15, 2011, 1:47 am | #

        She can almost certainly still poit. That is simply a result of knowing glyph-speak, and has nothing to do with whether or not one is a golem

      • Ratcatcher
        September 15, 2011, 4:39 am | #

        SoWhyMe- Or she may have more than one mode of operation. Say Human and snake, snake retaining the uber power and the human not. As yet we, and/or she don’t know.

      • Yamara
        September 15, 2011, 5:41 am | #

        Something is new with the parameters; she had the snake features of eyes and teeth fighting the priests, so that was pre-golem. Those are gone now.

        While we don’t know for sure, I think the muzzle-loader was poited to her hand in perfect order and readiness from disparate parts. She still speaks Glyph.

        I’m not sure what makes her a golem anymore. She’s never been very susceptible to Glyph command (Chimera, tricking Tepoz); xrays reveal bones and organs not writing and Relics; she has a lifespan, which includes healing from injury and presumably senescence. Maybe she can’t reproduce, though it would be petty to make that the distinction since so many real life women (and men) cannot either.

        I don’t see May’s distinction. Jin is an eighteen year old woman whose Xmas present is a nineteenth birthday.

      • ShadOBabe
        September 15, 2011, 7:55 am | #

        That’s what I figured. But like Yamara said below, not sure what makes Jin still a golem. Maybe it just that fact that her body is still a clay doll (but that doesn’t make much sense either since she has bones and blood and presumably organs).

      • eschmenk
        September 15, 2011, 8:53 am | #

        But even her normal old form wasn’t a clay doll. We saw Maya turn her into her clay doll form briefly. (Look at what Bud says on the next page.) That was a different form. Also, remember when Monica first found Tepoz in a crate. He was in his clay form then, too.

      • Buggi
        September 15, 2011, 1:53 pm | #

        Oh, she still has all of her powers. But now she has to wave the wand of friendship and shout out special commands like, “Golum Gladness Glitter!” to make them happen. Also she looks damn cute in her new costume/uniform.

      • Eee
        September 15, 2011, 9:31 am | #

        The only ones who know the answer are Maya (maybe) and Mr. Taylor (definitely, I hope). My speculation would be that since she’s rebooted into a flesh and blood form, she has no more powers than a normal human. She still can probably poit (and she’s shown stunning mastery of that skill in the past), and may be able to work magic on a human level, but the big GGG things are out.

        It is POSSIBLE Maya included a built in re-reboot option so Jin can return to her GGG status if she has to, but that might be overly complicated. And, the way things go in heroic fantasy, it’d probably be a one way trip…

  14. geekoncall
    September 15, 2011, 12:20 am | # | Reply

    Love Hurts????

    • Francisco
      September 15, 2011, 1:03 am | # | Reply

      Now you’ve got that Cher song stuck in my head!

      • jwhouk
        September 15, 2011, 1:07 am | #

        That’s not a Cher song.

      • Me
        September 15, 2011, 1:43 am | #

      • Me
        September 15, 2011, 1:44 am | #

        whoops… didn’t post the html link

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soDZBW-1P04

        Nazareth – Love Hurts (1976)

      • JeffEpp
        September 15, 2011, 4:48 am | #

        Ah, Yes. The classic cover of Roy Orbison covering The Everly Brothers.

    • Jabberwonky
      September 15, 2011, 10:57 pm | # | Reply

      I have two songs that are forever associated to Jin.
      This one, that came up on random play when I was first reading the the arc where we find out that she fell in love with M’s gram’pa. And did it 6 more times, knowing she’d have to give him up.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrOWfW9_a0g

      • Jabberwonky
        September 15, 2011, 11:00 pm | #

        And this one, that came up on random play a couple of days ago while I was reading a fresh Wapsi…

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99AFj2nCvpw

  15. txmystic
    September 15, 2011, 12:25 am | # | Reply

    YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!

  16. scantron
    September 15, 2011, 12:25 am | # | Reply

    I’m not sure how to mentally parse the thought process of Alan’s speech. i understand the first part: the “afraid to LIVE” part, but i don’t QUITE get the “back to existing” part?… isn’t it the same thing? could anyone help me out here?

    • Ari
      September 15, 2011, 12:26 am | # | Reply

      He could understand her being afraid that she’d revert back to simply being. Not living or dying. Just existing.

      • scantron
        September 15, 2011, 12:27 am | #

        AH… cool, got it now. thanks.

      • eschmenk
        September 15, 2011, 9:07 am | #

        I think it had a lot to do with not aging. Watching her friends grow old and die while she was left behind. She remembered the time loops and got very tired of it.

    • Atomic
      September 15, 2011, 12:27 am | # | Reply

      The same problem of Shelnix in her 80,000 year exile. Day after day of just breathing and nothing better to do — mere existence, not a life.

      • Fairportfan
        September 15, 2011, 12:47 am | #

        Not even breathing, except to speak, i suspect.

      • Fairportfan
        September 15, 2011, 7:55 am | #

        The GGGs, that is – not Shelly

  17. TGOBG
    September 15, 2011, 12:28 am | # | Reply

    living without change or feeling or love could be the same as just existing. Think the movie Ground hog day you wake up and its the same thing over and over but for millenium

    • paula
      September 15, 2011, 11:10 am | # | Reply

      after you learnt every language in the world, became a world class chef, learnt to sculpt in every substance known to man, got your golfing par to a hole in one on EVERY hole and learned every craft known to man…

      yea it would get a bit boring.
      i suppose if you learnt everything you would have enough knowlege to build your own rocket ship to fly to another planet 🙂

      that said – jin has been in hiding for a lot of the time so had to be controlled not doing her own thing.

  18. Tifereth
    September 15, 2011, 12:31 am | # | Reply

    YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • txmystic
      September 15, 2011, 9:09 am | # | Reply

      It’s been done…

      😛

  19. Frelance
    September 15, 2011, 12:36 am | # | Reply

    That speech felt to me like a really cumbersome cop out for not going inside. I’m approximately the last person on earth who’d generally criticize a deliberate, cerebral approach to decision making, but, serious here, where was the friend to tell doucher here to stow his shit and see her?

    • Dave
      September 15, 2011, 12:49 am | # | Reply

      Yet another object lesson: People Who Care About Each Other Should Talk To Each Other. Lots.

      They’d both have had easier nights.

    • Maark30
      September 15, 2011, 12:56 am | # | Reply

      He is not a doucher. He has had her pull the “I will kill myself but nothing happened” thing before and it pissed him off. When Bud called him she most likely forgot to tell him that she was mortal and she was likely pissed off when she was talking so it sounded like a “Jin is being a brat” message. That might be what she meant when she told Monica that her thinking was muddied. Everyone was freaked out especially Bud and I’m guessing that Brandi still doesn’t know what happened yet so there is no one to hunt him down and tell him all of the facts. So the cerebral approach is needed here and as for not walking in the door with out knocking, he probably feels like a total shitheel and doesn’t think that he had the right to just walk in.

      • Julie
        September 15, 2011, 8:31 am | #

        Oh I think Bud made it clear that Jin was mortal. I think she just didn’t make it clear what Jin’s motivations were for doing something so rash (that then resulted in a dive-bomb attack from an indestructible being who gave her a quick lesson in how much pain she can now experience without dying).

        If all Bud said was “Jin’s mortal now. She tried to kill herself, and when I stopped her, I broke her ribs and nose. We’re at the hospital. You should come see her.” Alan would have no way of knowing that Jin was only trying to suicide out of fear that her mortality was temporary.

      • Maark30
        September 15, 2011, 10:36 am | #

        Yea I caught that on rereading, I am getting slow in my old age.

  20. Dark Kuno
    September 15, 2011, 12:37 am | # | Reply

    And you guys are surprised.

    After sticking with her through all the rest of the crap did you really expect him to cut and run now that she’s relatively normal and sane? 😀

    • Maark30
      September 15, 2011, 1:02 am | # | Reply

      Like I said in another thread, Alan seems to be one of the good ones.

    • Leak
      September 15, 2011, 7:37 am | # | Reply

      Tomorrow: “And – by the way – I’m breaking up with you, it’s over…” 😀

      • Julie
        September 15, 2011, 8:32 am | #

        That’s just wrong. 😛

      • paula
        September 15, 2011, 11:06 am | #

        and because we know it wont happen as it isnt april 1st

        hilariously funny

      • Maark30
        September 15, 2011, 9:45 pm | #

        And one little POIT later he would be orbiting the moon without a ship or suit.

  21. Fairportfan
    September 15, 2011, 12:43 am | # | Reply

    Okay. So this is lovely.

    What horrible plan does Paul have for us tomorrow?

    • scantron
      September 15, 2011, 12:51 am | # | Reply

      “only the SHADOW Knows”

      • Atomic
        September 15, 2011, 9:14 am | #

        WHEN SUDDENLY……

        Jin and Alan turn to look behind them, terror in their eyes….

        — Tune in next week and see what happens next!! —

    • Nina
      September 15, 2011, 1:42 am | # | Reply

      Yes. This is a bit of an anticlimax. I fear for tomorrow, may it come soon.

  22. SoWhyMe
    September 15, 2011, 1:40 am | # | Reply

    He’s supposed to say “hug” now.

    Apparently the speculation that Bud screwed up concerning what she told Alan was correct. Also, it seems he was coming to see her even though he thought she tried to kill herself because she just didn’t want to face her new life. It wasn’t until he met May he found out what really happened. I wonder if he was coming to finally break up with her until that point?

    What’s May doing on the street anyway? I don’t think she smokes or picks up men. Though I could be wrong about the latter.

    • Maark30
      September 15, 2011, 2:08 am | # | Reply

      I would hazard a guess that she was waiting for Alan to set things straight.

      • Yamara
        September 15, 2011, 6:51 am | #

        Her son-in-law-dar kicked in and she poited to the front of the bar that Alan was hanging out at after it closed, being too afraid to go home, or indeed, anywhere else in the world.

        He didn’t say where on the street. With ancient teleporting behemoth furies, it really doesn’t matter, does it? Alan’s middle name is now “Darren”. Or maybe “Durwood”.

        But more seriously, it’s time for Alan to grow up from his fun fantasies of freeky-tuff women, and take some of that mansplaining about personal responsibility to heart. No, you’re not allowed to run away and call yourself reliable. Rationalizations never make up for being there and prioritizing your lover, eh?

        And Wapsiworld’s freakiest toughest women really will have their eye on you. They are invincible and can never die. So have fun waiting for that shoe to drop, Alan.

      • Julie
        September 15, 2011, 8:36 am | #

        I think Alan already was grown up. He seemed to like the idea of growing old with Jin. I think it’s more likely that he was dealing with his own anger towards Jin for her behavior before making an appearance…and then when he did show up, he learned his anger was for nothing…that he’d made an assumption based on partial information.

        That said, he probably should apologize for making that assumption and not showing up at the hospital…

      • eschmenk
        September 15, 2011, 9:31 am | #

        I don’t think it’s possible to make sense out of what Alan said. He claims that he thought Jin wanted to kill herself because she was afraid of being essentially human, but he knew that’s exactly what she always said she wanted! He’s trying to make is sound as if Bud didn’t explain things very well, but even if she didn’t, he should have known better! He didn’t even try talking to Jin to try to figure out what the problem really was or try to verify things with Maya!

        To me, is just more nonsensical behavior by people.

      • Yamara
        September 15, 2011, 10:01 am | #

        That’s why I’m taking him down a peg for rationalizing his behaviour at a screamingly emotional time. It’s natural. People do it all the time. He seems like he’s trying to be understanding.

        But, “I couldn’t live…”? This ain’t your suicide attempt, pal. And “…had it been the former”? That’s not just rationalizing, that’s using the formations of scholarly argument. He sounds like he’s spent his last several hours crafting his ethical alibi.

        Spock is not impressed.

      • paula
        September 15, 2011, 12:58 pm | #

        I get from this alan is in love

        i don’t think he is the type of person to fall in love very rapidly or with many people but when he does…its major

        right now he has been trying to be cool with jin – this beautiful amazing godess like woman – showing her a good time and being the good relaxed boyfriend when her issues get the better of her.
        quite frankly he is probably terrified that he will run off with someone else or just realise he isn’t good enough for her.

        now add that together with the ‘wanting to suicide as too afraid to live’ and it might translate to him thinking of it being more of ‘her not having a reason to try to live’

        maybe.
        either way don’t think it’s a line (or if it is – it’s trying to hide how he really feels)

    • paula
      September 15, 2011, 7:45 am | # | Reply

      i agree
      i reckon he was gonna break up with her.

      May being outside…well…maybe she was on her way home and was just a cooincidence they met. we dont know if she can poit tbh so she could have been walking to her home and that home could be in the same direction as Alans place.
      sure she is a glyph reader and a golem but well…we have never seen her poit somewhere on her own. she has always been with people.

      and hang on a sec
      just a thought kicked in.

      monica has been a glyph reader since she was a kid.
      so why has she suddenly developed poiting?
      is it possible that poiting has something to do with the golems?

      • eschmenk
        September 15, 2011, 9:47 am | #

        Monica’s training was cut off. At first, she didn’t seem to understand what the glyph language was for and even resisted the idea that magic existed. Monica learned that poiting was possible when Brandi poited her to the library. It wouldn’t have occurred to her to try before that. So it seemed to be more that Monica didn’t realize that she could develop her abilities and didn’t really want to do anything like that before the GGGs were around.

      • paula
        September 15, 2011, 11:03 am | #

        but see thats another thing.
        brandi poited her there
        they respected monica because she was a glyph reader
        now if the poiting is to do with glyphs why would brandi have the ability as phix states there was only one other who could read glyphs and that was jin. heck i wonder if phix can read em???

      • paula
        September 15, 2011, 11:04 am | #

        maybe its ‘if you can read them and/or have them enscribed on you’

        that would make sense 🙂

      • eschmenk
        September 15, 2011, 11:32 am | #

        Yes, I think that’s it. Brandi and Bud can only do what is inscribed on them because they aren’t glyph readers. Maya, Jin, Monica and Tepoz can do whatever they can figure out using the glyph language. It’s a matter of using the right formulas. Maya, Jin and Tepoz had stuff inscribed on them, but Maya and to some extent Jin and Tepoz know the correct formulas anyway. In Tepoz’s case, he might have been programmed with the ability to be a glyph reader, but Maya and Jin already were glyph readers before being turned into golems. That’s my theory, anyway.

  23. paula
    September 15, 2011, 2:14 am | # | Reply

    I wonder if Bud really thought that.
    Did she honestly think at the time – that Jin was too scared to live??

    Doesn’t really matter as it ended well but still…

    • Stigmartyr762
      September 15, 2011, 7:45 am | # | Reply

      At that very instant when Jin was standing there with a flintlock in her mouth? Yes! I have no doubt that’s what was going through Bud’s head at that very instant as she performed a fastball special trying to save her friend.

      All appears right in the world, now that Alan and Jin are in each others arms now.

    • eschmenk
      September 15, 2011, 11:50 am | # | Reply

      Bud was still upset when she told Jin that Alan was coming, so she must have been upset when she called him. I don’t think Bud had thought about it yet and I think that Jin told Maya why she did it later. But it should have been obvious to Alan that Bud was upset, so I don’t know why he didn’t try to verify what she said since the distinction was so important to him.

  24. NOTDilbert
    September 15, 2011, 2:27 am | # | Reply

    BUT WHERE ARE THE ROSES!?

    • paula
      September 15, 2011, 7:41 am | # | Reply

      he was on his way to break up with her when he met may. i suppose when he realised what had happened he would have known how jin felt and instantly wanted to be with her.

      the roses would have been crushed in that hug anyway 🙂

  25. Bucc-i
    September 15, 2011, 3:31 am | # | Reply

    @Paul
    Because Jin has now become human, does that mean that she has to get her hymen broke… again?

    *later on that night*
    Jin: OW!…
    WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

    • Fairportfan
      September 15, 2011, 7:57 am | # | Reply

      I sincerely Jin’s gonna be up for any bouncy-blouncy any time soon – not till those ribs heal, anyway.

      • Fairportfan
        September 15, 2011, 7:58 am | #

        “…sincerely doubt…”

    • Julie
      September 15, 2011, 9:12 am | # | Reply

      You know, it’s entirely possible that she wasn’t a virgin when she was last human. She certainly had a relationship that she felt was serious way back when…

      Even so, it seems a little silly to ponder the state of her virginity when we’re dealing with something as considerable as mortality.

      • Kessog
        September 15, 2011, 6:33 pm | #

        Then there was what the “priests” were doing to the girls while they were trapped.

  26. Sharnadale
    September 15, 2011, 3:49 am | # | Reply

    I thought she was taller than him?

  27. Bud Fanboi
    September 15, 2011, 6:48 am | # | Reply

    So tomorrow we see a flashback panel of what Alan was going through with a startling revelation that he might not be what we all think him to be.

    Or Bud going through inner turmoil at this whole situation.

    Or Dietzel and Pizza Girl just so Paul can screw with our heads.

    • Ari
      September 15, 2011, 7:03 am | # | Reply

      Early start to a week of more pinup pictures.

    • paula
      September 15, 2011, 7:35 am | # | Reply

      May punching Bud out because of what she said to Alan.

      I don’t think Jin would have registered what Alan said buy MAY would.

    • Aleister Crow
      September 15, 2011, 8:10 am | # | Reply

      Or someone finally gets around to telling Brandi.

    • Yamara
      September 15, 2011, 10:18 am | # | Reply

      We switch back to Selenium. How is all that shredding going?

      • Maark30
        September 15, 2011, 10:42 am | #

        Well a Kitten paper shredder is always adorable.

  28. The Old Wolf
    September 15, 2011, 7:02 am | # | Reply

    So sweet. Glad we got to this point before the weekend cliffhanger. It *is* very strange, coming to care about the lives of literary shadows like this, but that is the mark of a master storyteller. 😀

    • paula
      September 15, 2011, 7:37 am | # | Reply

      yea
      its easier to care about tv/film characters because they are in a sense ‘real’ but charaters which are drawn are really 100% fiction. (even if based albeit slightly on someone)

      kudos paul.
      in ye olden days you would have been the head of your tribe at storytelling around the campfire.

  29. Spike Matthews
    September 15, 2011, 8:07 am | # | Reply

    He’s obviously not been having a good time of it, dealing with the news by the looks of him. At least they have it sorted now.
    You know it hurts so good.

  30. eschmenk
    September 15, 2011, 8:41 am | # | Reply

    So it didn’t occur to Alan to get some verification by talking to anyone else, like maybe talking to Jin so he wasn’t just hearing things second hand? After all, Alan knew that Jin wanted to live as a human and grow old with Alan. Why wouldn’t he have wanted to talk to her about that?

    Also, why do the windows keep changing?

    • Julie
      September 15, 2011, 9:24 am | # | Reply

      Meh…it’s fairly common for people to have a more accurate memory of the negative (i.e. watching Jin fail to kill herself with a knife) than of the positive (i.e. hearing Jin say she would like to grow old with him).

      • eschmenk
        September 15, 2011, 9:54 am | #

        But Jin made a huge deal about it. It was the main thing she really wanted. How could he not know? If he didn’t know that, then he didn’t know Jin at all.

      • Yamara
        September 15, 2011, 10:29 am | #

        Well, the “grow old” would have been trumped by “killed herself”. Let’s be fair to Alan on that point.

        He really should have called around. Kevin, at least. Characters have their flaws, and they must play out. I was half-joking above, but maybe he is genuinely frightened of the power these women wield. This isn’t playtime like Sunglasses Girl. You devoted yourself to a magical princess of ancient lineage, and she has a posse.

      • eschmenk
        September 15, 2011, 11:14 am | #

        IMO, the idea that Jin tried to commit suicide when she got what she had always said she wanted and that convinced Alan that he really didn’t know Jin at all would be Alan’s best defense. It would make it seem to Alan that it would be impossible to make her happy or to predict her behavior. Assuming he had tried, and he certainly seemed to, I couldn’t blame him for giving up at that point.

        But, yeah, I can’t understand why he wouldn’t check with someone else before becoming convinced of that, unless he had mostly given up already. What he said today makes it seem as if trying to understand what happened wasn’t that big of a deal for him. One person saying something was enough to make him just give up on Jin.

  31. donoho
    September 15, 2011, 8:56 am | # | Reply

    For This Moment…

    Yaaay!

  32. Eee
    September 15, 2011, 9:15 am | # | Reply

    Aw, that’s sweet. Took him long enough. He should have brought flowers, but this is good, too. 🙂

    (Note to self: Don’t let Bud deliver bad news from now on. As we see in this and her explaining to Brandi about blowing up the U-boat, she has a tendency to be misunderstood…)

  33. kingklash
    September 15, 2011, 11:48 am | # | Reply

    That is a positive step forward.

  34. Centaur71
    September 15, 2011, 2:25 pm | # | Reply

    I was listening to ‘I have a dream’ by ABBA when I saw this comic. It was so DAMN appropriate!!! (I knew everything would work out all right) *starts crying*

  35. bmonk
    September 15, 2011, 4:13 pm | # | Reply

    Owie.

    Now my heart hurts.

  36. Dave
    October 13, 2011, 12:41 pm | # | Reply

    Zowie. I just won the original of this on eBay.

    Very happy! This is one of the tenderest moments I’ve seen portrayed anywhere in a long time.

  37. Patrick
    March 28, 2012, 5:37 pm | # | Reply

    Ok. Messed up my first post, but this really made me smile. This comic has become so amazing, I can barely describe it! Plus this scene really had Five for Fighting- 100 Years running in my head. 🙂
    Keep up the good work! I’m behind you all the way.

  38. Tindi
    October 20, 2015, 12:34 am | # | Reply

    I’m just going to be over here bawling in front of my computer, it’s cool.

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