It seems that Shelly still has a couple of options open to her… either have The Talk now (before sudden disaster occurs, per her fantasy/dream), or decide to break up and go back to being alone (out of fear that disaster with Justin would be inevitable). It’s not too late to do either.
So… how much (and what) is she willing to risk? What scares her more? Hurt/hurting/rejection, or loneliness?
Until Shelly defeats her own Doubt demon and hobbling herself. Shelly will continue to believe she is incapable of having a happy relationship with anyone.
Quite true. Shelly has come to a fork in the road so to speak. It’s obvious that she’s terrified by being hurt and rejected by Justin. The very concept of having a happy relationship must seem utterly impossible. Taking into account her past. Shelly craves acceptance but views people as untrustworthy going all the way back to her mothers death. It’s been easier for her to drive people away so that they can’t hurt her first when deep down inside Shelly is desperate for someone to love her.
Yes, she’s on the horns of a very pointy and uncomfortable dilemma. She can’t stay with the current situation… it’s clearly not stable. She has to go closer to Justin (emotionally and truth-wise), or away.
This certainly isn’t a new issue for her… it predates her Time Forest experience. Some time back, Tina did a bit of serious aura-reading of both Shelly and Monica, and bluntly told Shelly not to confuse having passionate sex with Justin with actual closeness and intimacy.
It’s possible that Shelly now cannot dare have sex without real trust and intimacy… her fear of truly letting down her guard and opening up emotionally, may be what’s triggering her sphinx-change.
If that’s the case, it isn’t really different from her arachnaphobic nightmare at all. Fear leads to sphinxness, and sphinxness leads to broken furniture (or broken lovers, which would be much worse).
But what I really probably should have meant to say, was “… on the corns of an uncomfortable dilemma”. We’ve seen that sphinxes are basically quadrupleds (feet in back, hands in front) – they’re palm-walkers, and I imagine that they must have calluses on their palms as tough as those on a hobbit’s foot. We’ve seen Shelliinx swat down on a rock and crush it to gravel… that’s not something you do with a tender palm!
However, since Shelly is not by any means a callous person, the situation may be talking off on the other foot entirely.
Quite right, Dave. Timing is everything and that fits well.
Considering her disheveled appearance when we saw her in the TTF, one wonders about the halitosis part. I mean, do sphinxes, in general, have a morning routine? Do they brush their teeth and comb their hair? Bathe? Didn’t look as though she did. Shellinx may have been ripe in more ways than one.
For that matter do demons have a grooming routine? Euryale? Pretty sure Phix does, not so sure about Nudge. Seems like the GGGs do. We know Tepoz showers.
What you say reminds me a bit of a story thread in Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, in which Paul seeks to sacrifice himself on the Summer Tree in order to atone for a terrible burden of guilt. He’s released from his guilt through a vision from the Goddess, who shows him that the event he blamed himself for wasn’t something that he caused. He had tried his best to stop it, and had simply failed, because he’s human, and humans fail sometimes. “It is a gift, as much as anything else.”
I wouldn’t be so unhappy about it if Shelly going “UGG UGG UGG UGG UGG UGG UGG” wasn’t burned in my brain. I’ve seen the strip be much more….. subtly sexy than that. Hell, even overtly sexy. But that was just….not. I’m all for fanservice and rarely have anything to say critique-wise about the comic, but that was like being beat over the head with a dildo.
Yes, it was a bit on the blatant side. I imagine that was very deliberate on Paul’s part, to show the emotional intensity of Shelly’s catastrophizing, and the conflict she’s in… she really missed him in the Time Forest, and she’s very scared of what she’s facing now. For all the 80,000 years she’s lived as a sphinx, she’s still a young woman trying to come to grips with her own humanity (which is a tad difficult if you aren’t entirely human!)
For those who found it Just Too Much – might I recommend trying wOe-Be-Gone? It’s a gentle, peroxide-based brain bleach, specially formulated to help soften overly-strong imagery tints, and leave the memories suffused with a gentle romantic glow. Many people seem to find it essential in dealing with modern Hollywood movies.
Available at Tropes-‘n-Tropisms and other fine stores. 🙂
I dunno… I think I learn as much, in reading peoples’ comments and speculations about ideas that turn out to be off-target, as I get from discussions that are entirely in line with canon.
There are some very thoughtful and perceptive people hanging out here… the back-and-forth of peoples’ ideas is one of the things which has made the Wapsiverse such an interesting place to hang out (for me, at least)
I have to say it is the discussions, right wrong or indifferent, from this forum that tend to make my day and the strip itself is always enjoyable. I would just love to have someone make a video or radio version of it
I’ve no doubt that Paul gets a giggle out of reading our ramblings and conspiracy string theories about what we think is going to happen only to find out that we were WAY off base (in my case, I’m talking the next dimension over).
So when Monday rolls around and we the readers anxiously clamor to read the next exciting installment of Wapsi Squares expecting to see Mayhem running rampant thinking that Shelly has savagely mauled her new beau in the shower, only to find out that doubt is playing merry hob with her head again.
i sometimes wonder if he changes things sometimes based on the comments. At the least, sometimes adds a bit of explanatory monolog/dialog to clear up some of our points of confusion.
Spending for the holidays may be leaving people a bit short for artwork purchases. Unless, of course, they know another Wapsi fan who might like to have it.
I don’t know weather to be dissapointed or relieved about this. She needs to tell him though, even if only because it isn’t fair to him to keep a secret like that.
Connie? I’m sure there’s a clever origin to that name that I missed.
Anyway, it looks like when Connie manifests herself, she’s affected by her environment as she’s getting wet. I wonder how that feels though when she goes back into Shelly all damp like that.
My jaw is on the floor. Paul found a way to do a “Bobby in The Shower” without it being a stupid retcon. Just a little day-mare. My hat is off to you sir, you pulled off a hard one.
I need creepy as my concscious.
(man that looks spelt weird but right! i checked!)
The fact she smacks you upside the head when you need it should be something ALL humans have ^^
Over in Questionable Content. Momo-tan the antropomorphic PC enjoys taking care of her ultra-nerdy mistress, Marigold. And as she’s pointed out before, now that she’s switched to a human sized shell and is tall enough, that includes dope slapping Marigold whenever she’s being especially foolish or contrary… I think Connie and Momo would get along well…
I was about to bring up that she says “his own shower,” but if so, hes got one damn big shower and some very ornate furniture, so I’m completely lost too.
Well, as Connie says, he wouldn’t sneak up on Shelly “in his own shower,” so I’m gathering they’ve gone to his place. Though, one would think that he’d let himself get more comfortable in his own home.
So, yeah. I don’t know either, and probably didn’t help much. Sorry!
My take is he was hoping for a quick shower and a discussion on why she’s been acting funny recently. She’s stalling in the shower, and he had dropped by after his shift.
Recipe for an unplanned nap.
I think what she was saying is “He wouldn’t sneak up on her in his own shower, let alone in a place of business.” So I believe they are still at Punk Yoga.
Creepy called it catrastophizing, so I guess she was fantasizing but ruining it by imagining the worst. This, unlike Monica’s shower fantasies which culminate in a happy ending. Of course, Shelly has no flexible spray attachment at her disposal so she is at somewhat of a disadvantage..
Really the only way it could have gone without getting beyond the limit of creepiness, even for a webcomic. She’s got to tell him before it happens for real.
He didn’t chicken out if that was his intent all along. It’s only been a couple pages.
Shelly’s had fantasies before, so it’s in character and established storytelling. Shelly’s fantasies have been cued by childish doodles until now, but this is not a childish situation. Despite the comforting philosophy in talking with Heather, there’s more to adulthood than just sticking around longer.
If she asks him to keep her secrets, she may be asking Justin to flaunt the letter and spirit of law–hence the shape her catastrophizing took, where he is the one doing that in more recognizable ways.
But … it’s not against the law to turm into a sphinx. Secrets he will have to keep, yes, but not unlawful ones. Besides, with the inclusivness of laws these days, it would be important to protect the right to privacy of Sphinx-Americans. At the least “Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t die of fright.” The only catch I can think of would be keeping dangerous animals in residential areas. Still that would pertain more to Tina (by her own admission) then Shellinx.
And, it seems that Shelly is probably stuck in the state known as the Dipsy Doodle
Whenever you think you’re crazy
You’re the victim of the Dipsy Doodle
But it’s not your mind that’s hazy
It’s your tongue that’s at fault, not your noodle
You better listen and try to be good
And try to do all the things that you should
The dipsy doodle will get you some day
And you’ll think you’re crazy, the things you’ll say…
So yeah, same vague meaning… and all peeps are that, unless they are too young to blame, or over 80 and done it all, and just want to mess with the young ‘uns.. 😛
I should have seen the fear fueled day dream coming from that title. The concept of ‘Duck and Cover’ was always a childish concept in that if a nuke goes off and you are anywhere close enough to be affected by the blast wave you are as good as dead anyway (Aren’t you???).
Well, no, not entirely. The blast wave can (for example) blow a glass window into a building, and toss around a lot of debris, for miles outside of the fireball and the “heat immediately ignites a firestorm” distance.
So, *some* folks who were at a distance from the point of detonation, and who remembered to “duck and cover” might have been spared injury and survived (better) than those nearby who did not.
For a lot of us living in urban areas near potential targets, “duck and cover” would have been / is moot. A few high-kiloton or low-megaton MIRV warheads going off above a nearby airport, for example, would really ruin our days. The most we could have done after ducking and covering is (as the sardonic poster says) kiss our asses goodbye.
When i was learning “duck and cover” in kindergarten and Grade 1 (1953/54) we were learning it as a protective measure against conventional air attack.
I never heard of it being taught for nuclear attack – though, as anohter post says, from a few miles away, the really unlucky might actually survive the attack by doing it.
Well, one thing; all that hand wringing about the scene being somewhat “rapey” was for naught. Clearly it was something Shelly wanted very much and would have loved for Justin to have “taken” her while in the shower, sphinxiness notwithstanding.
Not at all. If anything it demonstrates the modern tendency to jump on whatever seems the least bit sexually inappropriate and how misguided it often is.
You’re disappointed that there was no rape scene?
Having experienced my sister being ‘date raped’ I can only hope you end your disappointment soon in real life.
I almost went to jail for flinging a piece of pipe I was keeping by the door when he came by to apologize. It seems he’d rather deal with a busted rear windshield than talk with the cops again.
My biggest disappointment was that I couldn’t catch him outside of his car.
And I’d do it again if could catch him.
I know you have issues with women and the treatment of women in media, but don’t wish rape on anyone until you’re dealing with the aftermath of it.
Read what I wrote:
“No, the ‘imagining the worst’ part was in reference to her turning into a sphinx … Today, I’m dissapointed it didn’t happen”. See how they connect?
“It“, if you actually read it properly, being Shelly turning into a sphinx. Where did I say I was dissapointed there was no rape? I didn’t. Don’t read what isn’t there just to fit your preconceived notions.
Plus there never was a rape scene. It was all Shelly’s fantasy, indicating it was what she WANTED to happen (except for the sphinxation part). This is why it’s moot in the first place.
Can’t recall them giving out merit badges for Turning Into A Sphinx when I was in the Scouts, but maybe things have changed, and that’s what Creepy is talking about today.
No, I don’t think one can read Panel One selectively enough to really imagine that. There is no part of Shelly’s trusts or hopes that her fantasy didn’t undermine.
Shelly is afraid her desires for intimacy and her need for secrecy will lead her into a situation her where she will be cornered and abused. She is (wisely) scared of unconstrained power, but (unwisely) to the point where she is imagining behavior from her friends that just would not occur.
Sometimes we need a voice to step in and remind us that our obsessions and predispositions do not trump reality. Helps if the voice calling you a dipsh*t really does have your best interests at heart, and isn’t just another poser flexing at the spa.
Typical. They have fantasy sex in the shower, and the first thing Justin does is fall asleep!
But she really does need to warn him about her status, and what might happen–if only for her own sanity. A secret shared increases trust (as long as it’s not betrayed) and divides fears.
AH!… But that’s the problem! they don’t have any plans in place if the secret does get out, or if somebody who already knows it, betrays them like Tina was talking about way, way back, when Shelly was talking to her in the coffee shop. though it might not be as bad as we think it might become, due to the influence that Monica and Gang seem to have with the MIB… unbeknownst to themselves until they met Euryale that they even have that influence at all…
Oh poo, no wet Sphinxes. This is as disappointing as back when we found out Phix lied to Monica about Monica’s boss wanting to see her, a fact she indicated she knew as the result of post ‘night of passion’ breakfast talk. Although she and he DID get around to that, eventually…
Connie doesn’t cut Shelly much slack. Good thing she doesn’t manifest a clue stick in the form of a 2×4 to help get her points across, or Shelly would have continual lumps on her head.
Wait… I quote the text of the actual strip and get censored? How can the word be simultaneously acceptable and unacceptable? Is it Schrodinger’s Curse?
At a guess, you probably encountered an automatic feature built into WordPress or ComicPress – automatic masking of words used in the comments, to comply with the stated rating of the strip. This feature (assuming it exists) wouldn’t have affected the strip itself, since it’s a graphic.
Either that, or you’ve been infected with auto-censor nanites, which automatically reprogrammed your brain’s intent to hit “u” with a GP-correct “*” and then tweaked your retinal receptors to hide this from you when you proof-read your comment.
Or, as another alternative, you hit the “shift” key by accident, tried to type the word with a capital “U”, and were blocked due the Schrodinger’s Cap effect.
OK, hypotheticals. But, yeah, the lesson here is that she probably ought to … ahem … come clean now, while it can be talked through relatively calmly, rather than risking it being a shock later.
“Uhm… There’s something I think you should know first.”
“Good god, don’t tell me you snore?!”
And patiently we wait.
It seems that Shelly still has a couple of options open to her… either have The Talk now (before sudden disaster occurs, per her fantasy/dream), or decide to break up and go back to being alone (out of fear that disaster with Justin would be inevitable). It’s not too late to do either.
So… how much (and what) is she willing to risk? What scares her more? Hurt/hurting/rejection, or loneliness?
Unfortunately, she has much more experience with loneliness.
Let’s hope she remembers how that feels and gets with Justin.
Until Shelly defeats her own Doubt demon and hobbling herself. Shelly will continue to believe she is incapable of having a happy relationship with anyone.
Seeing as how all of her demons are rolled into creepy girl and creepy girl is rooting for them, I don’t know where her ‘doubt’ is coming from.
Quite true. Shelly has come to a fork in the road so to speak. It’s obvious that she’s terrified by being hurt and rejected by Justin. The very concept of having a happy relationship must seem utterly impossible. Taking into account her past. Shelly craves acceptance but views people as untrustworthy going all the way back to her mothers death. It’s been easier for her to drive people away so that they can’t hurt her first when deep down inside Shelly is desperate for someone to love her.
Yes, she’s on the horns of a very pointy and uncomfortable dilemma. She can’t stay with the current situation… it’s clearly not stable. She has to go closer to Justin (emotionally and truth-wise), or away.
This certainly isn’t a new issue for her… it predates her Time Forest experience. Some time back, Tina did a bit of serious aura-reading of both Shelly and Monica, and bluntly told Shelly not to confuse having passionate sex with Justin with actual closeness and intimacy.
It’s possible that Shelly now cannot dare have sex without real trust and intimacy… her fear of truly letting down her guard and opening up emotionally, may be what’s triggering her sphinx-change.
If that’s the case, it isn’t really different from her arachnaphobic nightmare at all. Fear leads to sphinxness, and sphinxness leads to broken furniture (or broken lovers, which would be much worse).
I didn’t think sphinx had horns–just talons. :^)
I agree BMonk, but some artists take license like so: http://www.murryandlewy.com/?date=2011-11-01
You say she’s doomed to be a horny sphinx because of her dilemma?
That too 🙂
But what I really probably should have meant to say, was “… on the corns of an uncomfortable dilemma”. We’ve seen that sphinxes are basically quadrupleds (feet in back, hands in front) – they’re palm-walkers, and I imagine that they must have calluses on their palms as tough as those on a hobbit’s foot. We’ve seen Shelliinx swat down on a rock and crush it to gravel… that’s not something you do with a tender palm!
However, since Shelly is not by any means a callous person, the situation may be talking off on the other foot entirely.
(drops a golden slipper into the Jar)
Dave, I think that comment would take a “super-caloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis” to make–but then the pun jar might spontaneously explode.
#splorf#
bmonk, I bow to the master! That was just *wonderful*.
I hereby Poppins some funds to the Jar, on your behalf.
Nah–I cribbed it from an old (bad) pun joke.
Ah, but knowing just when to use it is at least half of the skill. A snappy comeback pun earns you extra points, even if it’s not original.
I’ve held onto one or two puns for *years*, waiting for some poor straight man (or woman) to give me the right opportunity to use ’em.
Quite right, Dave. Timing is everything and that fits well.
Considering her disheveled appearance when we saw her in the TTF, one wonders about the halitosis part. I mean, do sphinxes, in general, have a morning routine? Do they brush their teeth and comb their hair? Bathe? Didn’t look as though she did. Shellinx may have been ripe in more ways than one.
For that matter do demons have a grooming routine? Euryale? Pretty sure Phix does, not so sure about Nudge. Seems like the GGGs do. We know Tepoz showers.
I’d guess that rather than “bathe” in the human sense, a sphinx would be more likely to groom itself (like a cat) and/or preen (like a bird).
Saves on funds that way. Imagine how many truckloads of Lifebuoy soap you’d need, to provision a Time Forest vacation of 80,000 years!
Embracing failure is difficult, but often liberating thing. Then again, I’ve known more than one mind and life lost to obsessions with failure.
Wisdom is the middle path.
~D.
Quite true. Failure is an option even though we don’t want to admit it.
What you say reminds me a bit of a story thread in Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, in which Paul seeks to sacrifice himself on the Summer Tree in order to atone for a terrible burden of guilt. He’s released from his guilt through a vision from the Goddess, who shows him that the event he blamed himself for wasn’t something that he caused. He had tried his best to stop it, and had simply failed, because he’s human, and humans fail sometimes. “It is a gift, as much as anything else.”
Well, crisis averted, at least for now…
One crisis was averted, another is still being entertained.
So, in other words — Friday’s cliffhanger *was* a dream sequence, a la Dallas….
…and there goes my “who shot JR?” joke opportunity…
Over 80,000 years, Shelly’s cartoon fantasies are no longer loose doodles, but are finally drawn like that cool webcomic.
Seriously. A dream sequence? 😛
I wouldn’t be so unhappy about it if Shelly going “UGG UGG UGG UGG UGG UGG UGG” wasn’t burned in my brain. I’ve seen the strip be much more….. subtly sexy than that. Hell, even overtly sexy. But that was just….not. I’m all for fanservice and rarely have anything to say critique-wise about the comic, but that was like being beat over the head with a dildo.
Yes, it was a bit on the blatant side. I imagine that was very deliberate on Paul’s part, to show the emotional intensity of Shelly’s catastrophizing, and the conflict she’s in… she really missed him in the Time Forest, and she’s very scared of what she’s facing now. For all the 80,000 years she’s lived as a sphinx, she’s still a young woman trying to come to grips with her own humanity (which is a tad difficult if you aren’t entirely human!)
For those who found it Just Too Much – might I recommend trying wOe-Be-Gone? It’s a gentle, peroxide-based brain bleach, specially formulated to help soften overly-strong imagery tints, and leave the memories suffused with a gentle romantic glow. Many people seem to find it essential in dealing with modern Hollywood movies.
Available at Tropes-‘n-Tropisms and other fine stores. 🙂
Blargle! Someone just rewound the clock 5 minutes after a cliffhanger! Who let Bullwinkle take over pacing of this arc? (>^_^)>
yep…. :/ If you were a ‘Dallas’ fan, the shower scene was JUST as disappointing… 🙁 🙁
Just shove all that expectation in the bin again!! :/
This is a bit odd. Not the strip itself, but the fact that someone totally called it.
When you’ve been reading Paul’s work for 7+ years, you get used to it.
So all the looooong discussions Friday were unnecessary. Paul hasn’t taken many wrong turns, we should give him the benefit of the doubt.
I dunno… I think I learn as much, in reading peoples’ comments and speculations about ideas that turn out to be off-target, as I get from discussions that are entirely in line with canon.
There are some very thoughtful and perceptive people hanging out here… the back-and-forth of peoples’ ideas is one of the things which has made the Wapsiverse such an interesting place to hang out (for me, at least)
Seconded.
I have to say it is the discussions, right wrong or indifferent, from this forum that tend to make my day and the strip itself is always enjoyable. I would just love to have someone make a video or radio version of it
If we do a voice version of the comments section, I nominate ‘Radio Free Bellevue’ as the podcast title…
I’ve been to Bellevue. Nice place. Rather far away from Minneapolis (and Wapsi) though.
And what would be the reasoning for that?
I have go t to learn to be more explicit when I mention an idea such as a radio version of the STRIP lolz
I’ve no doubt that Paul gets a giggle out of reading our ramblings and conspiracy string theories about what we think is going to happen only to find out that we were WAY off base (in my case, I’m talking the next dimension over).
So when Monday rolls around and we the readers anxiously clamor to read the next exciting installment of Wapsi Squares expecting to see Mayhem running rampant thinking that Shelly has savagely mauled her new beau in the shower, only to find out that doubt is playing merry hob with her head again.
i sometimes wonder if he changes things sometimes based on the comments. At the least, sometimes adds a bit of explanatory monolog/dialog to clear up some of our points of confusion.
I think its the same as the ctl-alt-del guy once wrote.
So many people have so many variation of one comic that it stands to reason one of them will be the same as the storyline
like winning the comic lottery 😀
That’s true, but Paul still surprises >75% of the time. In the internet age, that’s pretty huge.
Oookay. That was sneaky.
BTW – i haven’t checked in a few hours, but there weren’t any bids on Friday’s original art yet, last i looked.
Spending for the holidays may be leaving people a bit short for artwork purchases. Unless, of course, they know another Wapsi fan who might like to have it.
Damn it!
I don’t know weather to be dissapointed or relieved about this. She needs to tell him though, even if only because it isn’t fair to him to keep a secret like that.
Justin is just so much cuter asleep in the chair than he was in the shower. I’m really glad it wasn’t him.
Well now. We bring you back to your regularly scheduled dilema.
Win!
Haven’t seen Connie this cranky-looking since the pixie-with-the-rack days.
Connie? I’m sure there’s a clever origin to that name that I missed.
Anyway, it looks like when Connie manifests herself, she’s affected by her environment as she’s getting wet. I wonder how that feels though when she goes back into Shelly all damp like that.
TlalocW
Conscience. Duh. Got it right after submitting my other comment.
Lol, I think we have all done that here at least once.
JUGS! Ha ha!
Follow the link, lest anyone thinks I’m spouting random profanities-
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/little-elemental/
Sir! There is Nothing Profane about Jugs! Good Day Sir!
Hmm. Could have sworn I was wearing a top had and monocle just now…
well, its no. 2 in google, and also Raquel Welch carried them rather well..
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074923/
My jaw is on the floor. Paul found a way to do a “Bobby in The Shower” without it being a stupid retcon. Just a little day-mare. My hat is off to you sir, you pulled off a hard one.
Heheheh.. this made me LOL hard, especially the contrast between Shelly’s “angxt-attack”and the napping Justin…
Nice twist Paul!!
PSYCH!! XD
I need creepy as my concscious.
(man that looks spelt weird but right! i checked!)
The fact she smacks you upside the head when you need it should be something ALL humans have ^^
hmm no i didn’t
conscience is correct. conscious is being awake i think…
I always remember it as ‘con-science’…
Over in Questionable Content. Momo-tan the antropomorphic PC enjoys taking care of her ultra-nerdy mistress, Marigold. And as she’s pointed out before, now that she’s switched to a human sized shell and is tall enough, that includes dope slapping Marigold whenever she’s being especially foolish or contrary… I think Connie and Momo would get along well…
If only they were in the same universe. Well there is always the ‘Cross Time Cafe’.
Okay, are we still at Punk Yoga, Justin in the lobby, or did we go to His Place? Or does it matter? Or what?
I was about to bring up that she says “his own shower,” but if so, hes got one damn big shower and some very ornate furniture, so I’m completely lost too.
Well, as Connie says, he wouldn’t sneak up on Shelly “in his own shower,” so I’m gathering they’ve gone to his place. Though, one would think that he’d let himself get more comfortable in his own home.
So, yeah. I don’t know either, and probably didn’t help much. Sorry!
My take is he was hoping for a quick shower and a discussion on why she’s been acting funny recently. She’s stalling in the shower, and he had dropped by after his shift.
Recipe for an unplanned nap.
I think Connie is saying “…even in his own shower…”, meaning this is still the studio.
I think what she was saying is “He wouldn’t sneak up on her in his own shower, let alone in a place of business.” So I believe they are still at Punk Yoga.
Makes sense. For some reason, my brain didn’t read it that way the first time.
Seriously? It Was A Dream All Along? Lame, lame, lame.
Not really – it was Shelly’s angst made manifest for us to understand.
And a five- or ten-minute dream is allowable. A six-month dream is
screwingplaying with the viewer’s mind and sense of reality.That said, it was a very, very vivid dream.
Creepy called it catrastophizing, so I guess she was fantasizing but ruining it by imagining the worst. This, unlike Monica’s shower fantasies which culminate in a happy ending. Of course, Shelly has no flexible spray attachment at her disposal so she is at somewhat of a disadvantage..
Darn, that pot was supposed to go with the one directly above.
“post” … Must sleep.
Really the only way it could have gone without getting beyond the limit of creepiness, even for a webcomic. She’s got to tell him before it happens for real.
Oops! Paul chickened out!
He didn’t chicken out if that was his intent all along. It’s only been a couple pages.
Shelly’s had fantasies before, so it’s in character and established storytelling. Shelly’s fantasies have been cued by childish doodles until now, but this is not a childish situation. Despite the comforting philosophy in talking with Heather, there’s more to adulthood than just sticking around longer.
If she asks him to keep her secrets, she may be asking Justin to flaunt the letter and spirit of law–hence the shape her catastrophizing took, where he is the one doing that in more recognizable ways.
But … it’s not against the law to turm into a sphinx. Secrets he will have to keep, yes, but not unlawful ones. Besides, with the inclusivness of laws these days, it would be important to protect the right to privacy of Sphinx-Americans. At the least “Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t die of fright.” The only catch I can think of would be keeping dangerous animals in residential areas. Still that would pertain more to Tina (by her own admission) then Shellinx.
We still don’t know if Justin can turn into a sphinx.
Unless he’s a werelesbian, I don’t think it’s within Minnesota law for him to be striding around naked in the women’s showers at a place of business.
Alas, come what dreams may…
“Hey, Dipshit, Quit Being a Dipshit!”
Why does this always relevant and Simply Amazing piece of advice Ring so True, yet Fade so Quickly in the face of emotional adversity?
Probably because we’re all dipshits… as Connie’s next sentence reminds us 🙂
I beg your pardon? I am not a dips**t. I am a dipwad. On occasion, a dipstick.
Six of one bub. ;-p
And, it seems that Shelly is probably stuck in the state known as the Dipsy Doodle
You better listen and try to be good
And try to do all the things that you should
The dipsy doodle will get you some day
And you’ll think you’re crazy, the things you’ll say…
well the urban dictionary says dickwad is dipshit and dickhead combined… 🙂
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dipwad
So yeah, same vague meaning… and all peeps are that, unless they are too young to blame, or over 80 and done it all, and just want to mess with the young ‘uns.. 😛
WHOA!!!
A Dream World … then Conscience … And Guilt.
Well, I was caught up in it too from Friday …
Choice of title on Friday is also underscored: “Duck and Cover” was a reel made by adults to teach children about atomic war.
But it isn’t up to children to try and survive a nuclear exchange. The adults are supposed to keep that from happening.
I should have seen the fear fueled day dream coming from that title. The concept of ‘Duck and Cover’ was always a childish concept in that if a nuke goes off and you are anywhere close enough to be affected by the blast wave you are as good as dead anyway (Aren’t you???).
Well, no, not entirely. The blast wave can (for example) blow a glass window into a building, and toss around a lot of debris, for miles outside of the fireball and the “heat immediately ignites a firestorm” distance.
So, *some* folks who were at a distance from the point of detonation, and who remembered to “duck and cover” might have been spared injury and survived (better) than those nearby who did not.
For a lot of us living in urban areas near potential targets, “duck and cover” would have been / is moot. A few high-kiloton or low-megaton MIRV warheads going off above a nearby airport, for example, would really ruin our days. The most we could have done after ducking and covering is (as the sardonic poster says) kiss our asses goodbye.
google “when the wind blows” good film about the reality of nuclear war, as said, it is best to be at the centre, to avoid the suffering…
When i was learning “duck and cover” in kindergarten and Grade 1 (1953/54) we were learning it as a protective measure against conventional air attack.
I never heard of it being taught for nuclear attack – though, as anohter post says, from a few miles away, the really unlucky might actually survive the attack by doing it.
Ask the hibakusha about it.
Well, one thing; all that hand wringing about the scene being somewhat “rapey” was for naught. Clearly it was something Shelly wanted very much and would have loved for Justin to have “taken” her while in the shower, sphinxiness notwithstanding.
You sound so disappointed.
Not at all. If anything it demonstrates the modern tendency to jump on whatever seems the least bit sexually inappropriate and how misguided it often is.
You were swearing and acknowledging it as “imagining the worst” last night. Glad you had a chance to sleep on it.
OIC. No, the “imagining the worst” part was in reference to her turning into a sphinx, not Justin’s actions. Today, I’m dissapointed it didn’t happen.
You’re disappointed that there was no rape scene?
Having experienced my sister being ‘date raped’ I can only hope you end your disappointment soon in real life.
I almost went to jail for flinging a piece of pipe I was keeping by the door when he came by to apologize. It seems he’d rather deal with a busted rear windshield than talk with the cops again.
My biggest disappointment was that I couldn’t catch him outside of his car.
And I’d do it again if could catch him.
I know you have issues with women and the treatment of women in media, but don’t wish rape on anyone until you’re dealing with the aftermath of it.
*steps down off soapbox with a scowl*
Read what I wrote:
“No, the ‘imagining the worst’ part was in reference to her turning into a sphinx … Today, I’m dissapointed it didn’t happen”. See how they connect?
“It“, if you actually read it properly, being Shelly turning into a sphinx. Where did I say I was dissapointed there was no rape? I didn’t. Don’t read what isn’t there just to fit your preconceived notions.
Plus there never was a rape scene. It was all Shelly’s fantasy, indicating it was what she WANTED to happen (except for the sphinxation part). This is why it’s moot in the first place.
Jabberwonky: I feel your pain, but THINK before you react, read carefully FIVE times, to be sure you get it right….
Can’t recall them giving out merit badges for Turning Into A Sphinx when I was in the Scouts, but maybe things have changed, and that’s what Creepy is talking about today.
No, I don’t think one can read Panel One selectively enough to really imagine that. There is no part of Shelly’s trusts or hopes that her fantasy didn’t undermine.
Shelly is afraid her desires for intimacy and her need for secrecy will lead her into a situation her where she will be cornered and abused. She is (wisely) scared of unconstrained power, but (unwisely) to the point where she is imagining behavior from her friends that just would not occur.
Sometimes we need a voice to step in and remind us that our obsessions and predispositions do not trump reality. Helps if the voice calling you a dipsh*t really does have your best interests at heart, and isn’t just another poser flexing at the spa.
Well that was not what I expected. At all.
Paging Anton Chekov to the firearms range…
Typical. They have fantasy sex in the shower, and the first thing Justin does is fall asleep!
But she really does need to warn him about her status, and what might happen–if only for her own sanity. A secret shared increases trust (as long as it’s not betrayed) and divides fears.
AH!… But that’s the problem! they don’t have any plans in place if the secret does get out, or if somebody who already knows it, betrays them like Tina was talking about way, way back, when Shelly was talking to her in the coffee shop. though it might not be as bad as we think it might become, due to the influence that Monica and Gang seem to have with the MIB… unbeknownst to themselves until they met Euryale that they even have that influence at all…
Oh poo, no wet Sphinxes. This is as disappointing as back when we found out Phix lied to Monica about Monica’s boss wanting to see her, a fact she indicated she knew as the result of post ‘night of passion’ breakfast talk. Although she and he DID get around to that, eventually…
Connie doesn’t cut Shelly much slack. Good thing she doesn’t manifest a clue stick in the form of a 2×4 to help get her points across, or Shelly would have continual lumps on her head.
I think that they did get to it that night. Phix just lied about him wanting to see her is all.
Did anyone else read that as “Humans f*ck things all the time”?
Wait… I quote the text of the actual strip and get censored? How can the word be simultaneously acceptable and unacceptable? Is it Schrodinger’s Curse?
At a guess, you probably encountered an automatic feature built into WordPress or ComicPress – automatic masking of words used in the comments, to comply with the stated rating of the strip. This feature (assuming it exists) wouldn’t have affected the strip itself, since it’s a graphic.
Either that, or you’ve been infected with auto-censor nanites, which automatically reprogrammed your brain’s intent to hit “u” with a GP-correct “*” and then tweaked your retinal receptors to hide this from you when you proof-read your comment.
Or, as another alternative, you hit the “shift” key by accident, tried to type the word with a capital “U”, and were blocked due the Schrodinger’s Cap effect.
Because the advertising spiders can’t read a jpeg but they can read text. I try to keep the comments as low on stronger obscenities as I can.
oopsie! if that’s the case then you missed editing the comment by “Jae” on Friday, December 2, 2011 at 8:04 am
a rather rude comment at that.
OK, hypotheticals. But, yeah, the lesson here is that she probably ought to … ahem … come clean now, while it can be talked through relatively calmly, rather than risking it being a shock later.
“Uhm… There’s something I think you should know first.”
“Good god, don’t tell me you snore?!”
Are you saying that she might come out smelling like a rose–unless her shampoo has another scent?
[drops a tiny bottle of Channel No. 5 in the jar]
Snoring – separate beds required.
Serious snoring – separate bedrooms required.
Sphinx, snoring – separate residences required. Possibly in separate hemispheres of the planet.
I’m just glad the tile job survived. 🙂
This arc reminds me of the nightmare sequence from American Warewolf in London where he wakes up from a nightmare right smack into another one.
Join us next time when Shelly moves from the shower to the Sphinx…it’s SHOWER to please! (pun jar latches on to arm, knawing angrily) ;-D
And here’s “Connie” to give her big sis a boot in the pants to motivate her in the right direction.
There are times when Connie seems to be the most sensible, best-grounded character in the Wapsiverse!
All I know is the last panel is pretty much how my boyfriend is found a few times I’ve come out the shower, it melts my heart, and so did the panel
I love the light and shadow on Conscience.