The doll honors the dead — in this case, TIna 2.0 is honoring Tina 1.0 — someone she’s never really met due to amnesia. All she has of her prior existence is a diary and various news clippings.
No, merely an altar of sorts; an icon, a remembrance. Tina – the owner of the shell that Nudge and Co. animate – is dead, according to Paul. Dead and gone.
Yeah, but she’s still somewhere out there in the ether. I expect someday she’ll show up to save the day and the demons will be so happy to see her. Until, that is, she presents them with a humongous bill for several years of body rental. Not sure what the currency used in the afterlife looks like, but apparently you can open a bank account now.
I’m not sure it’s a con-job per se. It seems like the guy wrote it with tongue in cheek. At least that’s how I took it, but I could be wrong. The site seems mostly for getting people to advertise on it, thereby creating actual revenue.
So is Becky not Tina’s employee? Perhaps Becky works at a nearby shop and just helps Tina when necessary?
Since the definition of barista is, “a person who works at the counter of a coffee shop,” if she’s working at Mucho Mocha, she would pretty much have to be a barista. I realize that Tina sells bagels and scones, but you wouldn’t hire a pastry chef just to make them.
Haven’t you people ever been to a coffee shop that sells fresh made pastries? And bagels and scones are NOT pastries. We’re talking strudel, danishes, cream puffs, baklava, that sort of thing. Sweet and soft, often flaky.
Tina’s isn’t some big corporate franchise. She runs an upscale coffee shop out of her own pocket. She’s very proud of her shop, as you can see in the link below.
So if she has “the best damn coffee in the twin cities”, she probably also wants to serve some pretty nice pastry to go with. None of that shrink wrapped, bought in bulk crap a lot of places get from wholesalers either. Real, warm, fresh, crumbly, heavenly pastries straight from the oven and into your breakfast. Hence, Becky is her chef.
Well, her sign (which has had the same “Coffee of the Day” for the last six years) doesn’t say anything about flaky pastries. I don’t know what all is in that refrigerator case, but that looks little suspicious to me. 😉
Tina 2.0 says “I Hope…”. Is a singular entity speaking of behalf of the collective? If so, which one is speaking. It is not Nudge because she has her own font.
Way back when, she had a full argument among the elements prior to getting up. I think we can infer that the “main” voice is a kind of “synthetic consciousness” counterfeitting the singular nature of a person, and after all this time, it’s as second-nature as walking or biking.
Creepy foreshadowing. Now, just when did she/they “save so many?” And why are they so attached to Tina 1.0? They move from body to body so often, one would think they would not get too close to any one soul. Probably have been in thousands upon thousands of bodies, if not millions upon millions. Eventually each life would be just another day at the office I would think.
They saved “so many” by helping to fix the calendar machine. As for demons changing bodies, Tina’s demons have an entirely fresh start with no memory. They don’t remember their eternity spent as demons per se, but only selective information about their own nature.
To elaborate, that was sort of the entire point the other demons (Monica’s and Jin’s) were going for. If they can hurt someone, they end up like Tina. To an immortal being without “freedom”, a chance to lose all memory and begin fresh is like offering an old man to be born again.
She had only a peripheral part in all that so I’m not so certain. She may be referring to events about which we have, as yet, no knowledge. Perhaps something about the drug dealers.
I thought they only had no knowledge of Tina and their time with her, not everything and everyone up to, and including, her. But I do recall the discussion with Monica and the demon saying Tina’s demons “showed the way.” So you may be right.
I’m warming up to the idea that Tina may be talking about more than we know. For one thing, who does she mean by “we”? I think she may be including Tina’s spirit in “we”, because she switches to singular in the second sentence.
I’m not so sure that Tina’s role with the calendar machine was only peripheral, though. The story glossed over how Tina 1.0 had be working with the past Brandi. That could amount to anything.
I’m very curious about why Tina said that “we still have so much yet to do.” That seemed like it might involve Tina’s spirit, somehow. It will be interesting to find out what Paul is thinking.
Tina 2,0 seems to be using the doll as a representation of Tina 1.0, much like other people would use a picture or some other icon of a deceased person.
I think Tina was talking about doing her part to fix the time loop problem. All humans had been trapped by the time loop. That’s what caused Tina 1.0 and Tina 2.0 to go on their “separate paths”.
Unlike other demons, Tina’s demons don’t remember any other hosts because her memories were erased. Jin’s demon made that out to be a big deal, but for different reasons: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/theyloveyou/ and http://wapsisquare.com/comic/notmortality/
Also, Tina’s case was different because Tina’s demons were responsible for her death. Demons would probably be used to their hosts dying when the host’s time came, but Tina 1.0 was basically robbed of part of her life, thanks to Tina’s demons, so Tina 2.0 could be feeling some guilt.
Going from body to body is what got Jin’s Doubt in trouble, if memory serves. Pablo could probably say something if I’m off track, but I think that personal demons aren’t supposed to be jumping from person to person like Jin’s did.
As I understand it, there were two different ways for the demons to break the rules. The more serious one involve harming a non-host person by directly influencing them. It would be very difficult to do that without going through Monica’s doorway, which is now locked. Demons doing that were punished with amnesia, which wound up being a blessing in disguise according to Jin’s demon.
The less serious thing was to use knowledge that their host shouldn’t have known about someone else. That’s what was going on here: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/femoralartery/ The demons were only directly influencing their own hosts, but they were trading information between themselves. That allowed Jin and Monica to zing each other more effectively than they would have otherwise. I don’t know if there is any punishment for doing that.
She didn’t seem to be afraid of stubbing her toe….
And, off topic, I saw a girl yesterday that look just like Katherine! She didn’t have the eyes, and I didn’t get a good look at her teeth. But, the second I saw her my mind yelled ‘KATHERINE!’. I hope I didn’t do a double take…
I’ll bet it would take a ton of paper mache to make one of those dolls. I should construct one for arts and crafts and hang in in my room. The doctors would freak. Problem is, I’d probably freak too, having something like that around. In the dark and quiet stillness of the night. The theme from “Halloween” would probably run through my head every time I looked at it. Just like it is right now.
I once built a scarecrow when I was a kid for Halloween and hanged it from the tree in our front yard. It was cool until one night while walking home I could see it silhouetted against the porch light from several blocks away and even knowing what it was it creeped me out the rest of the way home until i dashed the last few yards into the house.
If you modelled it on the idea of “comforting spirits,” it wouldn’t be nearly so freaky… A kindly face, a gentle embrace, Nana can cure all your hurts.
So if Tina 1.0 might still be out there in the “ether” somewhere, she could find that doll, inhabit it, take it over, and wreak havoc on the twin cities… Oh, it’s paper mache. Never mind.
I can’t decide in my head if it’s a Gigai, or a Shabti. My “Sick Sense” tells me it is/will be a spirit vessel of some kind eventually. Actual Tina might not be able to indulge in some Re-Possession until the Gang finishes whatever redemption thev’e been assigned.
Ya know, up until now, we’ve only had to deal with the demon realm, while the realm of the actual dead has not been explored…is this a possibility? Can we fill in the gaps from Tina 1.0’s life through another supernatural romp???
It would seem likely. We still have a great deal of the back story for Phix and Mayahuel to explore, as well – and they are both poster children for the supernatural.
Well, there is also the matter that the ghost of a little girl might be haunting Jin. That seems to be the central matter in this arc, so far. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tina’s ghost might tie into that somehow.
Well… this is interesting. Is Tina talking about Monica, Becky, or someone else?
The doll honors the dead — in this case, TIna 2.0 is honoring Tina 1.0 — someone she’s never really met due to amnesia. All she has of her prior existence is a diary and various news clippings.
Correct. 🙂
Oh, good. I’m late to the party, but that’s what I thought of before I read Pablo’s comment. Now and then even a blind Wolf finds a can of Haggis… 😛
you mean colcannon…
(Thank you for putting a pastry chef in a comic, Paul! <3 Please let us see more of her. My people need representation!)
I think Tina was talking about Monica. Becky would have been around a lot before, so there would be no reason to introduce her.
Oh wow… That is so incredibly touching and sad…
Egad. Could it be? Is the girl in the basement the ghost/spirit/whatever of the original Tina Guzman?
No, merely an altar of sorts; an icon, a remembrance. Tina – the owner of the shell that Nudge and Co. animate – is dead, according to Paul. Dead and gone.
Yeah, but she’s still somewhere out there in the ether. I expect someday she’ll show up to save the day and the demons will be so happy to see her. Until, that is, she presents them with a humongous bill for several years of body rental. Not sure what the currency used in the afterlife looks like, but apparently you can open a bank account now.
Opps, screwed that link up … http://deathpro.com/next-life/afterlife-banking-personal-death-services/
And that looks like another con-job to me. But to each his own.
I’m not sure it’s a con-job per se. It seems like the guy wrote it with tongue in cheek. At least that’s how I took it, but I could be wrong. The site seems mostly for getting people to advertise on it, thereby creating actual revenue.
And in other news…
Anthony Perkins is his own mother!
Tina is apparently talking to Tina 1.0 about Monica, i think.
Changed your Icon again, FPF? How many of YOU are in there? Trying to emulate our favorite characters? 🙂
I change ’em every so often.
And now we know why Becky didn’t seem to know too much about coffee …
So is Becky not Tina’s employee? Perhaps Becky works at a nearby shop and just helps Tina when necessary?
Since the definition of barista is, “a person who works at the counter of a coffee shop,” if she’s working at Mucho Mocha, she would pretty much have to be a barista. I realize that Tina sells bagels and scones, but you wouldn’t hire a pastry chef just to make them.
Oh for pete’s sake.
Haven’t you people ever been to a coffee shop that sells fresh made pastries? And bagels and scones are NOT pastries. We’re talking strudel, danishes, cream puffs, baklava, that sort of thing. Sweet and soft, often flaky.
Tina’s isn’t some big corporate franchise. She runs an upscale coffee shop out of her own pocket. She’s very proud of her shop, as you can see in the link below.
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/doingmyjob/
So if she has “the best damn coffee in the twin cities”, she probably also wants to serve some pretty nice pastry to go with. None of that shrink wrapped, bought in bulk crap a lot of places get from wholesalers either. Real, warm, fresh, crumbly, heavenly pastries straight from the oven and into your breakfast. Hence, Becky is her chef.
~D.
Thanks D. Now I’m all hungry again and only real, warm, fresh, crumbly, heavenly pastry straight from the oven will do… 😛
Well, her sign (which has had the same “Coffee of the Day” for the last six years) doesn’t say anything about flaky pastries. I don’t know what all is in that refrigerator case, but that looks little suspicious to me. 😉
Besides, Flaky Pastry is a different comic.
Tina takin’ care o’ business .
Tina 2.0 says “I Hope…”. Is a singular entity speaking of behalf of the collective? If so, which one is speaking. It is not Nudge because she has her own font.
No, from what Paul has said, the screened lettering is a single member of the Collective; normal lettering is the Collective as a whole.
And i’m pretty sure that it’s still not established that Nudge is the only singular voice we’ve heard so far.
Way back when, she had a full argument among the elements prior to getting up. I think we can infer that the “main” voice is a kind of “synthetic consciousness” counterfeitting the singular nature of a person, and after all this time, it’s as second-nature as walking or biking.
What i said.
Sorry… just felt it needed to be expanded.
Yeah – i figured, actually.
Couldn’t resist…
A pastry chef? Oooh, I’m liking this new old girl even more now. 😉
Freaky in a beautiful kind of way.
Creepy foreshadowing. Now, just when did she/they “save so many?” And why are they so attached to Tina 1.0? They move from body to body so often, one would think they would not get too close to any one soul. Probably have been in thousands upon thousands of bodies, if not millions upon millions. Eventually each life would be just another day at the office I would think.
They’re stuck in that one body now, until it goes kaput, and rots until they’re allowed to leave (with time off for good development).
On another note, I’m so glad to have called it… I get so few predictions right 🙂
They saved “so many” by helping to fix the calendar machine. As for demons changing bodies, Tina’s demons have an entirely fresh start with no memory. They don’t remember their eternity spent as demons per se, but only selective information about their own nature.
~D.
To elaborate, that was sort of the entire point the other demons (Monica’s and Jin’s) were going for. If they can hurt someone, they end up like Tina. To an immortal being without “freedom”, a chance to lose all memory and begin fresh is like offering an old man to be born again.
~D.
She had only a peripheral part in all that so I’m not so certain. She may be referring to events about which we have, as yet, no knowledge. Perhaps something about the drug dealers.
I thought they only had no knowledge of Tina and their time with her, not everything and everyone up to, and including, her. But I do recall the discussion with Monica and the demon saying Tina’s demons “showed the way.” So you may be right.
I’m warming up to the idea that Tina may be talking about more than we know. For one thing, who does she mean by “we”? I think she may be including Tina’s spirit in “we”, because she switches to singular in the second sentence.
I’m not so sure that Tina’s role with the calendar machine was only peripheral, though. The story glossed over how Tina 1.0 had be working with the past Brandi. That could amount to anything.
I’m very curious about why Tina said that “we still have so much yet to do.” That seemed like it might involve Tina’s spirit, somehow. It will be interesting to find out what Paul is thinking.
Apparently teams of demons can have multiple hosts simultaneously, but that may not be the case with Tina’s demons.
Tina 2,0 seems to be using the doll as a representation of Tina 1.0, much like other people would use a picture or some other icon of a deceased person.
I think Tina was talking about doing her part to fix the time loop problem. All humans had been trapped by the time loop. That’s what caused Tina 1.0 and Tina 2.0 to go on their “separate paths”.
Unlike other demons, Tina’s demons don’t remember any other hosts because her memories were erased. Jin’s demon made that out to be a big deal, but for different reasons: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/theyloveyou/ and http://wapsisquare.com/comic/notmortality/
Also, Tina’s case was different because Tina’s demons were responsible for her death. Demons would probably be used to their hosts dying when the host’s time came, but Tina 1.0 was basically robbed of part of her life, thanks to Tina’s demons, so Tina 2.0 could be feeling some guilt.
Going from body to body is what got Jin’s Doubt in trouble, if memory serves. Pablo could probably say something if I’m off track, but I think that personal demons aren’t supposed to be jumping from person to person like Jin’s did.
IIRC, it was not that they had multiple hosts, the crime was to pit one host against the other, needlessly complicating or ruining both their lives.
At some point, the Tina collective hurt somebody (Monica) and was blinded as consequence — Thus Tina 2.0 has amnesia and so a fresh start.
Not really sure is this is punishment or blessing to those demons.
As I understand it, there were two different ways for the demons to break the rules. The more serious one involve harming a non-host person by directly influencing them. It would be very difficult to do that without going through Monica’s doorway, which is now locked. Demons doing that were punished with amnesia, which wound up being a blessing in disguise according to Jin’s demon.
The less serious thing was to use knowledge that their host shouldn’t have known about someone else. That’s what was going on here: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/femoralartery/ The demons were only directly influencing their own hosts, but they were trading information between themselves. That allowed Jin and Monica to zing each other more effectively than they would have otherwise. I don’t know if there is any punishment for doing that.
So the new $100,000 question is, what exactly did Tina’s demons conspire to do? Not just “make Monica temporarily dead”; they did it for some reason.
She didn’t seem to be afraid of stubbing her toe….
And, off topic, I saw a girl yesterday that look just like Katherine! She didn’t have the eyes, and I didn’t get a good look at her teeth. But, the second I saw her my mind yelled ‘KATHERINE!’. I hope I didn’t do a double take…
I’ll bet it would take a ton of paper mache to make one of those dolls. I should construct one for arts and crafts and hang in in my room. The doctors would freak. Problem is, I’d probably freak too, having something like that around. In the dark and quiet stillness of the night. The theme from “Halloween” would probably run through my head every time I looked at it. Just like it is right now.
I once built a scarecrow when I was a kid for Halloween and hanged it from the tree in our front yard. It was cool until one night while walking home I could see it silhouetted against the porch light from several blocks away and even knowing what it was it creeped me out the rest of the way home until i dashed the last few yards into the house.
If you modelled it on the idea of “comforting spirits,” it wouldn’t be nearly so freaky… A kindly face, a gentle embrace, Nana can cure all your hurts.
Any implications of Santa Muerte?
So if Tina 1.0 might still be out there in the “ether” somewhere, she could find that doll, inhabit it, take it over, and wreak havoc on the twin cities… Oh, it’s paper mache. Never mind.
I can’t decide in my head if it’s a Gigai, or a Shabti. My “Sick Sense” tells me it is/will be a spirit vessel of some kind eventually. Actual Tina might not be able to indulge in some Re-Possession until the Gang finishes whatever redemption thev’e been assigned.
Ya know, up until now, we’ve only had to deal with the demon realm, while the realm of the actual dead has not been explored…is this a possibility? Can we fill in the gaps from Tina 1.0’s life through another supernatural romp???
…I gotta sit down…
It would seem likely. We still have a great deal of the back story for Phix and Mayahuel to explore, as well – and they are both poster children for the supernatural.
Well, there is also the matter that the ghost of a little girl might be haunting Jin. That seems to be the central matter in this arc, so far. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tina’s ghost might tie into that somehow.
mon has less than clearly explained the little girl in jin’s hole is jin herself as the broken child the calander was to fix.
heh heh…Dammit Tina, Becky is a pastry chef not a barista…is that why she didn’t recognize Shelly’s coffee order way back when?
Monica’s coffee order.
Now I’m really scared.
Look at how Tina kinda blends in with the darkness as she descends to her own personal underworld.
Thanks for this, I’m always had a thing for hollow tattooed chicks with no noses. Wait, was that too personal?
OH GOD! SOMEBODY CALL A RUBBER TRUCK; THE GIRL’S FINALLY LOST IT!!!
Am I the only one who noticed that the mañecua is fuller in the bust than the body it represents?
No.
After scaring the hell out of Monica, are you surprised?