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"You Are Aware"
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You Are Aware
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Latest Medusa Comic

You Are Aware

by Paul Taylor on February 4, 2018 at 6:02 pm
Story: Wapsi-Archive
Characters: Atsali, Skylar
Location: Dragon's Wall College

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Discussion (28) ¬

  1. soloran
    February 4, 2018, 6:18 pm | # | Reply

    Gawd Tsali! You are such a nerd! I love it!

  2. Chaise Murphy
    February 4, 2018, 7:07 pm | # | Reply

    Phew! Finally finished a major archive trawl.

    I thought I’d be able to understand some stuff better now that I know the basic story. Hah! The Time Forest still throws me. I even diagrammed it and couldn’t make it work. Oh well, Shakespeare got away with worse. Then there’s Evil Brandi…

    I’m a nerd, have been as long as I can remember. In school I proudly called myself that. Who’d want to be normal? Ewww. Later I learned that the name for my condition was Asperger’s Syndrome. Thus, Monica and Atsali are the characters I most identify with, not just in this comic but comics generally. Well, apart from the gigantomastia. And Being a Mythological Badass…

    Perhaps it’s the Mythological Badass thing, but certain aspects of their behaviour don’t ring true. Both of them (and several other characters) are prone to fits of violent, potentially murderous rage. From what I’ve read, Aspies in general tend not to feel, and still less to act upon, extreme emotions. Certainly I can barely comprehend, and cannot emulate, even normal anger. Annoyance is about as far as I go. So, I guess I’m saying, kudos for even including people with Asperger’s in your comic, but I’m still looking for something which accurately reflects my experience of the syndrome.

    To finish on a high note, brilliant comic. Now that I’m up to date, it’s going on my Check Daily list.

    • Akeche
      February 4, 2018, 9:50 pm | # | Reply

      I’m not entirely sure either of those characters were ever meant to have Asperger’s Syndrome unless Paul mentioned as such elsewhere?

      • Dave
        February 5, 2018, 12:51 am | #

        Atsali has acknowledged that she has some very pronounced forms of “social blindness”. She can’t interpret the emotional content of facial expressions, and isn’t good at all at picking up on related forms of social cue (e.g. body language, tone of voice, sarcasm and innuendo, if I remember correctly). She’s tried quite hard, but just can’t seem to “get it”. I recall her discussing this whole issue with Nadette, and I think also with Skylar.

        So, her condition has some similarities to Asperger syndrome, and might qualify as meeting the “book definition” of Asperger depending on whose book you read. ☺

        There had been speculation over in the Forum that these aspects of her psychology might come from being a Siren… by birth she’s a manipulative predator, and perhaps predators of her general sort are more effective if they don’t related to the emotional state of their prey. Her occasional violent outbursts seem to be associated with her Siren “warbird” form and predatory instincts.

        Monica… I think she’s been officially characterized as a sociopath (by herself among others) although she’s more complex than that term might suggest… she does have a conscience and she does care about others, often quite a lot. I don’t recall her being unable to pick up on people’s verbal or facial cues. She’s definitely had some issues with being emotionally closed-off and self-centered, but I think that had a lot more to do with her childhood emotional traumas (up to and including being raped repeatedly while confined to a mental hospital 😖) than to Asperger syndrome.

      • Chaise Murphy
        February 5, 2018, 1:16 am | #

        Monica is called a nerd on several occasions. I don’t think Asperger’s is ever mentioned specifically, but Atsali’s expression-blindness sounds a bit like it.

    • joecrouse
      February 5, 2018, 9:26 am | # | Reply

      Nope sorry to burst your bubble, Diagnosed aspie Most of the ones I know are Not Easily provoked to violence (I’m not any more Ive learned Violence is fun but if you can make someone TERRIFIED OF YOU its far more effective) but VERY PRONE to it when provoked. Like Mr Nuclear Grenade is NOT your friend when his pin is pulled clear the area countdown to nuclear event commencing… What helped was being trained in APPLIED violence actually.

  3. Typeminer
    February 4, 2018, 7:26 pm | # | Reply

    Welcome, Chaise! Check out the Forum! 🙂

    • Chaise Murphy
      February 5, 2018, 1:10 am | # | Reply

      Trying to find a Forum link. No luck. How do I get there?

      • Dave
        February 5, 2018, 1:51 am | #

        Scroll up about halfway to the top of the page, and look to the right of the comments. There’s a picture of Bud with a “See you at the Wapsi Forum” caption. Just click on it.

        Or, http://forum.wapsisquare.com will take you there.

        Do come join us!

      • Chaise Murphy
        February 5, 2018, 2:31 am | #

        Aagh! Can’t see for looking. OK, see you there. Tomorrow.

  4. GrantCMcCormick
    February 4, 2018, 8:51 pm | # | Reply

    That reminds me of a trick I pulled on a coworker back in the 1990s: he was a Kuwaiti expatriot, and I convinced him that the Doobie Brothers were actually a group from Dubai. Even after Abdel found out the truth, they remained his favorite group!

    • Guesticus
      February 5, 2018, 8:25 am | # | Reply

      Why wouldn’t they? They are a great band

  5. BarerMender
    February 4, 2018, 10:08 pm | # | Reply

    If I were Skylar, I’d be rolling my eyes so hard.

  6. Centaur71
    February 4, 2018, 10:52 pm | # | Reply

    Count your steps and go real slow, for not in another world must you show; The whims of fate will never care, should you show up in the Jabberwocky’s lair…

  7. Robert Nowall
    February 4, 2018, 11:30 pm | # | Reply

    You said that, Skylar? And it worked?

  8. Dave
    February 5, 2018, 1:58 am | # | Reply

    Slenderman. Rather sadly topical. No, Skylar, you probably don’t want to be the person who created a belief system anything like that one. Memes sometimes turn out to have fangs, and like any invasive species you usually can’t do anything to bring them back after they’ve gotten out of the yard.

  9. Samuraiartguy
    February 5, 2018, 2:12 am | # | Reply

    IMMEDIATELY stops counting s**t…

  10. Simon
    February 5, 2018, 5:29 am | # | Reply

    Granted, it wouldn’t really be in character for her, but did Atsali make that up on the spot to mess with her friend? Because that would be the perfect response to that confession… 😉

    • Guesticus
      February 5, 2018, 8:27 am | # | Reply

      Was just thinking that 😀

    • Treesong
      February 5, 2018, 11:49 pm | # | Reply

      The arrow tail coming into view suggests that.

      • Guesticus
        February 6, 2018, 10:52 am | #

        That’s not her tail…

  11. Jayessell
    February 5, 2018, 6:27 am | # | Reply

    Skylar’s denial of Quantum Creation sounds like it’s hitting close to home.
    Is there something she would rather others not know about herself?

    • Guesticus
      February 5, 2018, 8:28 am | # | Reply

      Did you not read the middle panel? That is why she said no in the last panel

  12. Hugh B Hayve
    February 5, 2018, 10:32 am | # | Reply

    So by that logic, it is a common belief, shared by many, that my morning coffee ritual keeps me from turning into Satan. Guess I shouldn’t slack off then.

  13. GrantCMcCormick
    February 5, 2018, 7:58 pm | # | Reply

    It doesn’t have to be true… It doestn’t have to be logical…

    It just has to be plausible!

  14. gyrre
    February 5, 2018, 8:31 pm | # | Reply

    Wasn’t there a poorly done horror movie about what Atsali says in the last panel?

    • FreeFlier
      February 5, 2018, 10:37 pm | # | Reply

      Any number of movies and stories . . . some better done than others.

      • gyrre
        February 6, 2018, 7:41 am | #

        Honestly, at this point Hollywood both big and small just needs to lay off of the horror movies for a while. Especially the gorey/shock horror crap. Most of it seems to be stupid, poorly done, or both.

        There’s a horror movie coming out this year that tries to make the game ‘truth or dare’ scarey. The’ve pretty much run out of good ideas.

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