Grrl Power #446 – Confidence shattered
People think wolves howl at the moon, but a quick googling should be enough to dissuade them from the idea. From there it’s a small leap to disassociate werewolves from the moon as well. I’m surely not the first person to consider that… even typing out that sentence sounds like a douchey humblebrag, but I can’t think of anything I’ve seen where werewolves weren’t affected by the moon. There’s probably some prime example everyone is rushing to comment on, but it just struck me one day so I went and googled it. I mean wolves howling at the moon, not non-lunar werewolves. I suppose I could have googled that as well. :P
Of course that begs the question,* what triggers lycanthrope changes? Obviously Gregor can control his, as can any lycan that’s been doing it for a while. There are a host of reasons someone wouldn’t be able to control it though. When someone is first “brought into the were-fold” (not a double entendre in this case) they can change seemingly at random. It’s like adolescent boys and erections**. Well, it probably doesn’t happen nearly that often, but lycanthropy does introduce a whole raft of new hormonal imperatives to a body. Some people aren’t the most stable to begin with. Suddenly turning into a furry whatsit can pile on a degree of stress to one’s life. Some weres can have specific triggers though. The were-cats working at the pet store who just ripped a big bag of catnip all over himself is in for a surprise. Really his co-workers are in for the surprise.
Gregor’s exactly right though, it’s an example of snowballed confirmation bias. I don’t expect this myth to go away very quickly though. Lycanthropy is such a obvious allegory for adolescence it’s good material for fables and stuff like Teen Wolf and Gingersnaps. Myths I would like to see go away are the “you only use 10% of your brain” one. Limitless is a good show so I’ll give it a pass, but I would have enjoyed Lucy more if it didn’t start with Morgan Freeman authoritatively telling me something that’s patently false. It’d be like starting off a movie by telling the audience that the moon is made of cheese or that women have fewer teeth. That’s a real thing people used to believe that I just found googling stupid old misconceptions. Aristotle thought that. I mean… just count their teeth? Maybe he thought a woman opening her mouth wide enough for a man to count her teeth would make her uterus spray poison or something.
*It doesn’t actually beg the question. Begging the question is a logical fallacy involving circular reasoning. I’m just using it as a colloquial phrase to slightly shift topics, which I probably shouldn’t do, especially because too many people doing it too often changes the meaning of phrases and words. For example, “theory” now means both “A scientifically accepted general principle supported by a substantial body of evidence offered to provide an explanation of observed facts and as a basis for future discussion or investigation” and also “a big fat guess” and we’ve all seen how much trouble that has caused. Edit: It’s been pointed out that my original definition of theory wasn’t accurate so I’ve updated it. Laws generally state what and how, but not why. Theories deal with the why. Ranking them first and second in terms of scientific certainty leads people to believe that theories are sitting around waiting for a few more pieces of evidence before they’re promoted to laws.
**I just learned that the female equivalent of ‘morning wood’ is called ‘morning dew,’ which sounds like the Mountain Dew guys trying to obliviously market a breakfast drink.
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Have to wonder if he cheered when Piccolo blew it up.
It wasn’t Piccolo, it was Master Roshi. Watch the original Dragon Ball series, it’s in the final episode of the tournament, around the end of the first season, I think.
Yes, but it was blown up by piccolo again when Gohan transformed.
Somewhere at the end of Dragonball. when the cast get back together for tournament 2, Goku discovers ChiChi again, then there’s a slight sidetrack where the wedding is in danger. An explanation crops up about why the moon is back
I don’t have the patience to watch the 239 episodes it takes for people on that show to do any fight move.
Eh… I just used funimation to skip to the part where Goku discovers that bride isn’t a food, and that yes marrying ChiChi for life is probably a good thing. While Yamcha or whatever his name is freaks out about Goku ruining the rest of his life with her.
Uh, wilder125 is talking about Dragonball, not Dragonball Z… Dragonball is when Goku was a kid and it’s a lot faster paced than Dragonball Z…
As Crestlinger and Wilder said, the moon was back in DBZ. Clearly, as Gohan transformed into an Oozaru using it. Piccolo then turned around and blew it up with a normal energy blast from his palm.
The short vague description in my other part included Goku saying something about losing his tail in return for the moon coming back.
Thought Goku’s ‘grandpa’ cut off his tail, and the tail turned into a sword, did someone shove his sword up his butt and his tail re-grew? o_O
In the first martial arts competition in Dragonball, long after grandpa died. Goku used his tail.
Never actually seen Dragonball, just Dragonball Z and GT (still can’t believe they left that scene with pan suckling that alien deer in :boggledmind: )
It’s ok though. GT was detested by the creator, so Resurrection F has removed GT’s timeline by being a re-write starting with a new Frieza return. From what I understand anyway.
I always thought the association between werewolves and the moon was more a gravitational thing like the tides… Kind of like how when they were simulating the martian gravity at nasa to find out if it would be possible for humans to acclimatize to it, humans in the increased gravity naturally shifted to a 36 hour day cycle. Its totally plausible that the effect of the change in gravity could trigger it…. Assuming the transformation was plausible in the first place, of course.
I suggested something similar, on an earlier page of comments. Sadly the flaw in my argument was readily apparent, upon objecitve examination. There is no direct link between the phase of the moon and the tidal effects, due to its gravitational pull. You do not, for example, get the highest tides of the month only when there is a full moon, for example.
Mind you there will be an indirect link, which could allow detection of one, to allow calculation of the other. But that would take some pretty intense computation. Not to mention knowledge of astronomy. Which, even if the body could perform, would be a very complex route to take, when compared to just looking at the phase of the moon.
But….but…but….Saiyans are affected by the full moon…
So is Man-Wolf for that matter…
I’m pretty sure the moon-werewolf thing was more of a reference to or corruption of the idea ‘lunatics’, people who’d lose their @$!# during a full moon, go total feral and mad.
People still lose it when the moon is full. Work in an ER during one and you see all the weirdest cases come across your door at that time of the month.
Daniel here. As someone who works permanent night shift in a 24 hour entertainment location, I too can confirm that, come the full moon, the lunatics come out in numbers. I’m guessing that’s why they put the luna in LUNAtic…
“There is no direct link between the phase of the moon and the tidal effects, due to its gravitational pull”
But, there is!
Moon’s phases (how much illuminated surface there is) depends on Moon’s position related to the Sun. During the full moon they are aligned, and during quarter moons they are at 90 degrees. That means that in the first case Moon and Sun’s graviatory pull add up, while in the second they cancel out.
The highest tides do happen during full moon.
The bad part is the same thing is valid with the new moon.
…annnd here is what made me ask about the topic for the first time when I was seven :)
Suddenly a shock overthrew me. The Nautilus just touched a rock, and stayed immovable, laying lightly to port side.
[…]
We had run aground, and in one of those seas where the tides are middling—a sorry matter for the floating of the Nautilus […] if she could neither glide off nor move, she ran the risk of being for ever fastened to these rocks, and then Captain Nemo’s submarine vessel would be done for.
I was reflecting thus, when the Captain, cool and calm, always master of himself, approached me.
[…]
“…M. Aronnax, the Nautilus is not lost; it will carry you yet into the midst of the marvels of the ocean. Our voyage is only begun, and I do not wish to be deprived so soon of the honour of your company.”
“However, Captain Nemo,” I replied, without noticing the ironical turn of his phrase, “the Nautilus ran aground in open sea. Now the tides are not strong in the Pacific; and, if you cannot lighten the Nautilus, I do not see how it will be reinflated.”
“The tides are not strong in the Pacific: you are right there, Professor; but in Torres Straits one finds still a difference of a yard and a half between the level of high and low seas. To-day is 4th January, and in five days the moon will be full. Now, I shall be very much astonished if that satellite does not raise these masses of water sufficiently, and render me a service that I should be indebted to her for.”
Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne
I know the discussion has rolled on quite a bit past this point, but hey guys – y’all know that the gravity on Mars is LESS than on Earth, right? it’s a little bit more than 1/3 Earth’s gravity – 38% (By comparison, the gravity on Earth’s moon is about 18% or 1/6th that of the surface gravity on Earth). https://www.universetoday.com/14859/gravity-on-mars/
Yea, it should have read decreased, rather than increased. But that was not the key part, which was indicating a change in gravity affects the human body. Which remains true be it a decrease or an increase.
Mind you I would be interested to learn more about that trial. Given that the only effective* way I know about, of simulating a reduced gravity is immersion in a swimming pool. This was used to train astronauts on the Apollo program, to familiarise them with Lunar gravity. But to conduct continuous underwater trials, long enough for astronauts to gradually shift to a 36 hour working day seems untenable.
The only trials I am aware of are the ones such as the Russians conducted, simulating the entire round trip, in a mocked-up space ship. Complete with suited-up exploration of the ‘Martian surface’.*** However all that was done in Earth-normal gravity. Given that deep space is zero gravity, that is actually even more significant a discrepancy, than for the walking around on Mars part.
I recall no mention of underwater testing as any part of such extended trials. That said though, I have not closely followed such projects. Not until an actual expedition becomes viable, or some significant discovery or advancement is made as a result of a trial.
* The same could be done with a powered exoskeleton, which could alternatively simulate increased gravity.** However I do not think that the relatively primitive devices, we have today, would contribute much to such trials. Their bulk, weight, and limited functionality would severely compromise the work routine of an astronaut.
** Although just attaching weights, evenly distributed around the body, and limbs, is a more low-tech solution to the same problem.
*** I kept envisaging a car park, behind the space ship simulator, ’cause that was funnier than looking to see what they actually did.
If I recall, the Russian simulation was actually an international collaboration hosted by the Russians, and they played something like Counter Strike or Team Fortress 2 or something to diffuse tensions between crew members…
It was a collaboration between Russia and China. But the volunteer crew were drawn from multiple nationalities of different cultures. Which was an integral part of the mission, to explore if there were any adverse effects due to differing languages or cultures. Although all crew were required to be conversant in both English and Russian.
There proved to be no problems from those issues. Nor in fact were there any serious issues encountered. Mild depression and sleep/ sleep cycle disorders being the worst of it. Impacting performance somewhat, but not enough to prove to be a serious problem.
I had heard they tended to conduct slightly more individual activities than normally. So those games did not spring to mind. But they were on their simulated mission for over 500 days, so I am sure they must have gotten up to a number of different activities, during that time.
Computer games would be a very low-cost entertainment option (in terms of resources need to get them ‘into space’). So it does make sense, to make the most of such. And connected games would provide more of an interesting challenge, and help to counter the tendency towards isolated activities.
considering one of the supposed ways of becoming a werewolf was to drink water from the paw-print of a wolf…
you sort of have to wonder just how many people tried it only to find out it was just muddy water that tasted somewhat like wet dog.
All this talk about different versions of vampires, but nobody mentioned this one. Has anybody read the Christopher Moore vampire books, I think there were three books in the series. Very interesting take on the vampire genre.
Also, for a humorous take on the subject, Jitsu wa Watashi wa is a Japanese Manga with a female vampire secretly attending high school, with a bit of a different take on the vampire lore. As the story progresses, other characters tossed into the plot include a pervert girl who turns into a male werewolf when she sees the moon, or a picture of the moon, or a bright round object (the rather tenuous connection to this subject of this page), a demon for a high school principal, a tiny alien in a robot body as the class president, and a girl with a god of misfortune living in her glasses, among other wacky characters. It is quite funny, if you are into Manga, and there is a quite extensive archive available in english.
Watched the Anime adaptation on Crunchyroll.
Definitely a Zany anime, but with a sweet ending. English title “Actually, I am…”
Ooh ooh. I think I know this language. You are getting your pretty avatar, to send us a semaphore signal, right? I am guessing using montage encryption techniques, to compress a message into the single image.
*gets out pen and paper, and works on reverse-engineering the encryption engine*
Mmm, I think I cracked it.
Timmy fell down the well.
No there is text where it seems to be blank space. Unfortunately it is so well hidden that you have to be a ninja to see it. It could also have been written in smell-o-vision format but then I think a dog like yourself would have smelled it.
I would think that would be closer to being one of your lines.
You missed the main clue. Since the screen name is AsteriskCGY. Then asterisk means the comment is written below in the footnotes, and since CGY is a measure of radiation You need to be able to see X-rays to read them.
Hey DaveB! Is the bullpup 50cal from the vote incentive based on any real firearms or is it made up?
If I where to guess is probably a modified Barrett 50cal.
Peggy does indeed use a Barrett 50 cal. Which she may, or may not, customise. I do not recall any modifications being mentioned in-comic, so it is probably safest to put down any differences to artistic licence.
Peggy does have a well-equipped workshop though. So can easily adapt her weapons, if there is an operational need. The vote incentive image may well represent just such an occasion.
It’s just seemed a rather better way of having a 50cal rifle than its almost 5ft size in its current form
I had that feeling when I watched Star Wars again after 20 years.
You should control any urges you have, to rip the arms off of droids.
when i saw star wars, i never thought yoda talked funny, i just figured the translator couldn’t quite pick up his specific language. but i laughed like crazy ’cause he sounded like Grover from Sesame Street
A reason there is why similar they sound. Other voices, Frank Oz has performed.
Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle, Grover, Cookie Monster and Bert.
Is that a piece of liquorice or a cigarette in Clover’s mouth?
One of them Japanese Pocky-stick things: too short to be a cigarette, too thin to be a cigar, no red ‘tip’ to be either, too straight to be a piece of lick-her-itch
It’s a toothpick. Werewolves need extra large toothpicks for obvious reasons.
Perhaps she’s working on a lollipop?
I wonder what flavors a werewolf might prefer . . .
Chicken? Poodle? Mailman?
:-D
Week-old buried racoon.
https://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1800/fc01712.htm
At least around here (Northern New Mexico) Moonrise is often accompanied by paroxysms of howling by whole packs of coyotes.
They also howl sometimes when the Moon is up or down, but Moonrise is definitely a major trigger.
It’s a proven fact that the moon DOES influence canine and lupine behavior. As for moon howling, most wolves are active at night. They’re not howling at the moon, they’re just howling DURING the moon. >.>! But superstitious peasants, peons and mundanes will all think what they will and make snap judgements that turn into supernatural occurrences. BTW, gravity and magnetism are two reasons why dogs always circle around before finding a comfy spot.
do dogs circle the opposite way when South of the border than they do in the North?
Only if being sucked down by a whirlpool.
They do try barking Dixie though.
Aaaand apparently they succeeded…
Dogs barking Dixie.
that made my week
thought they were checking for snakes and insects and shit
Mainly it is just trying to get comfy. Dogs were into grass circles way before humans got into it with crops. Having the grass, or soil, flattened out, in a circle, makes for a better night’s rest. Likewise with whatever bedding they might have in a modern environment. Plus we are creatures of habit, so will do that even if on an already flat floor.
Not sure if this came up (I lost the thread of today’s conversations somewhere around the comments on morning wood), but Gregor’s rant about the mistaken wolves/moon connection leading to the werewolf/moon connection is, in fact, mistaken.
The magical effects of the Moon feature in many mythologies. In the Mediterranean/European cultures, it was linked to epilepsy and madness–lunacy. Also fevers, rheumatism, and other ailments.
The waxing and waning of the Moon also makes it magically symbolic of change in general.
So, madness + change = lycanthropes triggered by the full moon.
Of course, adding the wolf/moon connection just cements the link further.
Not everything in folklore can be true. Mainly because folklore contradicts itself. If you check through the comments you will find plenty of folks offering points to support the ‘no moon’ version. So Dave would need to pick the one which most suited his story.
Although, in this instance, Dave may have actually chosen to follow precedent set in Gold Digger. I am sure one of our readers will be able to confirm whether that speculation is correct or not though.
Actually I’m totally cool with the “no moon” bit–it’s not like Dave is introducing sparkly vampires! There are so many folk-versions of lycanthropy that you can take your pick; just saying, the whole werewolf/moon connection got established because of old traditions about the Moon’s effects on people (i.e., lunacy) and association with transformations rather than the wolf/moon link. ;)
Why do I get a vision of Captain Kirk rolling a boulder down on the Gorn captain? Vasquez Rocks anyone?
She certainly does!
And well spotted on the Kirk thing. Along with a couple of other folks, who picked up on that, and mentioned it in comments.
Only that? That landscape was used over and over and over again. The way I hear it the crew had an inside joke going about the location schedule – something like ‘if the month had a “r” in it. . . .’
Well, you spent more time digging up that nice clip of Vasquez rocking than I did of scanning the comments to see if anyone else had mentioned it. And ai_vin, yeah lots of shows and movies use that location, “Wild Wild West” etc.
So the Trek equivalent of the gravel quarry the BBC used for Doctor Who, And Blakes Seven.
In fact there’s a story told by one of the Blakes Seven cast that one day they were filming in the usual gravel quarry when there were explosions in the distance. The director was annoyed and sent one of the crew off to see what it was as the quarry had assured them there was no blasting that day. A few minutes later the crew member came back to report “It’s Doctor Who”.
Mind you the “explosions” that Dr Who used, in that era, should have given them a clue that it was not blasting. Less of a “KABOOOOM!” and more like “pffzle”.
Anyone interested in a good, classic take on vampires should check out Shiki, an anime on Hulu. One-season series, as so much anime is, but it was definitely made by people who’ve read Dracula and Salem’s Lot (aka, Stephen King before he got too big for his editors to trim off the fat). So, so very good, and it simultaneously gives you some sympathy for the vampires AND evades the trap of making them just people with fangs. They’re monsters, and you have to deal with them like such–but it comes at a price.
Watch the Strain. Second part of Season 2 is starting 8/28/2016. A nice take of vampires and vampirism. Though they use silver against them which in the lores only affects other creatures like werewolves.
Never say “only” when talking about mythology. Silver has been considered as baneful to vampires in various places and times–partly because folklore works that way. You borrow a bit from this legend and that tale and something you half-remember you heard from your grandfather, and then mash it all together and make a new story for the campfire.
For that matter, the proper means of executing a vampire once you’ve defeated them often varies by region. https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/37/whats-the-best-way-to-kill-a-vampire
And note, that list only includes European vampires.
If I remember right there was an article that noted an increase in predation during the full moon cycle, apparently the lower temperature and greater light is a boon to predators. It was thought that the common myths of danger sprang from the very real uptick in night attacks during the full moon (if I recall correctly). I think that got ties into folklore as there is something that only comes about during the full moon and makes the woods more dangerous.
HUNTER: Well, I do not care if all the others are too scared, to venture forth. I can see perfectly well by the light of this full moon. So I shall return with many a fine catch!
WISEWOMAN: You do not fear the werewolves then?
HUNTER: I know not what you speak of woman! But my trusty spear shall dispatch any wolf which comes near!
WISEWOMAN: Oh but these monsters cannot be harmed, except by a silver weapon. Come, sit by the fireside, and let me tell you more about them…
Obvious Doris Day references aside, sounds like that Hunter is about to be attacked by something other than a werewolf (which might lead to one or both of them a-howlin’).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KThlYHfIVa8
Embrace the Weird Al, Sydney.He’s probably lurking under the table.
That exact url link has been used on at least two other pages (twice, by different posters, within the same comment stack)
Great minds, poor readers
Aww, don’t make Expendable feel…. um… expendable. If something leaps out at us, from the comic, we all want to pass it on. Having to read hundreds of comments, in order to make the observation, would take all the fun out of it!
Including the first reply to the first comment on the first page? o_O
How would one know the first comment it’s the thing? When comment page opens it starts with the last page.
That said, yeah, there’s easy ways to do a quick check if you want to.
And it wasn’t meant to have been an attack, just pointing out that people really should read all 500+ comments (can learn some fun things, not always to do with the actual comic :D)
There certainly is benefit to reading the comments, in many regards, and I would encourage folks to do so. But, putting aside busy people, who simply do not have the time, there is also the matter of choice. Many folks will have other hobbies which occupy their time. And reading through 500+ comments, for every issue, would drain a significant proportion of that!
Bear in mind that this is actually related to the thread on wearing helmets, in as much as the issue of personal choice is involved in both. There you are in favour of the individual choosing. Yet, regarding this issue, you would prefer that others follow the same choice that you have made, rather than the one they want.
Of course encouraging others to change their mind is fair enough. I was doing likewise in the helmet issue, trying to steer opinion to the safer option. So would be hypocritical to suggest that such is not appropriate.
Looking at the ‘cost to society’ aspect, in the helmet thread, and applying it to thinking here, there is no great cost. All it means is that we will see the same comment a number of times, for popular issues. Any potential irritation at this though can be countered by viewing this as an extra vote, showing that something is popular (or giving extra constructive feedback, for other issues).
The last thing we would want to do though is to put people off having fun, by speaking up, for fear of being criticized, for not having trawled through the comments, to see if it has been raised before.
It was a ‘they should’ comment rather than ‘they have to’ comment
‘They should’ read all the comments (time permitting) because could learn some fun things (like puppies singing “Dixie”) and maybe find the comment they were going to make has already been brought up and they can join in and add to it
Don’t see how this is any way a critical hippo
*group hug*
In the Werewolf legends of the late medieval, renaissance & up to 1700s, werewolfism was equated with or like being a witch. People convicted of being a werewolf were burned at the stake or offed in whatever way witches of the time were executed.
It was believed that to become a werewolf one needed either a magic ointment to be rubbed on the body or to wear a magic belt of wolfskin/hide. These were usually obtained directly or taught to be created by “a dark cloaked man” met at a crossroads, usually at night.
A few stories would indicate a mad man living in the woods would act like a wolf, but the vast majority from that time were the magic belt/ointment witchcraft types.
All stories had them as willfully evil except one strange court testimony from I think the Baltic region were the defendant claimed that witches were stealing the grain at night & the werewolves were sent by god to fight them every evening.
Silver was not directly required to kill a werewolf. The weapon needed to be holy/blessed by a priest, or come from a chapel. If you melted down a holy item to make a weapon more than likely it was something made out of a precious metal, the most common precious metal in a church was usually silver.
Librevox &/or the Gutenberg project have copies of a book or books from the 1700s or 1800s that talk about the werewolf in depth.
The Moon-werewolf connection came about in the early movies & was made famous by the Lon Chaney Universal werewolf movie.
“It was believed that to become a werewolf one needed either a magic ointment to be rubbed on the body or to wear a magic belt of wolfskin/hide.”
Lets also not forget the oh so effective combination of using an ointment that then changed you into the wolf who’s pelt you wore. Presumably this would work with other animals as well…
Or how the only way to prevent someone from changing was for a priest to carve a cross (“X”) into their forehead since that was supposed to be where the change originated/began.
Any chance you know the names of those books from the 1700-1800’s?
One I know for sure was “The Book of Werewolves” by Sabine Baring-Gould (1834 – 1924). A survey of the myths and legends concerning lycanthropy from ancient times to the Victorian Era.
Apparently I misspoke, this book was from the 1800s. The author talks about werewolf trials from earlier centuries among other exhaustive studies concerning werewolfery.
I just looked on the Librivox website for “werewolves”
Another book in Librivox was written in 1912 & includes a chapter also describing some ways of becoming a werewolf.
Oops, I forgot to include the name/description of the second book.
“Werwolves” by Elliott O’Donnell (1872 – 1965)
Written in 1912 by a famous ghost hunter who was also an occult fantasy writer, this interesting book collects together folktales and traditions from across Europe, starting in the British Isles, through Spain, France, Belgium and Norway to Russia. The “scientific” accounts (including “How to Become a Werewolf”) are embellished by anecdotes of the author’s personal experiences with werewolves, ghosts and vampires.
The question I’d ask is, aside from comic rating, why didn’t his pants tear when he got several sizes larger?
He buy clothes at the same place as Hulk.
Unlike Vehemence, who had not gotten bigger before, Gregor is an old werewolf. He will have long ago figured out the right kind of stretchy trousers to buy, which would fit both forms adequately. This does not even require a visit to Edna Mode. Any regular tailor could whip up something suitable. He would not be buying off-the shelf though. But, in an emergency, oversized tracksuit pants may do the trick. At a stretch.
But, the off-the-rack pants have to be purple, or they won’t work
Looking at the transformation page, I’m not sure that he did. Although the upper half of his body expands significantly, his legs look about the same size after as before. He’ll need a bit of room in the tailoring to accommodate the change in shape from plantigrade to digitigrade, but that might just mean buying from the big-and-heavy aisle rather than the fashionable-stick aisle.
Alternatively, it could come down to the source of the transformation. The genre tends to treat Supers as a different category to Magic unless explicitly stated, and police secondary effects accordingly. A Super may expand their own body, but can’t expand or re-create clothes unless it’s specifically claimed as a Power (although a free Act of Dave to protect ratings is always within the gift of the author/artist). Magic often comes with a bit more ‘playing to the intention’, potentially allowing clothes to be carried through the transformation.
oh crap he brock Sydney bad wolf bad
Uh oh. ‘Bad Wolf?’ We may need to call in the Doctor to have a look at this situation.
Actually I would think wolves would be more likely to howl when the moon is full. Full moon means more light, more light means better night hunting.
I know the discussion has rolled on quite a bit past this point, but someone earlier mentioned something about acclimitizing to Martian gravity – y’all know that the gravity on Mars is LESS than on Earth, right? it’s a bit more than 1/3 Earth’s gravity (By comparison, the gravity on Earth’s moon is 1/6th that of the surface gravity on Earth). https://www.universetoday.com/14859/gravity-on-mars/
(from Jame’s post):
well, i must have used the tag wrong. Meant to quote James’ post here:
” Kind of like how when they were simulating the martian gravity at nasa to find out if it would be possible for humans to acclimatize to it, humans in the increased gravity naturally shifted to a 36 hour day cycle. Its totally plausible that the effect of the change in gravity could trigger it…. Assuming the transformation was plausible in the first place, of course.”
You almost had it right, you just had a misplaced parenthesis:
<blockquote cite=”I always thought … etc…”></blockquote>
Displays as:
<blockquote cite=>“I always thought … etc…”</blockquote>
Corrects it to show:
AHA!
THAT’S been my problem, I see it right there!
I keep forgetting to add the code to STOP the block quote
Thanks Yorp. Have a whole bowl of Yorpie Snacks.
Nom nom nom. Guzzle gobble yum.
FYI – mice in space to test mammalian effects of living in mars gravity:
https://www.universetoday.com/9205/martian-gravity-to-be-tested-on-mice/
Oh boy, did they get that wrong!
I halfway expected Yorp to link to a clip from the Saturday morning cartoon, Biker Mice From Mars. But since he didn’t:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufvx1NheHRw
NASA did use the Space Shuttle to test the effects of zero-G (well, technically, microgravity) on flying creatures. Surprisingly, the honey bee figured it out the fastest… that to slow down and stop, it had to turn around and apply thrust in the opposite direction… the poor bird just sort of spun in place, head over teakettle, and never figured it out.
I’ve always preferred pigs myself.
Heh, had forgotten just how cheesy that show was back in the day :P
Of course the honey bee would figure it out, they already defy the laws of gravity
Wolves howling at the full moon actually predates art. Farmers used all the available light they had to harvest crops, and during the full moon, it’s light enough to actually get work done, so they would be out in the fields working, and hear the wolves howling. Thus the association.
Art predates farming.
I don’t know if this has been mentioned yet, but at least one reason for the connection between werewolves and the moon has to do with mental states. There is a correlation between increased abnormal behaviors and lunar phases. Ask most anyone who has worked in a mental institution and they will tell you that the patients seem worse during the full moon. Lunacy and lunatic, words for insanity has the root luna, meaning moon. And finally clinical lycanthropy which is a condition where a person believes they turn into a wolf on or around the full moon, but this may be a chicken or egg scenario. Which existed first, the condition known as clinical lycanthropy or the connection of lycanthropes/werewolves to the moon?
The thing is that both lunacy and werewolves predate any connection between them. In history they were separate things. It is only since a movie created a link between werewolves and the moon, that we now associate lunacy with clinical lycanthropy.
So your questions are valid for how mental patients might make such associations in modern society, but not in antiquity.
The etymology of lunacy only links back to the moon, and not wolves or werewolves. The symptoms of clinical lycanthropy are independent of the moon,* but associate with wolves and werewolves.
* Except in modern times, as mentioned above, and then only as a part of the larger package of animal behaviour. Which is consistent with the medical belief that the condition is a culturally influenced manifestation of schizophrenia.
*learns aliens are real*
OMG that explains SO MUCH!!
*werewolves and vampires are real*
YAY I WANT SNUGGLES!!!
*wolves don’t howl at the moon*
*curls up in corner, sobbing*
Yet still all I want to do is cuddle her, and let her know it will all work out OK.
The first two confirmed her suspicions (and hopes I think), the last one shattered her beliefs. I think it’s coherent.
“Nice gun.”
“Thanks. I like your tattoos.”
(Now, figure out which said what.)
Zarya said she liked Peggy’s tattoos. Peggy said she liked Zarya’s gun.
do I win?
Yes, but which gun?
In Re: ** Note – Ya learn something new every day…
The Dresden Files books include four kinds of werewolves, only one of which is tied to the moon. In both the Anita Blake books and Discworld, werewolves are compelled to transform at the full moon, but they can change at other times. (At least the more powerful ones.)
Funny, I thought I could come up with more examples, but now I’m drawing a blank.
Oh now that I can help you with.
Kelley Armstrong. Her werewolves aren’t lunar at all afaik. They have to transform every couple of weeks, at least, but the moon has nothing at all to do with it.
And I believe several fictons with werewolves have them need to change at the full moon, but also able to change basically whenever. I’m fairly positive Carrie Vaughn, Patricia Briggs, and Illona Andrews all have weres that work basically that way.
I just spent several minutes staring at the inset six-panel of the wolf howling, thinking “what is that thing that looks like a blueberry on the horizon?” My brain kept trying different pattern matches — the earth, a lake — and failing. Then I noticed that it was occluding a bit of the cliff, so it was probably in the foreground. I thought to myself “it’s a blueberry really close to the camera, just as a joke.”
Then my brain suddenly did one of those “magic eye” things and I realized it was a blue baseball cap on the head of a person whose existence I had completely missed. I blame the fact that his face blends into the streak of snow(?sand? dirt?) on the right side of the mountain.
Considering he saw the wolf howl five times previous, he shall be known as Blueberry :P
Now for me “The Howling” came closest. It is a transmittable infection. Lengthens your life, you change whenever you want too though silver does hurt them, slows to stopping the regeneration. (They can regrow organs and limbs.) They retain their human intelligence and they can speak, after a fashion in their 7′ – 8′ forms. Silver = fire, both can kill werewolves. See also the British film “Dog Soldiers”.
About the full moon the only things connected to that is the full moon more readily shows them abroad. Or they are totally unknown species of sapient wolf who sometimes works with humans as in “The Wolfen” of Whitley Strieber’s creation.
Also got to say, love Sydney’s little meltdown. Got to be her meds kicking in.
Also, goldfish do not have a 3 second memory and some have memories as long as a year or more.
Also, dogs are not color blind (they just can’t see the color green – they’re green-blind), and bulls are not enraged by the color red (they get agitated at anything making eratic movements, regardless of the color).
Goldfish is said to have a very short attention span. IIRC memory span it’s a different thing. It seems that a short attention span makes harder to acquire long term memory, though.
Interesting distinction, and one that makes sense. For most animals their memory if focused on pleasure/pain issues. “Last time I touched something like that it hurt!” Traumatic incidents will be laid down in long-term-memory even without a long attention span. So the two aspects could work in conjunction with each other.
Mind you how long they will live, to retain those memories, if they can only remember “there is a predatory in that direction” for a few seconds,* is another matter.
* Which is what attention span deals with, even though I used the word “remember”.
I wouldn’t have bothered to comment if someone else had apparently brought it up, but that doesn’t seem to be the case so I just have to say that I find Gregor’s single fang in panel 3 to be entirely too cute. Of course overall I find him incredibly cute, so I guess that’s not really a surprise.
I like the final panel, with him peering around, at Sydney. It is an atypical relationship between a damsel, in distress, and a werewolf!
Strip out the dialogue, and show it to folks who are not familiar with the comic, and I imagine they would have very different interpretations, of what is going on, than for any of our readers.
“… women have fewer teeth. … I just found googling stupid old misconceptions. Aristotle thought that. I mean… just count their teeth? Maybe he thought a woman opening her mouth wide enough for a man to count her teeth would make her uterus spray poison or something.”
I will now check how long a post can be :) I apologize in advance
(“Too long; not read” tag at the end)
Around my late twenties I adopted the rule that if an apparently normal person state or do something that looks stupid to me without a visible justification, I likely am missing something.
So I asked myself, was Aristotle stupid or I’m missing something? Let’s find out.
It’s not easy to pass thru the HUGE amount of “noise” that falls in your lap if you google about Aristotle, teeth and so, but in the end I got a few hints.
First it’s clear that Aristotle and Greeks in general DID research and natural observation, and compiled the facts they found. It was not everything made up in their minds.
Aristotle wrote “History of Animals” (https://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/history_anim.mb.txt) where he listed a LOT of statments on zoology, humans included. It’s clear that he compiled information from different sources, he didn’t researched everything himself.
One of those statement say:
“Males have more teeth than females in the case of men, sheep, goats, and swine; in the case of other animals observations have not yet been made: but the more teeth they have the more long-lived are they, as a rule.”
The part I highlighted seems to hint that they do actually looked. But from all I could find none of that’s true, although admittedly some species seems to have different teeth by gender.
Horse teeth – Types of teeth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_teeth#Types_of_teeth)
“A horse can have between zero and four canine teeth … with a clear prevalence towards male … who normally have a full set of four. Fewer than 28% of female horses (mares) have any canine teeth.”
Anyway, we at least know for sure that if you actually count male and female teeth the number would be the same. Didn’t we?
US National Library of Medicine – National Institutes of Health (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17917610)
“…Periodontal diseases are more prevalent in men than in women. However, in a population-based epidemiological study, we found that, on average, women have fewer teeth than men.”
With a quick search I was unable to find more about this, but it’s pretty interesting, isn’t it?
Humans should have 32 teeth, but of course many of us don’t actually have all of them. If you have no foresic, genetics, large stadistics, nor (of course) a scientific method, if all you do is count what you see in a relatively small number of persons… maybe…
While we are here, how about that nonsense “the more teeth they have the more long-lived are they”.
Well…
US National Library of Medicine – National Institutes of Health (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20350152)
Number of teeth as a predictor of cardiovascular mortality in a cohort of 7,674 subjects followed for 12 years
“This fairly large, prospective study [indicates a link] between number of teeth and [Cardio Vascular Disease] mortality…”
Notice that the number of teeth is seen as an indicator of oral health which in turn hints about general health.
I would like to give another example. Aristotle also wrote:
“The Egyptian hippopotamus has a mane like a horse, is cloven-footed like an ox, and is snub-nosed.”
Wait, what? https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Hippopotamus_-_04.jpg
Where in hell Aristotle…?
“The Histories” by Herodotus – about 70 years before Aristotle (https://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodotus/hist07.html)
“The hippopotamus is held sacred in the district of Papremis, but not elsewhere. This animal has four legs, cloven hoofs like an ox, a snub nose, a horse’s mane and tail”
Gotcha.
The same site say:
“It is usually assumed that Herodotus copied this text from the “Description of the earth” by Hecataeus of Miletus. Probably, neither Hecataeus nor Herodotus ever saw a hippo, which was extinct in Egypt by the time they visited the ancient country along the Nile”
Not Aristotle fault it seems. But then, was Herodoto, Hecataeus or whoever stupid? Where in hell they got…?
No, I didn’t find that out :) but… see for yourself:
Ancient hippopotamus – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthracotheriidae#/media/File:Anthracotherium10.jpg
Mmm…
Sadly Anthracotherium got extinted 23 million years ago, and even the youngest genus (Merycopotamus) disappeared at least 3 million years ago. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthracotheriidae). Oh, well.
(TL;NR)
This post is nowhere near proper research by I think there’s evidence enough to say that Aristotles believe about teeth could have even been a pragmatic true found by (maybe too little) research. In any case, likely not Aristotle fault.
Nobody I know has ever checked if we actually have 32 teeth as we were told, and I don’t think Einstein checked all the mathematical proofs of the physical laws he based his reasoning on, either. Aristotle, Einstein and we all just trust in our contemporary sources. Why not?
(Relevant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_on_the_shoulders_of_giants)
That’s my theory… no, wait, my hypot… my… mmm… take?
Conclusion: better count Internet’s teeth :)
Correction:
“…if you actually count
male and femalemen and women teeth…”As getting it right is apparently of concern to you, the correct way of writing this would be:
“Men’s and women’s teeth”
For information normally the ” ‘ ” (apostrophe) would go before an “s” when the possessive is singular, but after it if in plural. For instance “the runner’s shoes” if there is one runner. Or “the runners’ shoes” if there are many.
However “men” is already a word that indicates the plural. So we are actually talking about a group of men (which is singular). Likewise for “women”. Hence why we use the rules for the singular possessive and place the apostrophe before the “s”.
Thank you very much. I did know the rule but sometimes I fail to apply it. Another one that I often forget is to put the verb in present when “did” is used, to mention just one.
It doesn’t help that I learned English partly in an informal way, acquiring things by reading, sadly forums and reader’s letters often do not give the best examples to learn from.
Feel free to give me any suggestion about grammar or phrasing whenever you think it fits, every advice helps to improve.
Good observations; the ancient scholastics weren’t stupid, at least no more stupid at times than we are today. Modern science doesn’t always get it right either, and sometimes gets it insanely wrong even with all the checks and verifications the scientific establishment is supposed to do today. For an example of this, go here: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/science/09tier.html .
Aw, sydney. cheer up, eventually you’ll be able to walk into a room full of muggles and be like “i know what’s REALLY going on”. it’s not that everything “you” know is wrong, it’s that everything “everyone” knows is wrong.
Can picture her paraphrasing Jack Sparrow, in the exact same sing-songy way :D
For some reason I thought of Sean Connery when looking at Gregor and now I keep reading Gregor’s text with Sean Connery’s voice in mind…which is quickly making him a favorite character for no real reason xD
That’s a great idea! In fact, when Grrl Power becomes a movie Dave insist S.C. plays him.
I second the motion.
Did Gregor switch chairs? The one he’s sitting in as he talks and the one he looks around the back of t the end have different backs.
Well spotted! No pointy things on the corners!
Perhaps Sydney is behind Clover’s chair and when he got up to see what happened to her, Gregor ended up leaning around his daughter’s chair? However awkward and unrealistic that sounds . . .
If he had though, we surely would have heard an annoyed comment about it from Clover.
Unless she is trying to prevent a mouthful of daddy-fur :p
There is another explanation. One that is … moderately plausible, in such an environment. Those are shapeshifting chairs, that can be one of several different sizes!
That chair is actualy a shapeshifting pervert who enjoys it when people sit on him.
That is most inappropriate. I will not stand for it!
Always bite your chair before sitting on it to be on the safe side.
Not the first time
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2192#comment-456007
If you look closerer, that chair in the last panel actually is Clover’s chair, so maybe Clover wolfed out and is the one peering around her chair
I dunno. Looks like Gregor to me.
Here’s my latest guess. Gregor got out of his chair and for whatever reason leaned awkwardly around his daughter’s chair to see what had become of Sydney. Clover, as soon as she realized what he was doing, transformed into her own werewolf form to avoid him, no doubt spitting out her lollipop into his fur to express her annoyance. The reason we don’t see any hint of Clover in the chair is because she is still fairly young and so her werewolf form is a mere pup, thus explaining why it got her out of Dads way.
. . . or we could just go with Yorp’s idea of the chairs themselves morphing to suit the size, shape, and perhaps the importance of the person sitting in them.
Speaking of werewolves and the moon, I’d like to introduce you all to Minerva and Wilfred.
I just want to say that Sydney is having something called a “healthy thought”. Healthy thoughts are not comforting or pleasing, and have a risk of ruining your mood and self-esteem, but are none the less very healthy to have and can lead to growth, knowledge and a greater grasp of reality.
Of course the moon has to do with werewolves. Not because the moon has to do with wolves, but because magic says that the moon has to do with werewolves. accuracy to real life doesn’t matter to magic…it just cares about the rules.
it clearly doesn’t have anything to do with werewolves in this setting, as we can see from this comic.
In that context, Mountain Dew would be sweat about half a meter closer to her head.
“I just learned that the female equivalent of ‘morning wood’ is called ‘morning dew,’ which sounds like the Mountain Dew guys trying to obliviously market a breakfast drink.”
I’ll take, “Things I Cannot Unthink” for $500, Alex. Frigging Shimoneta…
I managed to unthink the Highlander that lay between the original and Highlander 3. Fortunately. Judging by the number of empty jars of Brain Bleach®.
Likewise something else, just as bad. Can’t quite put my claw on that though.
Also known as Highlander 2: There Should Only Have Been One.
(Coincidentally, the sudden change in the origin of McCloud was due to Executive Meddling. Thankfully even the producers of Highlander 2 disowned the movie, so it’s RetGone.)
“put my claw on that”
lmfao thanks for the screencap cringelord