02/07/10 [DMFA #1086] - I don't like mind games... or do I?

[127.0.0.2]

 



Alright. Disregard everything I said earlier, I'm with Janus now. "Cute, if a bit silly" is not the proper reaction if you just got the final warning from a 300 years old Incubus, shaman or not.

[Rafe]

Why is everyone acting like Wildy got away with messing with Abel? It seems to me that she tried to manipulate him into hooking up with Jyrras and Abel called her out on it.
And I'm pretty sure when Abel said "I do -not- like mind games", he meant, "do not mess with me".

I think what Abel meant was exactly what he said, he does not like mind games.

Sure, he'll use his powers to play more or less harmless pranks on others, but as far as seriously affecting them emotionally, he could never bring himself to do it.  Some people here (and perhaps Wildy) might think this is because Abel is close to Jyrrras.  I thinks it's a lot deeper than that.

Abel's early experience obviously deeply imprinted on him what a powerless being (which he thought he was) feels when they're being manipulated - and he obviously hated it, and doesn't want to be a creature like Aniz or any of the others who are like that.  

In other words, while he's gotten as close to Jyrras as he has, that probably isn't very close, even for a quasi-immortal creature.  No, I think he's threatening Wildy because of what she is doing, not who she's doing it to.

[127.0.0.2]

So, my final judgement on Wildy?  Just a friend, looking out for her friend, albeit in a twisted, misleading sort of way.  I don't think she actually had intentions of trying to matchmake them together.  Just testing Abel to make sure he's not as much of a jerk as he pretends to be.

Based on what happened while they were talking, I could agree with you. But the last two panels were showing her alone, more or less giving insight in her thoughts. And at least there you'd have seen the Wildy that just wants to look out for a friend. Instead you got "I'd ship that". That doesn't really fit, not even for Wildy.

I'm not really worrying that much for Abel, more for Jyrras. That guy has been the emotional plaything of pretty much everyone in the past. I think he should hurry up a little with his "becoming a threat to the Creature Council" plans at least. Or even better, be the one who stops Wildie's games this time. Which would be cool in my opinion, at least.

[Eon]

Very interesting. So, Abel gets Wildy's seal of approval. That's nothing to shake a stick at.

I'm not remotely surprised that she is pleased; she does seem to respect people who can stand up for themselves and others and, as much as she might feign otherwise, I suspect she cares deeply for her friends and really does have their best interests at heart.

[jeffh4]

Though I suspect that Dan would interfere if he ever gets around to bringing her down a peg.  Mind you, that itself might be pretty cool to watch - I could easily imagine him laying into Dan about what Aniz did and why Wildy shouldn't be allowed to do anything similar.

First, unless Wildy's life is in danger (e.g. Regina), I don't see Dan interfering.  If it's just a beatdown, Wildy can take it, and he knows he can't go toe to toe with Abel for very long in a fight. Just not enough experience as a Cubi fighter yet.

Second, Abel is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too private of a person to ever tell Dan what happened regarding Aniz. I just can't conceive of a circumstance that would precipitate that.

Proviso: Note that what I can't conceive of, Amber can, and convincingly.  That's one of the reasons I read this comic.

[Naldru]

Let's look at the result of this conversation.

Abel has now decided to protect Jyrras from Wildy.  This means that Abel and Jyrras will be in contact, although not necessarily as a dating relationship.  Such a contact would probably be good for both Jyrras and Abel.  After all, Abel needs to stop pushing people away and Jyrras could use advice from somebody with a little more maturity and experience.

[Tapewolf]

First, unless Wildy's life is in danger (e.g. Regina), I don't see Dan interfering.  If it's just a beatdown, Wildy can take it, and he knows he can't go toe to toe with Abel for very long in a fight. Just not enough experience as a Cubi fighter yet.

Realistically I think it would be a bit more like Jouster's character in strip 425.

Second, Abel is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too private of a person to ever tell Dan what happened regarding Aniz. I just can't conceive of a circumstance that would precipitate that.

I was thinking of something along the lines of strip 811, where Abel is pushed into a difficult situation and then says things in a moment of anger that he probably regrets saying later.

[Caswin]

Huh.  How about that.

I think I like Abel now.  Congratulations are in order to all parties concerned.

On a related note, I'm afraid I don't see where the interpretation of Wildy as everyone's caring friend comes from.  Abel's comment on "the friendship you seem to think you two have" was appropriate.

[terrycloth]

God, Abel is such a jerk. He's the king of mind games, and has no business whatsoever whining about Wildy. I mean, for god's sake, even if she *was* randomly cruising for people to set Jyrras up with (a scenario that Abel invented entirely inside his head and she decided to go along with) that's not exactly hurting him. I'm sure setting people up on a blind date often goes wrong, but it's still a 'friend' thing to do.

And then when she tries to explain, he interrupts her to give her his hypocritical threatening rant and shoves her out the door. Wheeeee.

And of course, if you call him out on being a jerk, he'll just get all smug and agree since he *wants* to drive everyone away.

EDIT: I never *really* wanted to date Abel (since he was always a jerk, although the more we see of it the more it looks like he's a jerk *all the way through*), but at this point I think I'd rather date Regina. At least she'd just kill me.

[Lego3400]

I also see this as Wildey scoping out Abel on jy's behalf .She did it under slightly false pretenses to get him to show what he can be like in a serious situation, and got her stamp of approval from it.

[Tapewolf]

I also see this as Wildey scoping out Abel on jy's behalf .She did it under slightly false pretenses to get him to show what he can be like in a serious situation, and got her stamp of approval from it.

We can't really tell.  A lot depends on what she does with this information and how it is presented.  Yes, she now knows that Abel is very defensive both of himself and apparently of people he likes (even if he doesn't show it).

However, Abel has said that he's not interested in anyone of any gender.  Somehow I'm not convinced that that particular piece of information is going to be imparted to Jyrras.

[Grey Wolf]

Hmm. Have you ever heard that people who are too similar don't often get along at first?
I think this is a case in point. Both Abel and Wildy are KA, protective, slightly manipulative, a bit jerkish, and tend to think they have the upper hand.

[Mrs_A_ZeTavia]

At least we know on some level Abel probably likes Jyrras (as a friend definately at least), there have been several occasions he has helped him out (example the mind shield) that he didn't have to, if he didn't want to; yet he chose to.

Also, I thought about this today during a discussion a friend and I had concerning relationships, "closets", etc. Right now Abel is "uninterested", because not only of other factors (lack of strike of fancy, afraid of being hurt, etc), but perhaps he's worried about his cubi heritage background as well. We all know Aniz used his cubi abilities to hurt others. While Abel is aware he would never do that intentionally, since it happened to him; that does not excuse the phrase "things just happen". He could be concerned off unintentionally hurting others, when he doesn't want to. As there have been some admission from Jyrras at least, that he predicts that Abel cares about other people's happiness more so than his own.

I know this probably goes under the other discussion "Asexual Abel", but I felt it should go under here concerning the fact that this recent comic is kinda of an example of Abel looking out for other's happiness, in relation to Wildy's mind games, that would more in likely not make Jyrras happy in long run.

[Attic Rat]

Of course, there's always the possibility that - Mind-game-wise - Abel just "Played" Wildy...

[inuhanyo]

I wonder how he would've reacted if he knew Jy-squeak likes him like that.

Who says he doesn't? Indeed, I rather felt that when he put up the last mindshield, it was implied he did, in fact, know that Jyrras had a crush on him.

I thought Jy didn't get his crush until after the shield was in place?

Back in 607-608 it sure seemed like Abel had picked up on who Jy's latest crush was.

As others have noted, Abel has good reason to hate mind games, having been put through the crusher by Aniz.  And he can only speculate what his mother went through, since he didn't see her again until the day she died.

We probably don't know the full set of reasons Abel wants to isolate himself yet.  It starts with him being naturally reserved and shy, aggravated by having been picked on for being different since he was a kid.  And then there are the deaths of everyone he was close to or might even have become close to, all in a short space of time, culminating in Aniz's reveal.  Cindy's suicide; Devin's being killed right after apologized being a jerk to Abel when they were kids, right after the headwings popping out; Aniz's reveal, Aniz killing Heenya.  And then Aniz holding May's safety over Abel's head. 

Yeah, if you don't care for anyone, you can't be hurt when they die.

But I think Abel cares more than he lets himself realize.

[RandomMetaphysics]

I wonder how he would've reacted if he knew Jy-squeak likes him like that.

Who says he doesn't? Indeed, I rather felt that when he put up the last mindshield, it was implied he did, in fact, know that Jyrras had a crush on him.

I thought Jy didn't get his crush until after the shield was in place?

Back in 607-608 it sure seemed like Abel had picked up on who Jy's latest crush was.

As others have noted, Abel has good reason to hate mind games, having been put through the crusher by Aniz.  And he can only speculate what his mother went through, since he didn't see her again until the day she died.

We probably don't know the full set of reasons Abel wants to isolate himself yet.  It starts with him being naturally reserved and shy, aggravated by having been picked on for being different since he was a kid.  And then there are the deaths of everyone he was close to or might even have become close to, all in a short space of time, culminating in Aniz's reveal.  Cindy's suicide; Devin's being killed right after apologized being a jerk to Abel when they were kids, right after the headwings popping out; Aniz's reveal, Aniz killing Heenya.  And then Aniz holding May's safety over Abel's head.  

Yeah, if you don't care for anyone, you can't be hurt when they die.

But I think Abel cares more than he lets himself realize.

In other words, you're saying that he avoids making any connections with anyone because of a deep-rooted fear that dominates his mentality. However, though he may not know it, he does look out for people, right?

Here's something that's been nagging me. Wouldn't everyone here say he's gotten "stronger" over the three centuries he was at SAIA. As we've seen, he can definitely defend himself, and probably those around him, should the situation arise. Still, getting psychologically traumatized the way Abel was would mess up anyone's mind. There's also the dark nature surrounding Cubi, not to mention the war they're in with the Dragon race.

If I recall correctly, the following feelings Fa'Lina and Abel describe aren't all that uncommon for Cubi. http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_535.php

[Scrap Fish]

Wow. The boards filled so fast the last couple days I haven't even tried to slip in a word edge-wise.

Well, it seems despite her reputation, Wildy has been unable to deliver when Abel stands up to her - unless you count the one punch. http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_694.php
And Wildy seems to still think she won-I personally think it's still an impasse. No change of course at all.

Also, as of the question last week, I thought: "The worst response ever would be, 'I'm not gay, I'm a eunuch.'" I think this turned out a lot better than that could have.

[Drayco84]

Very interesting turn of events here... Finally, we find out that Abel has some fangs and is willing to not only bear them, but use them in the defense of a friend, the complete OPPOSITE of the jerk-persona he's been pretending to be...

And let's face it, Wildy probes, pushes buttons, and tests people to see how they'll react. Yes, Abel reacted, which Wildy was planning on. (Face it, you push enough, and most are BOUND to push back. Some push harder than others, obviously...)

Abel partially played into Wildy's hand in terms of revealing a facet of himself even he may not have known he has, and Wildy has revealed that she has a soft spot as well... Perhaps these two are more similar that I thought...

LONG LIVE DYNAMIC CHARACTERS, FOREVAH!

[Arcblade]

So, my final judgement on Wildy?  Just a friend, looking out for her friend, albeit in a twisted, misleading sort of way.  I don't think she actually had intentions of trying to matchmake them together.  Just testing Abel to make sure he's not as much of a jerk as he pretends to be.

Based on what happened while they were talking, I could agree with you. But the last two panels were showing her alone, more or less giving insight in her thoughts. And at least there you'd have seen the Wildy that just wants to look out for a friend. Instead you got "I'd ship that". That doesn't really fit, not even for Wildy.

I took the "I'd ship that" comment as Wildy saying "Well, if it happens, I'd approve."  We'll have to see if she's going to actively "ship that" or just watch what happens.  It's all up to Amber.  

[Bjalf]

I wonder how he would've reacted if he knew Jy-squeak likes him like that.

Who says he doesn't? Indeed, I rather felt that when he put up the last mindshield, it was implied he did, in fact, know that Jyrras had a crush on him.

I thought Jy didn't get his crush until after the shield was in place?

Back in 607-608 it sure seemed like Abel had picked up on who Jy's latest crush was.

But at that point, Jy didn't yet have a crush on Abel, Abel thought the "latest poor unwitting sap" was Lorenda. Jy's crushes: First Dan, then Lorenda, then Jy's mind is shielded, and only then does Jy develop a crush on Abel.

[PetFriendAmy]

Now I have a tendency to take everything at face value without reading into it much, but I just thought Wildy was basically taking the bait from this strip and trying "y'know, asking him?" without letting on that it was because Jyrras had a crush on him. Abel, thinking she had some other ulterior motives, gets mad and kicks her out. >_> Then Wildy at the end goes "well huh, I can see why Jyrras likes him."

As for Abel, as people have said, he knows what it's like to be treated like a plaything and doesn't like to see other people in that situation. Sort of a "no one should have to go through what I've been through" type thing. As for his own 'mind games,' I think that's less of a mind game and more of his trying to push everyone away 'cause of his general loner attitude.

Finally, as to why he didn't figure out her motives via thought-reading, we can either assume that Wildy's got talent in hiding her thoughts, ooor Abel's just not listening. In fact, I've sorta felt it was implied that he doesn't really listen to people's thoughts unless he makes the conscious effort to... and I guess he didn't think it necessary to do it in this situation.

[Tiger_T]

Abel knows better than to read Wildy's thoughts.

She totally tricked Abel into giving her an honest answer she can relay to Jyrras.
-In her own unique tough-looking but actually secretly caring sort of way.

[Eibborn]

Heh. You'd think that Abel would be able to recognize when someone's acting like a jerk without being one. I guess he still doesn't know that the Janus Bond thing was due to a misunderstanding, so he's taking it at face value and assuming the worst.

[Zedd]

Mind games are for the weak minded and poor of heart

[iceick]

First, unless Wildy's life is in danger (e.g. Regina), I don't see Dan interfering.

Actually, I think that was Dan's fault to begin with:
     Regina became friends with Dan.
     Dan took Regina to meet his friends.
     Regina earns their trust.
     Regina attacks Wildy when her back is turned.
     Dan seeks vengence.

If it happened any other way I'm sure Wildy wouldn't have gotten even a scratch. (Unless that's the reason Wildy became fierce)

[Psy-Kosh]

First, unless Wildy's life is in danger (e.g. Regina), I don't see Dan interfering.

Actually, I think that was Dan's fault to begin with:
     Regina became friends with Dan.
     Dan took Regina to meet his friends.
     Regina earns their trust.
     Regina attacks Wildy when her back is turned.
     Dan seeks vengence.

If it happened any other way I'm sure Wildy wouldn't have gotten even a scratch. (Unless that's the reason Wildy became fierce)

I think we're missing a few steps. We know that Regina murdered a dozen beings somewhere in the process. (ref: http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_972.php)

[iceick]

First, unless Wildy's life is in danger (e.g. Regina), I don't see Dan interfering.

Actually, I think that was Dan's fault to begin with:
     Regina became friends with Dan.
     Dan took Regina to meet his friends.
     Regina earns their trust.
     Regina attacks Wildy when her back is turned.
     Dan seeks vengence.

If it happened any other way I'm sure Wildy wouldn't have gotten even a scratch. (Unless that's the reason Wildy became fierce)

I think we're missing a few steps. We know that Regina murdered a dozen beings somewhere in the process. (ref: http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_972.php)

I was just stating how Regina injured Wildy, but if you insist:
     Regina earns their trust.
     Regina kills visitors to Lost Lake while they sleep.
     Regina attacks Wildy when her back is turned.
     Wildy being the only surviving witness tells Dan.
     Dan seeks vengence.

[Naldru]

According to Regina's thoughts in this page, Dan had first-hand knowledge of the fact that Regina attacked people at Lost Lake.  Wildy wasn't the only one who Regina attacked but failed to kill.

Edit:

The previous page has Regina thinking "took advantage of his trust and used it to kill a dozen beings and then tried to kill him and his friends.  Sure I vowed to destroy him and all he loved?"  Also given the fact that Dan and Regina recognized each other so quickly seems to indicate that they had a face-to-face encounter.  Dan also seems to be a lot more teed off than just having somebody try to kill him.  In addition, this page seems to indicate that Wildy would have expected Dan to know what happened.  Also when Dan promised to kill Regina, he would have probably done some research on her.  So I would think that Dan would know what happened to Regina.

However, I am jumping to conclusions in assuming that the attack took place at Lost Lake.  I'm going to have to reconsider that.

[iceick]

How does that say anything about Dan knowing. All it says is that Regina nearly beat Dan (probably because Dan was to emotional).

[Bjalf]

According to Regina's thoughts in this page, Dan had first-hand knowledge of the fact that Regina attacked people at Lost Lake.  Wildy wasn't the only one who Regina attacked but failed to kill.

Where does it say "Lost Lake"?