Savage? Mmm. . . Boneclaw Mother is a little too politically savvy to call “Savage”. But, by naming herself as such, she might get the human to underestimate her.
You know, I think she’s doing pretty well with “the Thing,” despite what she told Grim Eyes. Sorry, Jhalm. Maybe you’d have a chance of looking badass if you were in another comic, but you just don’t stack up next to Boneclaw Mother.
Aha.. I see how this is going to go…. She’s going to give him the chance to save face and not embarass himself with what’s going to happen. She *knows* he’s going to do it anyway, but she’s letting him know that she gave him *every* opportunity, and that it is all going to be. his. own. stupid. fault.
Makes me think of my favorite old-lady story: my mom was working in a bookstore, and one day one of her customers, a little hunched old lady with a cane, *looked* up at her and said, “My dear, I just love being 90! — I say what I think, and if they don’t like it, they just say ‘well, poor dear, she’s in her nineties you know’ — ” and she just *cackled.*
I’ve always thought I wanted to grow up to be that woman, but I think maybe I’d rather grow up to be Boneclaw Mother. (Though I’d like to keep the human shape, it minimizes others’ confusion.)
I’m envious of Bonemother’s canniness, of course, but Ursula has all that and more since she’s writing for all these characters! I know Ursula has time to come up with this dialogue, so it’s not off-the-cuff, but… I’m fairly sure I’d not manage it!
I thought Boneclaw Mother reached the pinnacle of Awesomeness about three strips ago, but somehow she just keeps getting more and more Awesome. How does she DO that?
@BlueAloe: She’s even older now than she was three strips ago. 🙂
Seriously: Several years ago, my sister (thirteen years older than me) told me that the secret of self-confidence is getting old enough that you Just Don’t Care. Having achieved Over-Fortyhood this month, I can kinda vouch for that; I’m still far too self-conscious, but a lot less than I used to be. Exponentially less. And a lot of it really is being able to say, “Well, who CARES what they think?”, and that really does get easier with time.
I suspect Boneclaw Mother was always pretty sure of herself. And now she’s old, too. And … yeah.
Okay, so maybe she wasn’t setting him up for a judo throw. Or maybe she is, but wants to talk and get him away from his troops first. Maybe she’s just leading him away, and having an arm to hold makes it easier to not walk off a cliff and give away the whole “can’t really see” thing.
Anyone here read the Herris Serrano books by Elizabeth Moon? The Legion of Maiden Aunts? You just DON’T mess with the ladies that made it to a ripe old age, because they’re the ones that left the corpses in their wakes
It’s not the THING. The THING is where she knows so much about you that she knows everything you’re afraid of. This is just where she’s been around so long that she completely understands the sort of person she’s talking to.
Weatherwax is not as bawdy as Boneclaw Mother. Can’t you see Boneclaw Mother and Nanny Ogg singing, arm and arm, and at the top of their lungs, ” The Hedgehog Can Never Be Buggered At All!”
Throw in a bit of Beer and they’d be alright.
Psht, this isn’t the THING. The THING is scary. She’s just not stupid! Really, anybody could tell Jhalm is one of THOSE types of evil guys–the ones who are very, very polite up to and including the instant they remove your beating heart from your chest and, genteel as always, show it to you with a smile before you fall down.
As bad and owning as she is, isnt she missing the point? They are suposed to stall Jhalm for time and playing senile old leader would give plenty of that.
Yanno, I was going to go Nanny… but, really, Boneclaw Mother is a lot of both, with a generous helping of herself. She gets to the point, a very Weatherwaxian trait, but she’s also bawdy, grins a lot, and yes I can TOTALLY see her singing, “A Wizard’s Staff Has A Knob on the End” as well as the infamous Hedgehog Song.
Anyway,as I see it, the interesting bit will be the next bit where she finishes what she’s saying here, because that, to me, will be the actual throwdown. Jhalm’s reaction will tell us a lot. Despite him telling Digger that he likes her refreshing “Don’t LIKE you” attitude, he was lying. He doesn’t like it when people don’t say their lines… which makes the dotty old hyena lady also like Granny Weatherwax.
Dude, this is why I don’t comment at 2 in the morning. The above ramble has been brought to you by Insomnia! Why sleep when you can mumble incoherently on the internets instead?
She reminds me of my grandmother, who, at 96, thought my uncle needed a really good beating with her cane because of something he said after my dad’s funeral.
I never found out what he said, she just suddenly smashed him across the shins with that old hickory stick of her’s.
Sage: it is too the Thing. It’s just… a very low-grade version of the Thing, right now, rather than the black-belt version she’s capable of with her own people.
She did the Thing!!!
Savage? Mmm. . . Boneclaw Mother is a little too politically savvy to call “Savage”. But, by naming herself as such, she might get the human to underestimate her.
You know, I think she’s doing pretty well with “the Thing,” despite what she told Grim Eyes. Sorry, Jhalm. Maybe you’d have a chance of looking badass if you were in another comic, but you just don’t stack up next to Boneclaw Mother.
Aha.. I see how this is going to go…. She’s going to give him the chance to save face and not embarass himself with what’s going to happen. She *knows* he’s going to do it anyway, but she’s letting him know that she gave him *every* opportunity, and that it is all going to be. his. own. stupid. fault.
And Bone Claw Mother cuts to the chase.
It restores my faith in bitey, no-nonsense old women.
… first?
O_O She’s doing THE THING!
Oh and don’t forget to vote. http://topwebcomics.com/vote/10180/default.aspx
“Let’s not waste both our time, son.” Gets to the point right away, and doesn’t mince words!
She’s wiser than he is, I see….. 😉
*rummages in cupboard for pom-poms* “Give me a B! Give me an O! Give me an N…”
Oh, God, I love Boneclaw Mother!
Makes me think of my favorite old-lady story: my mom was working in a bookstore, and one day one of her customers, a little hunched old lady with a cane, *looked* up at her and said, “My dear, I just love being 90! — I say what I think, and if they don’t like it, they just say ‘well, poor dear, she’s in her nineties you know’ — ” and she just *cackled.*
I’ve always thought I wanted to grow up to be that woman, but I think maybe I’d rather grow up to be Boneclaw Mother. (Though I’d like to keep the human shape, it minimizes others’ confusion.)
She is doing it! Somehow…
“Address any issues that may have arisen…”
You know… This guy talks like every pointy-haired weasel boss I’ve ever had…
And we all KNOW that boss spelled backwards is “Double S.O.B”
God, I love a wise woman!
I’m envious of Bonemother’s canniness, of course, but Ursula has all that and more since she’s writing for all these characters! I know Ursula has time to come up with this dialogue, so it’s not off-the-cuff, but… I’m fairly sure I’d not manage it!
Also, I love the hyenas’ paws: they look so clumsy. Heck, I love the hyenas. 🙂
Gah. Also – has anyone pointed out the match between Bonemother’s face-veil and the scary acolyte’s?
Being next to someone lets her study them (and smell things such as their annoyance) more easily.
And she’s doing a very effective job of keeping them from hacking their way through Murai.
*gasp* You’re right, it’s THE THING! 😀
I love this woman more and more.
I thought Boneclaw Mother reached the pinnacle of Awesomeness about three strips ago, but somehow she just keeps getting more and more Awesome. How does she DO that?
@BlueAloe: She’s even older now than she was three strips ago. 🙂
Seriously: Several years ago, my sister (thirteen years older than me) told me that the secret of self-confidence is getting old enough that you Just Don’t Care. Having achieved Over-Fortyhood this month, I can kinda vouch for that; I’m still far too self-conscious, but a lot less than I used to be. Exponentially less. And a lot of it really is being able to say, “Well, who CARES what they think?”, and that really does get easier with time.
I suspect Boneclaw Mother was always pretty sure of herself. And now she’s old, too. And … yeah.
Let’s hear it for Crones. 🙂
At a certain age, some people stop putting up with those who waste time, on the grounds they have so little left.
GO, go boneclaw mother… da daa dah, dy dah di dah!
Okay, so maybe she wasn’t setting him up for a judo throw. Or maybe she is, but wants to talk and get him away from his troops first. Maybe she’s just leading him away, and having an arm to hold makes it easier to not walk off a cliff and give away the whole “can’t really see” thing.
I’m joining Inlaid’s cheering squad!
This is so awesome I can last until next Tuesday just imagining all the things Boneclaw Mother would say to the irritating people in MY life!!!
“Let’s not waste both our time” is so becoming a phrase for me to use on people 😀
Oh yeah, Jhalm just got OWNED by Boneclaw Mother!
@Gramina: No – totally go with the hyena thing – putting people off balance is a good thing! The more so the better!
Eventually they fall over and you can really start having fun.
Anyone here read the Herris Serrano books by Elizabeth Moon? The Legion of Maiden Aunts? You just DON’T mess with the ladies that made it to a ripe old age, because they’re the ones that left the corpses in their wakes
Heh. Boneclaw Mother knows that there’s more ways to bite than with just teeth. Get ’em, lady!
My Grandmother lived to be 91. She was a wonderful little old lady to those she liked. For those she DIDN’T like, God Help ‘Em…
It’s not the THING. The THING is where she knows so much about you that she knows everything you’re afraid of. This is just where she’s been around so long that she completely understands the sort of person she’s talking to.
ZING!
I used to think the “cool” and “badass” ages were 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, and anywhere else in the mid-twenties. Now I’m adding 90 to it. And 90 tops all.
Anyone see shades of Nanny Og in Boneclaw mother?
In that they’re both versions of the same base archetype, of course there would be some similarities.
Nanny Og is the mother 🙂 Boneclaw Mother would be Weatherwax, who also cuts to the chase and tells you what you’re thinking. Go Go Headology 🙂
Weatherwax is not as bawdy as Boneclaw Mother. Can’t you see Boneclaw Mother and Nanny Ogg singing, arm and arm, and at the top of their lungs, ” The Hedgehog Can Never Be Buggered At All!”
Throw in a bit of Beer and they’d be alright.
Nah! I’m more minded of the Agony Aunts than Nanny Ogg or Mistress Weatherwax…
no particular wisdom here, just note that Boneclaw Mother is leading him farther away from the intended goal with every step………
god i love bone mother ! i concur with the granny weatherwax comparison. yet i don’t see any headology coming so much as a swift kick to his head
You gotta hand it to her, she knows how people think. Jhalm was probably more predicatable that way I guess… But yes there you go. The THING!
Psht, this isn’t the THING. The THING is scary. She’s just not stupid! Really, anybody could tell Jhalm is one of THOSE types of evil guys–the ones who are very, very polite up to and including the instant they remove your beating heart from your chest and, genteel as always, show it to you with a smile before you fall down.
B to the OWN. *grin*
Oh -snap-.
As bad and owning as she is, isnt she missing the point? They are suposed to stall Jhalm for time and playing senile old leader would give plenty of that.
Yanno, I was going to go Nanny… but, really, Boneclaw Mother is a lot of both, with a generous helping of herself. She gets to the point, a very Weatherwaxian trait, but she’s also bawdy, grins a lot, and yes I can TOTALLY see her singing, “A Wizard’s Staff Has A Knob on the End” as well as the infamous Hedgehog Song.
Anyway,as I see it, the interesting bit will be the next bit where she finishes what she’s saying here, because that, to me, will be the actual throwdown. Jhalm’s reaction will tell us a lot. Despite him telling Digger that he likes her refreshing “Don’t LIKE you” attitude, he was lying. He doesn’t like it when people don’t say their lines… which makes the dotty old hyena lady also like Granny Weatherwax.
Dude, this is why I don’t comment at 2 in the morning. The above ramble has been brought to you by Insomnia! Why sleep when you can mumble incoherently on the internets instead?
I love Boneclaw Mother’s no-nonsense attitude! *waits with bated breath for the next installment*
She’s good. Very good.
She reminds me of my grandmother, who, at 96, thought my uncle needed a really good beating with her cane because of something he said after my dad’s funeral.
I never found out what he said, she just suddenly smashed him across the shins with that old hickory stick of her’s.
Best funeral ever, dad would have loved it.
Sage: it is too the Thing. It’s just… a very low-grade version of the Thing, right now, rather than the black-belt version she’s capable of with her own people.