It’s not confined to Vonnegut. I first encountered it (in the form of “. . . running fuck . . .”) in the 1967 novel ‘HMS Leviathan’ (an aircraft carrier) by John Winton, an ex-RN writer of 20th century naval fiction (often humorous) and general naval history books. I inferred that it was generally current in the services.
Tip should definitely try to psychoanalyse himself again (even if he has never been trained in psychoanalysis). The fact that he sprained something last time he tried is a good sign. It shows that he can’t actually disappear up his own fundament – he doesn’t fit.
I sort of suspect he doesn’t actually have real empathy.
Being good at analyzing other people’s thoughts or motivations doesn’t automatically mean you can empathize with them. The former is a kind of pattern recognition – the latter is emotional resonance.
We’ve seen Tip -sympathize- with others, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen him feel anything on anyone else’s behalf. All his emotions appear to be his alone.
If you told him a terribly sad story about your troubles he might try to cheer you up, but I don’t think he’d ever break down crying over it. He understands things on a logical level, and tries to shape events as he thinks fits by talking to people to alter their mood or thoughts, but we’ve had very little evidence that he ever really shares other people’s feelings in a truly empathetic manner.
He’s the kind of psychologist who worked with animals in mazes and such. No real empathy, just intellectual curiosity. A latter-day “Psychologist Who Wouldn’t Do Awful Things to Rats.”
He’s a narcissist. He has cognitive empathy but no affective empathy. He’s very good at recognizing people’s feelings and diagnosing problems but no sense of how to respond to them appropriately and doesn’t consider events that don’t involve himself to be important.
There’s still a little wiggle room, in that if Anasigma are specifically picking individual targets, they might consider both Nick and Tip to be non-human (Nick for his helicopter conversion, and Tip for his werewolf infection), but yeah, less likely.
In the other hand, this does seem to lend credence to the “blanket effect” theory, that they are within some field that covers the area. Given that it even gave Bubbles a nightmare , it might be hidden inside one of the zombies. (Insert your own joke here.)
So far, it’s only in the immediate area: the Habakkuk and their present location (Bad Island?) Maybe it’s something with some specific area-connected goal.
Except that the Habakkuk is nowhere near their current location. They had to head north because of the weather on the east coast being too warm.
It seems to be focused on the NHS’s that are close in proximity to the Skin Horse gang (including the SH gang themselves). It could be a ruse to keep them all preoccupied, while A-Sig actually targets someone in an entirely different location.
Makes me wonder if A-Sig could somehow be using Nick’s Osprey body as a transmitter of some sort.
That was several adventures ago…they could’a shifted south again…and Nick might need to conserve fuel, being cut off from his paying supplier by Skin-Horse going rogue.
Nobody’s any better.
Makes me feel bad for the rest.
Nobody’s got it half as good as me,
Baby, I’m the best.
Everyone’s lookin’, they’re always around me.
I’ll try to shine my inner light.
It’s like heaven around me
The eyes that found me
Are creepin’ out my beauty day and night.
And nobody’s any better.
Makes me feel bad for the rest.
Nobody’s got it half as good as me,
Baby, I’m the best.
The way I behold me
I just want to hold me
I’m fascinatin’ wonder, through and through.
It keeps me confessin’
And keeps me cross-dressin’
Can I psychoanalyze the thing I do?
Oh, and nobody’s any better.
Makes me feel bad for the rest.
Nobody’s got it half as good as me,
Baby, baby, darlin’, I’m the best.
Baby, I’m the best.
Darlin’, I’m the best.
Baby, I’m the best,
Oh, oh, oh…
—from “Nobody Does It Better,” Carole Sager / Marvin Hamlisch, sung by Carly Simon.
Nick changed shirts. “Nuttin Atoll?”
Robert Nowall: Monkey Island, according to tvtropes.com
It’s in Escape from Monkey Island, and it’s also the site of Hellbeard the Unrepentant’s Puppet Theater (relevant to Tip).
Nick changes shirts pretty regularly. It’s always an in-joke, if you’re paying attention.
Er, someone care to explain the “rolling donut” bit? I’m feeling a bit thick today.
“Go take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut,” murmured Paul Lazzaro in his azure nest. “Go take a flying fuck at the moon”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
I’ve never read Vonnegut, so that explains my confusion. Cheers!
Neither have I, so I was just as perplexed. Thanks for asking that one for us, Aardvarker!
Nor I. But I know how Nick’s mind works, so I inferred pretty much the same thing.
It’s not confined to Vonnegut. I first encountered it (in the form of “. . . running fuck . . .”) in the 1967 novel ‘HMS Leviathan’ (an aircraft carrier) by John Winton, an ex-RN writer of 20th century naval fiction (often humorous) and general naval history books. I inferred that it was generally current in the services.
I can’t believe I didn’t catch that.
a fairly common insult in the early eighties. i did not know the Vonnegut origin.
I remember it from high school in the late seventies.
Same. Nick must be a true connoisseur of half-forgotten and under-used insults.
I think there used to be a whole series of possible targets for “Go take a flying fuck at…”
Or the extended version: Go take a flying Philadelphia fuck in a rolling doughnut.
This reminds me of the scene where some soul devouring demon thing can’t find Cerebus’ soul.
Tonight’s episode of “CSI: Dead People” – Guilt Remains Sacred
Tip should definitely try to psychoanalyse himself again (even if he has never been trained in psychoanalysis). The fact that he sprained something last time he tried is a good sign. It shows that he can’t actually disappear up his own fundament – he doesn’t fit.
Could have sworn we already knew his ego was too big to fit up his arse.
Tip always seems to vacillate between strong empathy and narcissistic lack of empathy.
I sort of suspect he doesn’t actually have real empathy.
Being good at analyzing other people’s thoughts or motivations doesn’t automatically mean you can empathize with them. The former is a kind of pattern recognition – the latter is emotional resonance.
We’ve seen Tip -sympathize- with others, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen him feel anything on anyone else’s behalf. All his emotions appear to be his alone.
If you told him a terribly sad story about your troubles he might try to cheer you up, but I don’t think he’d ever break down crying over it. He understands things on a logical level, and tries to shape events as he thinks fits by talking to people to alter their mood or thoughts, but we’ve had very little evidence that he ever really shares other people’s feelings in a truly empathetic manner.
He’s the kind of psychologist who worked with animals in mazes and such. No real empathy, just intellectual curiosity. A latter-day “Psychologist Who Wouldn’t Do Awful Things to Rats.”
He’s a narcissist. He has cognitive empathy but no affective empathy. He’s very good at recognizing people’s feelings and diagnosing problems but no sense of how to respond to them appropriately and doesn’t consider events that don’t involve himself to be important.
“… jelly or ring?”
¿Porque no los dos?
Better question: cake, yeast ring, or cruller? What about a bear claw?
Tip’s not averse to orgies… why not all of the above?
This suggests the “Dream of your parents” spell manifests in humans as the person who raised them. Anasigma involvement less likely.
Perhaps our “CSI: Dead People” team should consult with Aimee?
I wonder if Lovelace has been affected?
There’s still a little wiggle room, in that if Anasigma are specifically picking individual targets, they might consider both Nick and Tip to be non-human (Nick for his helicopter conversion, and Tip for his werewolf infection), but yeah, less likely.
In the other hand, this does seem to lend credence to the “blanket effect” theory, that they are within some field that covers the area. Given that it even gave Bubbles a nightmare , it might be hidden inside one of the zombies. (Insert your own joke here.)
So far, it’s only in the immediate area: the Habakkuk and their present location (Bad Island?) Maybe it’s something with some specific area-connected goal.
Except that the Habakkuk is nowhere near their current location. They had to head north because of the weather on the east coast being too warm.
It seems to be focused on the NHS’s that are close in proximity to the Skin Horse gang (including the SH gang themselves). It could be a ruse to keep them all preoccupied, while A-Sig actually targets someone in an entirely different location.
Makes me wonder if A-Sig could somehow be using Nick’s Osprey body as a transmitter of some sort.
That was several adventures ago…they could’a shifted south again…and Nick might need to conserve fuel, being cut off from his paying supplier by Skin-Horse going rogue.
Fair enough. But even with normal weather, the Habakkuk wouldn’t be able to sail close to Florida. The water is far too warm there.
Everyone else is upset/disturbed. Tip is merely surprised.
More evidence that he is, in fact, a psychopath.
Nobody’s any better.
Makes me feel bad for the rest.
Nobody’s got it half as good as me,
Baby, I’m the best.
Everyone’s lookin’, they’re always around me.
I’ll try to shine my inner light.
It’s like heaven around me
The eyes that found me
Are creepin’ out my beauty day and night.
And nobody’s any better.
Makes me feel bad for the rest.
Nobody’s got it half as good as me,
Baby, I’m the best.
The way I behold me
I just want to hold me
I’m fascinatin’ wonder, through and through.
It keeps me confessin’
And keeps me cross-dressin’
Can I psychoanalyze the thing I do?
Oh, and nobody’s any better.
Makes me feel bad for the rest.
Nobody’s got it half as good as me,
Baby, baby, darlin’, I’m the best.
Baby, I’m the best.
Darlin’, I’m the best.
Baby, I’m the best,
Oh, oh, oh…
—from “Nobody Does It Better,” Carole Sager / Marvin Hamlisch, sung by Carly Simon.
Oh, yeah. Tip Wilkin doesn’t say whether his dream was a dream or a nightmare. And what was he and his mother doing in the dream?
…spraining something?