Filler Strip, July 7th

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Spidrift
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Filler Strip, July 7th

Post by Spidrift »

As Giz is off at a convention, we get a filler strip today, familiar to those of us who own the print volume. Hey ho.

It makes Dillon look a bit mean or weirdly evasive — what was to stop him telling her why she might want to back down? — but oh well, comedy. And it’s a bit dated, mostly because Ruby actually has a job nowadays, but also because it plays on the naivety about sex that she’s been gradually shedding. I’d imagine her looking a bit less confused and more irritated if this happened to her now. And if Dillon runs another party after another few weeks from current events in the strip, the joke might be completely turned around.
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Storm-forge mystique
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Re: Filler Strip, July 7th

Post by Storm-forge mystique »

...is this the whole thing, or just an extended preview?

(Also, isn't that the ocelot-girl who took Brooke out?)

OllieOrOlly
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Re: Filler Strip, July 7th

Post by OllieOrOlly »

Can't fault a little fun play on words.

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Spidrift
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Re: Filler Strip, July 7th

Post by Spidrift »

Storm-forge mystique wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 7:21 am
...is this the whole thing, or just an extended preview?
The whole thing. It’s a one-off joke and a couple of puns.
(Also, isn't that the ocelot-girl who took Brooke out?)
Recycled character designs? In these comics? Perish the thought.
OllieOrOlly wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 7:59 am
Can't fault a little fun play on words.
Well, one can, actually. They’re a bit weak. I hate to sound mean, but I’m not sure that it’s a great idea for a native French speaker to build a joke around English puns.

I wouldn’t mind seeing a follow-up after the comic has ended, though. How would a post-virginal Ruby handle this job?
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-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
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Re: Filler Strip, July 7th

Post by Patton »

And here I was, hoping that they might go to the AnimeExpo in Los Angeles. ;)

For some reason I was expecting Dillon to reference the Fuller Brush Man. I think they still have those. It would be a weird house party... #:-s
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Re: Filler Strip, July 7th

Post by leann123 »

Now back to our regularly scheduled "Will they or won't they?" featuring Gary and Zii. Despite her choosing DiDi, she didn't look too happy about it the last time we saw her.

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Re: Filler Strip, July 7th

Post by Spidrift »

Oh good grief I hope that the story doesn’t cut back to Ma3 too soon. Playing silly buggers with cliffhangers in both stories would just be pointlessly annoying. Amber has finally been given a clue why Ruby hates her, and Ruby has finally been forced into a situation where she has to explain, and we have the great “Andy; very silly or just stupid?” question front and centre — so let’s hope for at least some resolutions before Christmas.
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Re: Filler Strip, July 7th

Post by brasca »

While I like this bonus story I think the second one would've been more fitting. The one where Ruby imagines herself as a yaoi director.


Ruby never sees herself in her fantasies and maybe Andy actually sensed this or perhaps Ruby is projecting her insecurities. If she doesn't think herself sexually desirable in her fantasies then she might believe Andy feels the same way. Perhaps her disdain for her sister goes so far that if she imagined herself doing anything sexual she'd be too similar to her sister for comfort. This would be a great opportunity for a Kiley cameo and I think Ruby's issue is tame in comparison to the crazy people she'd dealt with prior.

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Re: Filler Strip, July 7th

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brasca wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 4:51 pm
While I like this bonus story I think the second one would've been more fitting. The one where Ruby imagines herself as a yaoi director.
That was a nine-page PDF — twice the size of this. It’d be rather a lot of work to squeeze it down to a one-page filler. Aside from that, it’s for sale on its own at Gumroad; giving it away for free would be a good way to irritate people who’ve paid money for it.
Ruby never sees herself in her fantasies and maybe Andy actually sensed this or perhaps Ruby is projecting her insecurities.
I am very unconvinced by the idea of Andy sensing anything. He’s been written as utterly clueless ever since his first appearance, and there are no suggestions at present that he’s deliberately ignoring Ruby’s hints. Nice guy, but total himbo, it seems.
If she doesn't think herself sexually desirable in her fantasies then she might believe Andy feels the same way.
I don’t think that Ruby really sees herself as undesirable. When people tell her she’s attractive, she may look grumpy, but she doesn’t call them liars — and no woman who defined herself as truly unattractive could wear that LBD. Heck, she didn’t run with that idea once Dillon called her attractive this time; she jumped straight to looking for other explanations.

What she is, is nervous. She doesn’t insert herself into her fantasies because she’s genuinely worried that sex will be uncomfortable, even painful for her — or maybe just humiliating. And her image of a woman participating happily in sex is the hated Amber. So yaoi was a godsend for her; it gives her a whole library of erotic fantasies which don’t require any female participation. She’s at the same stage as a 13-year-old with a crush on a boyband; she’s found a safe way to work up to the idea of sex.

But she’s ready to move on, with a little encouragement. Unfortunately, what she’s got is the totally unencouraging Andy.
Perhaps her disdain for her sister goes so far that if she imagined herself doing anything sexual she'd be too similar to her sister for comfort.
Her attempted hints at Andy say that she’s got past that problem. But she’s still got to be subtle and indirect, because yes, her only model for a sexually forward woman is Amber, like whom she cannot be. The yaoi has been good for her, but honestly, she now needs fantasies into which she can place herself.
This would be a great opportunity for a Kiley cameo and I think Ruby's issue is tame in comparison to the crazy people she'd dealt with prior.
[Valmont]Too easy.[/Valmont] Ruby’s hang-ups and issues really aren’t hidden very deep. Kiley wouldn’t have to work any magic to sort things out, and would just end up looking like a glib deus ex machina.

What Ruby needs to do is sort out her Amber problem for herself, with whatever encouragement Dillon can provide. (Sadly, Amber is amazingly clueless about why her obsessively truthful, friendless sister is angry over Amber never offering her friendship but asking her to lie for seven years, and will probably be bugger-all use here.) Once Ruby can disentangle the idea of overt female sexuality from the mental image of Amber’s pudenda, she’ll be able to ask Andy directly why he’s failing to keep his promise or take a hint.

She’ll probably then release so much tension in one go that Andy may be ruined for other women, and indeed his job. She may also become a great vibrator saleswoman, though I can imagine her losing a few sales with a “Meh, I’ve seen bigger”.
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brasca
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Re: Filler Strip, July 7th

Post by brasca »

Spidrift wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:06 pm
brasca wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 4:51 pm
While I like this bonus story I think the second one would've been more fitting. The one where Ruby imagines herself as a yaoi director.
That was a nine-page PDF — twice the size of this. It’d be rather a lot of work to squeeze it down to a one-page filler. Aside from that, it’s for sale on its own at Gumroad; giving it away for free would be a good way to irritate people who’ve paid money for it.
Yes I forgot how long that one was.
Spidrift wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:06 pm
brasca wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 4:51 pm
Ruby never sees herself in her fantasies and maybe Andy actually sensed this or perhaps Ruby is projecting her insecurities.
I am very unconvinced by the idea of Andy sensing anything. He’s been written as utterly clueless ever since his first appearance, and there are no suggestions at present that he’s deliberately ignoring Ruby’s hints. Nice guy, but total himbo, it seems.
You never know. He could be a savant about a few things.
Spidrift wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:06 pm
brasca wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 4:51 pm
If she doesn't think herself sexually desirable in her fantasies then she might believe Andy feels the same way.
I don’t think that Ruby really sees herself as undesirable. When people tell her she’s attractive, she may look grumpy, but she doesn’t call them liars — and no woman who defined herself as truly unattractive could wear that LBD. Heck, she didn’t run with that idea once Dillon called her attractive this time; she jumped straight to looking for other explanations.

What she is, is nervous. She doesn’t insert herself into her fantasies because she’s genuinely worried that sex will be uncomfortable, even painful for her — or maybe just humiliating. And her image of a woman participating happily in sex is the hated Amber. So yaoi was a godsend for her; it gives her a whole library of erotic fantasies which don’t require any female participation. She’s at the same stage as a 13-year-old with a crush on a boyband; she’s found a safe way to work up to the idea of sex.

But she’s ready to move on, with a little encouragement. Unfortunately, what she’s got is the totally unencouraging Andy.
There's also the sexual-political angle. Women are judged differently for being promiscuous and even judge their own gender with the belief that men can be straightforward about sex, but women can't without being thought of as slutty. That's one of the biggest issues between Amber and Ruby. Hopefully, if the discussion takes a turn for the political it'll remain more civil than the Dangerously Chloe board. 8-|
Spidrift wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:06 pm
brasca wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 4:51 pm
This would be a great opportunity for a Kiley cameo and I think Ruby's issue is tame in comparison to the crazy people she'd dealt with prior.
[Valmont]Too easy.[/Valmont] Ruby’s hang-ups and issues really aren’t hidden very deep. Kiley wouldn’t have to work any magic to sort things out, and would just end up looking like a glib deus ex machina.
I know. It would be an easy case. Kiley has had to deal with some people with difficult issues. Ruby's would be considerably easy. I think she could use a little confidence booster after everything that's happened. Of course for an additional confidence booster she should meet Angel. ;)

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Re: Filler Strip, July 7th

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A little confidence boost and a large suggestion that she needs to resolve the Amber thing. If that means patching things up, great; if it means screaming in Amber’s face that what she did — what she asked of Ruby — was unforgivable, and walking out of the apartment and never speaking to Amber again, then that’d be sad, but it’d be a resolution. It’s the letting it fester and control her life that messes up Ruby’s head.

As for the way women are judged — well, Ruby is a lot more old-fashioned about that than anyone she’s likely to meet in the comic, except possibly her own parents. But it’s not like she’s actually a Puritan; note that she’s perfectly willing to go to bed with Andy, she’s just worried about the practicalities. She just thinks that Amber is defined by sex — which is a little unkind of her, but not actually entirely untrue. Plus, Amber is a liar to their parents, and made Ruby into one, and if there's one old-fashioned virtue that Ruby does take seriously, to her credit, it’s truthfulness.

(I’m going to assume that Ruby’s choice of words in that last strip was significant. She doesn’t use the word “slutty”, and she does specifically mention the lying.)
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Re: Filler Strip, July 7th

Post by OllieOrOlly »

Spidrift wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 8:20 am
OllieOrOlly wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 7:59 am
Can't fault a little fun play on words.
Well, one can, actually. They’re a bit weak. I hate to sound mean, but I’m not sure that it’s a great idea for a native French speaker to build a joke around English puns.

I wouldn’t mind seeing a follow-up after the comic has ended, though. How would a post-virginal Ruby handle this job?
Hence my "little" modifier; didn't claim it was exceptional, but amusing enough, if it was a bit weak.

I'd like to think a post-V-card Ruby would handle it much the same, with a major exception of her imagination being more expanded from experience, so if someone mentions "gay guy friends on the way," Ruby would become gleefully lost in the yaoi land in her mind.

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Re: Filler Strip, July 7th

Post by Spidrift »

But she handles this job bumblingly in this strip, because at the time of writing, she was a naive virgin. A Ruby who’s had sex and been talking authoritively about yaoi for weeks could presumably take selling a few sex toys in her stride. Though the biggest risk might be the writers succumbing to temptation and slipping in a “meh, I’ve seen bigger” joke.
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"Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo."
-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
Avatar misappropriated from the wonderful XKCD.

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