SDB 08-11-18 Ready willing and able

[Giz]

New SDB on Ma3 is up! http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/sdb- ... -and-able/

[Spidrift]

Okay, now we're actually moving toward the actual plot, as opposed to loose-ends-tying. Hopefully, the entire club will now launch into a wacky scheme (TM) to help identify what Andy's problem might be.

The depiction of Ruby in panel 4 is probably following some kind of comics-artistic convention, but I could wish it looked less ... artificial. And the arrow-text really is a bit superfluous; everyone could get the idea without a damn great sign.

[OllieOrOlly]

The last adult virgins in all of fictional Montreal!

Anyways, character development possibilities are nice, rather than yet another idiot plot (which can be fun, but I think we're way passed beyond wanting them).

[brasca]

It would seem Amber wasn’t helpful enough. Perhaps she’ll get more tips from such a diverse group.

[Spidrift]

Amber isn’t used to complex relationships. Remember, Ray is her first actual boyfriend. She can offer logical insights — she’s not dumb — but she’s no more used to dealing with guys who don’t respond to hints than Ruby is.

Hopefully, this committee can take up the thread. Even if their plan for dealing with the problem is the proverbial camel.

[Platonix]

The depiction of Ruby in panel 4 is probably following some kind of comics-artistic convention, but I could wish it looked less ... artificial. And the arrow-text really is a bit superfluous; everyone could get the idea without a damn great sign.

I'm assuming it's an attempt at the old "words stabbing her in the heart" gag that we've seen a few other characters suffer from in the past, that just didn't work out this time because Julian and Ramona needing to be in the same panel made the panel composition too wonky to deliver on the visual gag.

[Spidrift]

Plus, well, Ruby is pissed off at not having been able to bed Andy, and doubtless a little embarrassed at having her failure exposed to her friends, but this isn’t a painful armour-piercing reveal like some things with some people.

[brasca]

Except her failure is known only to her so it’s not really exposed.

[Spidrift]

Ramona and Dillon know that she hadn't got there last they'd heard, and may note that she hasn't given signs or made claims of a change in that status -- and Ramona has pretty much blown her cover here. And no, Ruby can't lie, because (a) she's Ruby, the worst liar in the setting, and (b) she's desperate to resolve this problem, so she'll almost certainly reflexively ask the group for advice at this point.

[Cortez]

I forget, was Jordan a bad guy or is Dillon just being overly protective?

[Spidrift]

On past form, Jordan can be a bit smug, and we've seen him shagging enough different people that he may not be a very reliable boyfriend. But he's never been shown as outright evil, and he's generally fairly pleasant to everyone. So long as Julian isn't too naive -- and he seems quite sensible here -- Dillon is probably being way too protective because he's having trouble accepting that Julian is now an adult.

(Also, Dillon and Jordan sometimes compete for roles. Jordan appears to be quite laid-back about that, but it may make drama-queen Dillon see him as a dangerous rival.)

[Fluffy]

@Spidrift - though I'm sure - despite his history with Julian and his relationship with Jerzy - there's a part of Dillon that is jealous that Julian has his eyes on someone else; given his reaction to Julian's announcement that he was dating a super hot actor that *gasp* wasn't Dillon.

[LegendaryKroc]

I would say it's hypocritical given he keep saying he ISN'T attracted to Julian because he babysat him long ago, but hey, real life feelings, especially matters of the heart and the genitals, are messy and complicated and don't always make logical sense, so I'll let him have that one.

[Spidrift]

Dillon is vain enough that when someone says "super-hot actor" he instantly thinks "that means me", and that was the panel 1 joke in the previous strip, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't think any other actors are hot or allowed to date. So far as I can see, once he understood what Julian was saying, he switched into over-protective mode, but not selfish -- he still doesn't want to date Julian, and he isn't sure that anyone else should either.

Dillon is written as egotistical, but not to the point of sociopathy; he can genuinely care about other people. When the writers overdo the ego, he can be bloody annoying, but he doesn't strike me as evil.