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worldshaking00 wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 24, 2018 1:53 am

I don't think Andy knew Amber that well. He couldn't remember her name... only that is was color-related.

Actually, if I remember correctly (I have not time to dig in the archives...) Andy did not know that Amber was a porno-star, but the girl that helped him in getting the cock-ring did. The fact that was color-related came from the girl (girl: "Dillon's roomate is a porn-star, I do not remember the name... it was a color...", Andy: "Maybe Ruby?" girl:" that's a color").

http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-s ... ou_measure - for reference. The strip that shows everything about Andy that we’ve just had repeated at every opportunity since.

By the way, the thumbnail for this latest strip may be my favourite ever. Ruby with the edge sharpened...

Here's a thought.

What if it's not a joke? What if "going swimming" is a euphemism?

We're gonna find out tomorrow, that's where I'm planting my "Called it!" flag.

Already suggested by various people; see the first two pages of this thread. But I’m not buying it (or rather, I’ll be highly annoyed if we’re presented with such an asspull); Andy has not shown any signs of any such wit before now.

Maybe he’s been getting lessons on how to be more suave? Ever think of that?

From who? And can you really call him “suave” when he very recently ignored Ruby’s clear hints in a downright offensive and hurtful fashion?

Occam’s Razor generally applies with this comic. If Andy appears effing moronic every time he appears, the strong probability is that Andy is effing moronic. Why on Earth do you think things are more complicated than we have been given any hint that they are?

Because every once and awhile DiDi showed signs she wasn’t as naive as she appeared so why not Andy.

Until she was safely flanderised into two-dimensionality. And it’s a bit late to be giving Andy complexity. And anyway, this wouldn’t be complexity, it’d just be self-contradiction.

There's a lot of atypical people in the Menage a 3 universe. Yuki's severe case of phallophobia, Sonya's inability to perceive her own bisexuality, Sandra's alcohol induced kinkiness, etc. etc. Why should Andy be held to a different standard?

While it would be nice to expect some level of depth to a character, I am with @Spidrift on this one: Andy is too naive/dense/innocent/<insert word of choice>. The clues are too apparent that he is very much a 'too nice' kind of guy, at least in comparison to just about every other guy in the Ma3 universe. He wanted to take Ruby to see his parents before progressing further romantically - not even sexually - into their relationship, as if to say that it was expected of him to do so rather than just bang Ruby. He was clueless about Dillon's attempts at flirting, instead honestly thinking that Dillon was interested in diving lessons... not even batting an eye to Dillon's mentioning about 'tucking' when he plays a feminine role. Plus, this is the end game for the comic. It would be easier for the writers to have Ruby & Andy discover themselves together and in the same panels than to make Andy out to be a sex machine all of a sudden.

If he wasn't so painfully obtuse - borderline insulting but in that nice/kind way to Ruby's advances - I'd like him a lot as a character; I have a soft spot for the old fashioned 'boy scout'-type of character. There's also part of me who wants Ruby to just get laid and move on with her life (and chill a bit the F out) after discovering how the event may/has changed her life and how she might better identify with Amber. Which I admit is also the seeming end of SDB; but then, I am more interested in the plots of Ma3-prime.

I wonder if there's actually going to be an actual Dillon-centric arc to cap off the SDB story. The comic is actually named after him after all, and Ruby's issues have hogged the limelight as of late. Not that Dillon hasn't made appearances, but his story seems basically done if him and Jerzy are permanent. Probably not, considering the holidays are upon us and the given timeline from Giz, but still.

brasca wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 27, 2018 1:28 am

There's a lot of atypical people in the Menage a 3 universe. Yuki's severe case of phallophobia, Sonya's inability to perceive her own bisexuality, Sandra's alcohol induced kinkiness, etc. etc. Why should Andy be held to a different standard?

Did I say anything about atypicality?

Those characters are weird and unrealistic, frequently to the point of aggravating stupidity, but at least they’re consistent about it. (In other words, Giz and Dave love them their running jokes.) Having Andy suddenly turn around and turn out to be witty and empathetic would be like having Dillon suddenly turn heterosexual and introverted.

worldshaking00 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 27, 2018 2:42 am

The clues are too apparent that he is very much a 'too nice' kind of guy, at least in comparison to just about every other guy in the Ma3 universe. He wanted to take Ruby to see his parents before progressing further romantically - not even sexually - into their relationship, as if to say that it was expected of him to do so rather than just bang Ruby...

I’d be careful with the word “nice,” if only because he hurt Ruby fairly significantly by ignoring her signals. Unintentionally, to be sure, but the effects were still a bit traumatic. He’s conventional and correct, in ways which were invented to grease the wheels of social relationships, and he’s absolutely not mean or cruel, but he’s a living demonstration of how conventional correctness is not enough to count as “nice.”

There's also part of me who wants Ruby to just get laid and move on with her life (and chill a bit the F out) after discovering how the event may/has changed her life and how she might better identify with Amber.

I’d be a little worried if I thought the comic was heading for a “she just needed to get laid” conclusion for her. (I like sex, and I don’t think that repression is good for people in general, but I don’t believe that just getting squidgy with a random partner automatically solves all problems.) But fortunately, it seems to be a notch more subtle than that.

Ruby was certainly repressed, and it was making her unhappy, but actually she’s already well over that. She admitted a while back that she likes yaoi, she showed more recently that she could at least live with the idea if getting laid, and she’s now fully acknowledged that she actually wants it. At this point, from that point of view, actually inserting tab A in slot B is mostly a formality. What’s making her unhappy now is merely Andy’s obtuseness over providing her with that physical release.

Nor do I assume that getting laid will automatically repair her relationship with Amber. Ruby was never all that negative about Amber’s sex life, any more than she was about anyone else’s. Her frequently stated complaint was that Amber lied to their parents, and by implication that she obliged Ruby to do the same, for years; her big unstated issue was clearly that Amber refused her friendship when she needed it most, when she hit adolescence and was being isolated at school. Even if she felt as enthusiastic as Amber about sex — and she’s actually still being more restrained and conservative about that than Amber — those grudges would still be in place. Amber’s best hope is just that a more relaxed, endorphin-loaded Ruby may choose to be a bit more forgiving, or at least to have an honest talk.

(Alternatively, Ruby may turn all geeky about sex, and start treat Amber as her walking Encyclopedia of Kink.)

Actually, Ruby could even choose to blame Amber for deterring her from trying something as nice as sex for so many years... but I doubt that the comic will go there.

I wonder if there's actually going to be an actual Dillon-centric arc to cap off the SDB story. The comic is actually named after him after all, and Ruby's issues have hogged the limelight as of late. Not that Dillon hasn't made appearances, but his story seems basically done if him and Jerzy are permanent. Probably not, considering the holidays are upon us and the given timeline from Giz, but still.

Giz started SDB as an excuse to do more with Dillon, who she likes, but honestly, as some of us said at the time, there’s not all that much that a writer can do with him. Dillon may be cute, but he’s a shallow nitwit. When a new character with some brains and some issues entered the scene, it was probably inevitable that she’d take over.

Spidrift wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 27, 2018 8:43 am

I’d be careful with the word “nice,” if only because he hurt Ruby fairly significantly by ignoring her signals. Unintentionally, to be sure, but the effects were still a bit traumatic. He’s conventional and correct, in ways which were invented to grease the wheels of social relationships, and he’s absolutely not mean or cruel, but he’s a living demonstration of how conventional correctness is not enough to count as “nice.”

I guess so. But as we see in the next strip, he is nervous as well. His obtuseness seems to be a defense mechanism. He appears to be the kind of guy who wants a slow relationship build up in order to gain composure. Ruby's repression and yelling/eagerness scares Andy. Feigning ignorance had the desired effect of giving her a cold shower, albeit still keeping her angry at him.

I’d be a little worried if I thought the comic was heading for a “she just needed to get laid”...

I think that Ruby needs to speak from a level of experience before she is qualified to chastise Amber (and others) on her sexual 'lewdness'. Yes: Ruby has misplaced emotions concerning sex and the dishonesties she had to be complicit in for Amber's benefit. Having Ruby have sex - and enjoy it - would be a way to untangle them. Plus, it would potentially allow Ruby and Amber to bond as sisters (Talking about sex, I mean. Not anything incestuous.)

And as far as Ruby being the starlet in the end, sure. It makes sense, especially since there hasn't been any new growth/drama for Dillon since seemingly the first quarter of the comic. Ruby has the virtue of not being like the other Ma3 characters - virginal. She filled the role of 'Gary' for this strip. Whereas Gary had other growing up to do as well (better job, etc.) Ruby just needs to reconcile her past with keeping Amber's confidence and how she has concluded that sex is evil. It might be too simple to say 'she just needed to get laid', but it isn't too far off base either. She has to have a tête-à-tête with Amber after having sex, in order to untangle her past with their present/future. I feel it is the only way to pleasantly reconcile the sisters and give Ruby a happy ending, especially given the short time we have left with them.

But Ruby’s never really gone round saying that sex is evil. She said a few conventionally negative things about it early on, but she quickly got friendly enough with Dillon, for all his extrovert sexuality. She’s worried about respectability, but that’s about herself, not her view of other people. Okay, she calls Amber “trashy” and “oversexed”, but that’s still not quite saying that all sex is bad, and the key phrase there is sure “lies-to-our-parents”. For someone slinging insults at an ex-porn star, she’s downright restrained; her bad word of choice is “witch”, not, say, “slut”. Equally, the thing that made her downright conciliatory to Amber was when Amber gave her some big-sisterly advice — the thing she resentfully missed out on during her teenage years.

So I don’t think that getting laid will magically give Ruby a positive view of sex, and hence of Amber — because her view of sex isn’t that bad to begin with. Now, a Amber coming clean with their parents, putting in some hard work to play the big sister, and admitting that she could have taken Ruby a little less for granted after the teenage party — that might start some healing.