Character Discussion!

[Schmorgluck]

An amusing idea just came to my mind. What are the odds that Yuki's roaring rampage of ball-crushing went unreported? I know, I know, comedy, realism, yadda yadda, but please bear with me for a minute. Let's say it's been reported, and a young inspector has been put on the case. A magnetically beautiful young inspector. If a bit goofy, in order to avoid stretching too much the suspension of disbelief while still avoiding the case to be solved (because seriously, this isn't that mysterious).

Now, I was thinking of a straight male inspector when I started typing this (gaah, get out of my head, Heteronormative Patriarchy!), but in the mean time my imagination went equal-opportunity, and now I don't know which one would cause more funny hijinks among these eight combinations: {female,male}x{asexual, bisexual, heterosexual, homosexual}.

Your thoughts?

Moved here as per Schmorgluck's wish. The DAMNed

[daibhi]

I like the inspector idea. Anything to get that Yuki-bitch away from Gary. I'm sorry folks, but to me Yuki is a walking cock-block and is more of a downer when she appears in a strip to me.

[Shardphoenix]

Welcome to the club, daibhi.

[wiseguy]

An amusing idea just came to my mind. What are the odds that Yuki's roaring rampage of ball-crushing went unreported? I know, I know, comedy, realism, yadda yadda, but please bear with me for a minute. Let's say it's been reported, and a young inspector has been put on the case. A magnetically beautiful young inspector. If a bit goofy, in order to avoid stretching too much the suspension of disbelief while still avoiding the case to be solved (because seriously, this isn't that mysterious).

Now, I was thinking of a straight male inspector when I started typing this (gaah, get out of my head, Heteronormative Patriarchy!), but in the mean time my imagination went equal-opportunity, and now I don't know which one would cause more funny hijinks among these eight combinations: {female,male}x{asexual, bisexual, heterosexual, homosexual}.

Your thoughts?

the "Twin brother" of Senna who moved to Canada a few years ago?

[topo]

Anything involving Yuki is a bore. And the combination of Zii with Yuki is a double snorefest.

[Talya]

I despise Yuki. Seriously, I have started to cringe every day I check these comics, fearing there will be a new cute Yuki joke. I'm tired of her. I hate her. I hope she dies by having a 100 gallon aquarium filled with cephalopods land on her head (death by blunt force trauma. The tentacled-fish are just to add insult to fatality). There is nothing left that can be done with Yuki that will be interesting, apart from getting rid of her.

Apart from Gary getting the hell away from Yuki, I want to see more of:

Didi
Zii
Sandra
Sonya
Amber
Dillon
Matt
Kiley
Senna


I don't want to see Yuki. Ever. Again.

Quote removed. The DAMNed

[GothPoet]

Moar Yuki!

[Don Alexander]

I don't want to see Yuki. Ever. Again.

Stop reading the comic.

[Shardphoenix]

Moar Yuki!

Be careful with what you wish for...

[dmh3000]

The problem is always trying to find the right balance of exposure. When Yuki showed up less, it was easier to sympathise with her problems. But when she was shown more often, it was balanced out with her legitimate attempts at trying to better herself. Right now we're obviously growing closer to their break up, otherwise we'd be hearing more of what a great couple they are rather than being reminded about the issues. It's pretty clear we're supposed to symapthise with Gary instead of Yuki in this case. At first we were meant to root for her but that was in volume three and four. Now, her story is done and the drama doesn't come from will they/won't they get together, it's how long until this train wreck finally stops.

I think we're supposed to be getting something like Marten and Dora in Questionable Content, but with no subtlety and over a smaller amount of time. In QC, they were together for about 1500-2000 strips and clearly had some good times, but when you look back you can see the cracks showing early on and over the course of them dating, those cracks got bigger and bigger until everything collapsed. Here though, the cracks started showing when they first met and everything's just building up to their inevitable break up.

[IoweU]

I think Sonya's finally making more sense to me. I knew she was confused but I see now it's more than just Zii that she's confused about. It does look like she has a lot of pent up and suppressed feelings towards other women that she either ignored or explained to herself meant nothing. Admiring Didi's breasts is not necessarily lesbian in and of itself of course, actually the fact that most of the female characters, (straight, lesbian, bi and everything in between and outside), seem to admire them more than the men do is one of my favorite side jokes of this comic but the phrasing was a bit off in that she felt compelled to say that she wasn't a lesbian afterwards (nothing new of course). Now it seems that Zii (and I guess I should give some credit to the Psychology major) they are coming to the surface more ...Personally I think it might be true that she's bisexual though she seems to be using it in the wrong way. Rather than being accepting about it as her identity she seems to be using it as an excuse to say it's okay to like Zii and that it's ok to have Zii with Gary on the side. Either way, she just doesn't really know what she wants or she wants it all. I mean in one page she went from telling Didi she would have gone gay for her in high school (does this go to the "If the boobs are bigger than ____ it's not gay to _____" rule? Sorry I know that's bad but I heard it once or twice on the internet and I've never had a better opportunity to say it.) to talking about being with Zii and having Gary on the side to asking Didi to give her a boob massage.

I have to say though, she is a bit smarter than you might suspect for someone who got tricked into Frenching Zii and then going out on a date. And really despite all her very apparent flaws (at least to me), I like her and Zii together. I don't know. I'm rooting for Gary and Yuki to break up...and I'm rooting for Erik and Zii to break up...maybe I just don't like established relationships.

[Gion]

Your audience already knows Yuki is penis-o-phobic. We didn't need you to waste a week's worth of strips reminding us.

[Fluffy]

Ever think maybe those strips were meant as a way to show Gary that Yuki simply is not ready for a hetero relationship and that - no matter how much he may care about her - as long as he stays with her, he'll never get laid again?

So, Gary now has a choice to make - continue sacrificing his own needs for the sake of his penis fearing girlfriend or think of his own needs for once and let her go (doesn't even have to be a permanent breakup, either - just long enough so Yuki can get her phobia properly conquered and allow him to play the field a little bit).

[Raxus]

Exactly Fluffy. Yuki isn't a bad person deep down, she just needs to grow up and get phobia under control.
I think she harvests so much hate, is because she had her problems flanderised (unlike Zii, Didi or even Gary). If it was done for someone else (like Zii's polisexuality, Didi's inablity to orgasm/keep a guy/remember names, or Kylie's obssesion with large breasts), we'd get hate in different direction.

[Spidrift]

Yuki has suffered from a show-don't-tell problem in the writing, I'm afraid. Her behaviour makes her a royal pain in the arse, but other characters, notably Gary and Zii, like her anyway. But it can be hard to see why. Gary eventually explained his reasons to Dillon and Amber, but it was a bit late by then.

So the only reason the audience mostly got to see was that she was a cute, bouncy Japanese kid. Once any charm wore off from that, she just looked like an annoying writer's pet who other characters were mysteriously failing to punch in the mouth. If we'd seen a little more of her supposed virtues - her talent and likeability - she might not have become such a voodoo doll figure for the boards.