05-04-13 Something you are not telling me

[Nev]

What I love is how Ruby just deflects it right back at Amber instead of correcting her and risking a veer towards what her actual problem is.

[BlairFan]

Nev, I agree with you, and I also wonder how much of what Ruby says to Amber is colored by sibling resentment or even sibling rivalry. She could be jealous of her sister being a film star, without actually admitting her feelings to herself.

[Spidrift]

Funnily enough, I could believe TheBlackDog's guess... Well, I have been guessing something similar myself, haven't I? Except for the bit about Amber's age, because I think that the best guess on the boards has put Zii (and hence Amber) closer to 24-25 or so. On pretty minimal grounds, admittedly, so far as I remember. But I'd see the young Ruby less as a confused and susceptible 12-year-old when Amber went wild, and more as an irritated 14-year old who got annoyed at the way that every spotty youth in town assumed that both the LaRose girls must be up for anything.

But hell, Monday may well make fools of us all.

[Bambikles]

Nev, I agree with you, and I also wonder how much of what Ruby says to Amber is colored by sibling resentment or even sibling rivalry. She could be jealous of her sister being a film star, without actually admitting her feelings to herself.

Jealous of being a pornstar ? Oh, please!...
It probably won't happen, but I'd be curious to see what Kiley would have to say to Ruby if they met.
My bet is that Ruby is currently asexual, for whatever reason.

[Spidrift]

Kiley is smart enough to want to do some digging rather than making snap glib diagnoses, and Ruby probably wouldn't set off her reflex anti-bully defences. Ruby would surely resist any attempts to analyse her, but anyway, Kiley might respect her as someone else who's prepared to use the brains she was born with.

Ruby is clearly currently functionally asexual. Her innate proclivities are technically anyone's guess, though I'd bet the odds and assume mostly straight.

[tanonev]

My bet is that Ruby is currently asexual, for whatever reason.

Because asexuality is "just a phase"?

I would love to see the inclusion of a truly ace character in the Ma3verse; I think it would present some opportunities for fresh sex-comedy humor while giving a bit more visibility to a lesser known and respected orientation.

[Artemisia]

You mean like Erin in Girls With Slingshots?

Kind of like me wanting an absolutely lesbian character for the series.

[tanonev]

Kind of. Erin is asexual+homoromantic and (apparently) has a good deal of relationship experience, and GWS is a comedy with sex in it, but not a sex comedy. It might be fun to see an asexual+aromantic "why would I bother dealing with relationships when there is SCIENCE (or business, in Ruby's case) to be done" character interact with the others while they're in pursuit mode.

[Artemisia]

Well, yeah true. I think it would be nice if they could explore a lot of these issues ;)

[Stonefoot]

Two things:

First a hypothesis. Ruby knew that Amber was bi while they were both still in school. Because…. The other girls who were present at Zii and Amber's make-out session would have told a least a few of their friends, and it would likely have been known to a good percentage of the senior class, at least, that Amber was bi, probably within days. This is just the sort of thing that siblings will share but never tell their parents. And if a girl in Ruby's class heard it from her older sister, one of the first people she'd tell would be Ruby.

That would mean that her "You're gay?" question was either the result of a total BSOD, leading to throwing out the first words she could think of (followed by a reflexive "that I have to hide from our parents to protect you" accusation), or the first half of what she was thinking, the other being "I thought you were bi".

The second thing is a conjecture about "How could this conversation go far worse than it already has?"

First, I'll accept the conjecture that several others have made, that Ruby is effectively asexual now, but why? Imagine that, some time after Amber left, Ruby started to realize that she, too, was attracted to women. She finds some other girls with similar uncertainties, and they speculate about whether they should try out lesbian sex to find out whether they like it. But they have no idea how it should work, and don't know how unrealistic porn is, so they get some lesbian porn to use as (you guessed it!) instructional materials. Ruby realizes that she is definitely getting turned on, especially by one very attractive blonde, and with teenage volatility quickly falls in love (or at least 'in lust') with the actress. Then one of the other girls says "You know, if that blonde had brown hair she'd look a lot like your sister Amber." Suddenly afraid, Ruby looks for some little detail that will prove that that isn't Amber, but finds instead, let's say, a small tattoo that would normally be covered by clothing? "Oh,no!!! It IS Amber!" She knows she's doomed when trying to distract herself by watching gay porn leads to thoughts like "If we had been born boys, Amber and I could be doing that."

So, how does the conversation (back in the present) go? Amber quickly answers Ruby's question "No, I'm bi. I'm sexually attracted to just about everyone." and tries to change the subject back to Ruby, who misinterprets 'everyone' and concludes that Amber is coming on to her! Then either - Ruby recoils in horror crying out "No, no! That wold be incest!" - or - Ruby tearfully hugs Amber saying "I never knew you felt that way too!" Either of which leaves Amber utterly confused.

In the end, Amber tells Ruby "You're going to be OK, but you need help, you need a certified professional therapist." And (having, once again, partial information) calls up Gary to get Kiley's phone number.

Third (yeah, I know, out of two): The other day I saw a personalized license plate that read "ZIIIIII".

[JoybuzzerX]

Good heavens; a character in the Ma3 universe trying to communicate. Shame that the other party doesn't want to play, even if she said she knows she ought to... (Perhaps the last time they talked was when Ruby found out about Amber's porn career, and the shock of that was enough to put her off the whole idea?) But with any luck, this means that we'll find out that there is some reason for Ruby's attitude, beyond "The opposite of Amber, ha ha".

And Amber needs to get her head around the idea that other people can be negative about or just disinterested in the opposite sex for reasons other than being gay. It's an easy reflex assumption, and I've been guilty myself sometimes of thinking "X doesn't date or anything, I wonder if they're...", but really it's simplistic and crass. Even in the Ma3 universe, I'm sure.

Also, nice to see Ruby's face going through a run of realistic expressions. She's mostly been looking shocked or cartoony the last few strips; now we've got the poor confused defensive kid looking like a person again.

I'm hoping it's less gay or uninterrested and just that Ruby is prudish Or...just not interrested. Might be a nice change to see someone in the comic who's not "OMG! SEX!"

[Bambikles]

My bet is that Ruby is currently asexual, for whatever reason.

Because asexuality is "just a phase"?

Naaah, that's not what I intended to say. I assume that an asexual character would be less childly put off by the perspective of hanging out with the opposite sex (don't know if I'm fully understandable here, apologies, not my native tongue, etc., etc.). Ruby's behaviour is too much over the top to be taken seriously.

Though, yes, it is a sex comedy and characters are expected to be larger than life. But I'd expect a truly asexual character to be more cool-headed and collected, like Junghan (even if he might not be asexual after all).

Bah. All we can do is wait and see. I just hope Ruby won't join the list of wasted interesting characters.

[themacnut]

I would not be surprised if Monday's comic does not provide ANY further illumination toward what's going on with Ruby. Either it's going to be further hilarious misunderstanding as in Stonefoot's version, or Ruby continues to evade, dodge and block Amber's inquiries like a professional boxer, simply because she really does NOT want to talk with her sister about her sexuality or lack thereof - I get the impression that Ruby isn't comfortable talking to Amber about that kind of thing, and may never be. It wouldn't surprise me if Ruby just ended the conversation by walking away and going to bed, leaving both Amber (and the readers by extension) further frustrated and confused.

[astaroth09]

You know I thinking were getting a very good image of what Jacqui would have been like had Chloe not intervened.

[BlairFan]

Of course, I don't know, but Ruby could be heterosexual but not at all happy about it. In other words, she could find herself to be physically attracted to men, yet turned off by the personalities and behaviors of the men she has met. On the other hand, she could be bi or lesbian. Personally, I'd rather she were a lesbian, because that would introduce a new kind of character to the SDB/ Ma3 world. (I don't think there are any major lesbian characters so far.)