13-05-14 I am a manly man

[Shouri]

New strip! http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-s ... _manly_man

[Spidrift]

Yep, Matt confirming his nice guy credentials. Is this the first time in this comic that somebody has actually made a positive effort to reduce Ruby's level of embarrassment? Because that would, technically speaking, make him the nicest person in Sticky Dilly Buns. This in turn leads to the situation that Ruby seems to be fated to find the good sides of people who Dillon dislikes - first Angel, now this. I can see this leading to friction later.

And sadly, this will probably be the last we see of Matt/Ruby interaction, at least for now - though we may see Dillon spot Matt coming out of the gents. Still, it went okay, considering.

(And I'm sure that Ruby will realise that she was made there, when she gets her brain working again. But whatever - the good has been done.)

[Don Alexander]

Yeah, he totally knows what's going on. He's having fun with her. But, as Spi says, doing it in a NICE way. Go, Matt!

[sukebe senpai]

I'm sure that, if Dillon stays out of Matt's way, Matt will be laughing all the way home remembering his encounter with Ruby.

[themacnut]

Yeah, Ruby got totally made there. But Matt really only knows this was a chick dressing up as a guy, he has no idea why or even who she is. He may get some clue if he sees "Rudy" with Dilla/Dillon later, but only a little.

[Spidrift]

Sure, Matt's amused by this, and I'm sure that he'd love to know Ruby's story, but as she's clearly floundering, it'd be unkind of him to pursue her to find out - and anyway, he's got other stuff to do right now. If he sees her with Dillon later (and he'll see through the familiar "Dilla" disguise without even blinking), he'll probably shrug and think "Oh dear, the poor kid is mixed up in one of Dillon's idiot schemes. That explains a bit."

If he ever meets Ruby-as-Ruby later down the line, it'll be interesting to see if he makes the connection. Of course, Ruby would probably insert her foot in her mouth and give him a large hint.

[Bambikles]

This strip is delicious. Matt's clearly having fun here, but he comes out as a sweet guy.
I did have to research motorboating, cos' it didn't maka any sense here. Now I know. *cracks up*

EDIT: Only strikes me now, but I don't think Ruby's sunglasses are also corrective. She doesn't seem disturbed in the least though. Usually people with glasses have myopia in fiction, but I suppose narrative rules say Ruby's glasses are only cosmetic save for it happens to be a plot point. She could have astigmatism, though.

[Quinlan1973]

I think Matt sees through the disguise and thinks Ruby is a female-to-male crossdresser.

[Iceman]

And a first-timer at that.

[brasca]

This strip is delicious. Matt's clearly having fun here, but he comes out as a sweet guy.
I did have to research motorboating, cos' it didn't maka any sense here. Now I know. *cracks up*

EDIT: Only strikes me now, but I don't think Ruby's sunglasses are also corrective. She doesn't seem disturbed in the least though. Usually people with glasses have myopia in fiction, but I suppose narrative rules say Ruby's glasses are only cosmetic save for it happens to be a plot point. She could have astigmatism, though.

Possibly, but she wore them when she was swimming so I think they are necessary. More than likely she has a pair of prescription sunglasses which she thought was appropriate for her disguise.

I suppose Matt is numb to this every day insanity since he didn't put "Rudy" in the spot when he could've. In addition to recognizing that he's a she he probably knew she really needed to relieve herself and gave her an option without blowing her cover.

[Spidrift]

More than likely she has a pair of prescription sunglasses which she thought was appropriate for her disguise.

That was my guess. But then, I always kept a pair of prescription sunglasses around for bright days, before I switched to photochromics, so the idea seemed natural to me.

I suppose Matt is numb to this every day insanity since he didn't put "Rudy" in the spot when he could've. In addition to recognizing that he's a she he probably knew she really needed to relieve herself and gave her an option without blowing her cover.

I'm not sure I'd call Matt numb so much as nice. Even if he thinks that this is a weird situation, he's got someone here who's emotionally and physically uncomfortable, and he really isn't enough of a jerk to want to make things worse when he could make them better.

Sure, he's less bemused by the experience of meeting Sweet Polly Oliver in the gents than most of us might be in real life, but hey, he's a highly active bisexual who's spent time hanging out with Dillon and his theatrical friends. Call it numb if you like, but I'd call it cheerfully acclimatised to reality where he lives.

(And if anyone wants to over-think this - he may be cool about all this stuff now, but he was presumably young and inexperienced once, with the need to adjust to his own sexual proclivities. I'm not saying that he sees his younger self in Ruby, but perhaps he thinks that if this is something she somehow has to do to sort out her own place in the world, he'd like to give her what help he can.)

[Artemisia]

Yeah, he totally knows what's going on. He's having fun with her. But, as Spi says, doing it in a NICE way. Go, Matt!

Well, Matt could be considering a lot of things including that he's talking to a trans man who is just stepping out for the first time (trust me, going out in public for the first time for ANY trans person is nerve wracking in the extreme).

And all I have to add beyond that is..."we're men, MANLY MEN! we're men in tights!"

[FlashD81]

@Artemisia Men in... OH THAT MOVIE.

So yea, Matt knows this is a girl but allows her to "stay undercover" and use of the restroom.

Ruby has enough issues with Amber and Dillon so I'm glad Matt is not adding to them.

[FragileMara]

Yes, Rudi... Consider yourself busted. That was a valiant effort.
(Though I'm not sure it's very wise to proclaim your love of watersports to someone you just met in a urinal - just sayin'.)

And now I'm left wondering if Ruby's waxing poetics on boobs serves as some kind of (subtle) foreshadowing of a future encounter with DiDi...

(@Artemisia : *slowclaps* )

[Spidrift]

(Though I'm not sure it's very wise to proclaim your love of watersports to someone you just met in a urinal - just sayin'.)

That's a subject which she doesn't have to know about just yet. Baby steps, please, baby steps.

And now I'm left wondering if Ruby's waxing poetics on boobs serves as some kind of (subtle) foreshadowing of a future encounter with DiDi...

It'll be interesting to see how Ruby does react to DiDi, actually. Most straight women respond to her with an instant inferiority complex, and even Ruby is fully aware of the magic power of boobs. But Ruby isn't consciously interested in attracting men for herself, and maybe tends to be more practical than most of the characters in this setting (in that her vision is less clouded by any obsession with sex), so she might just mutter something about back pain.

A lot depends on what happens in the murky depths of Ruby's subconscious, of course. If she's feeling particularly empathetic, she might even feel more sympathy for DiDi than most people. ("God, you must have trouble being taken seriously.") Or she might assume that DiDi is a part of Amber's world, and be hostile.