17-03-15 We work hard

[Shouri]

New strip! http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/we_work_hard

[rpr]

Yes, as I remember the ads was: "... must have a feline in the bag..."

['J']

so, who's gonna be working behind the counter today?

[wiseguy]

Yes, as I remember the ads was: "... must have a feline in the bag..."

''I thought it was "able to do a real good feline wag"

now just thinking of the idea of Zii and Ruby together

[Don Alexander]

Portrait of the crazy cat lady as a young crazy cat lady.

[Spidrift]

Yeah, that is the horrible danger in Ruby's future. Which is part of why I've never been totally comfortable about Minew. As a proof of Ruby's gentler side, fine; as a symbol of Ruby's core mental state, not so great for her.

And Ruby's core mental state ain't great now. I get that this comic is setting up a strong of gags, but Ruby finding excuses to visit comics shops when she should be job-hunting really, really isn't in a good place. She does need to de-stress and get her head back in order, before she burns off all the advantages that years of repression and focus have actually bought her.

(And should a BBA be out pounding the city pavements in search of a job at all? My post-graduation job search was about 'phone calls and letters, not turning up at reception on spec.)

Anyway, I wouldn't have thought that the shop was hiring, unless Zii has just quit to go full-time with the band, which would seem a bit premature. So this is more likely going to be a short-term gag sequence.* We've had Ruby meets Jung, and I'm not sure that there's much more humour to be squeezed out of that, so I'm guessing we're now going to get a face-to-face between Ruby and Zii - which could be genuinely interesting. Does Zii remember Ruby? Can Ruby maintain her equilibrium after the realisation at the gig? Will the cute kitten make Zii more friendly than she's normally be to a whitebread yuppie-wannabe?

(And now I've said all that, the next strip will be Ruby walking out of the shop with a bag full of yaoi and Jung looking smug again.)

*Though Ruby doing the shop's books as a short-term CV-filler might be plausible. Jung has never had enough use in Ma3, so having him migrate part-time to SDB to play off Ruby could be worthwhile.

[brasca]

Ruby working at Pixie Tricks Comics? I thought you said that would never happen Spidrift?

And what's so wrong with bringing Minew with her? Dorothy needed her Toto in her journey through Oz.

[Spidrift]

But did Toto ever crap in the corner by the DC graphic novels?

I still think that it's unlikely that she'll get a full-time job there, though like I said, she might get a CV-filler doing their books; it's not like playing counter candy to the Generic Geek Group would really fit her style. I think that she's there to (a) show that her yaoi obsession is getting more than a bit unhealthy, and (b) to have a face-off with Zii.* Anyhow, we'll almost certainly see on Friday.

And oh, look; this comic turns out to be about the second supporting cast character again. At which I'm absolutely not complaining. Perhaps Ruby should get her own spin-off ("Ruby Slippers"? "Ruby Tuesday"? "A LaRose By Any Other Name"?), and leave Sticky Dilly Buns to be a series of pin-up shots of Dillon.

*Cute but unlikely moment that might actually help her; Zii says "Hey, aren't you Amber's sister? The one she always says is so smart?" But that's unlikely.

[Artemisia]

I so totally said this was going to happen!

[FlashD81]

figures...

This could be funny or just sad depending on how she handles meeting Zii. Though the latter would surprise me. I think if she could show off her book smarts it could work. Whatever happens I think Minew might have to stay at the apartment after today.

On a bit of a side note, Ruby looks very nice in panel 2.

[Whisky-Tango-Foxtrot]

I still think that it's unlikely that she'll get a full-time job there, though like I said, she might get a CV-filler doing their books; it's not like playing counter candy to the Generic Geek Group would really fit her style.

However...I'm sure everyone here KNOWS that if she's hired in any capacity, for any length of time, the day will soon arrive when (for some reason--or none) she'll have to wear the Magical Tralala outfit.





She DOES look really good in a short short skirt, after all...

[JTheCreator]

Toot toot make way for the Gary-Ruby ship!

[Spidrift]

However...I'm sure everyone here KNOWS that if she's hired in any capacity, for any length of time, the day will soon arrive when (for some reason--or none) she'll have to wear the Magical Tralala outfit.

No. Wouldn't work, for all sorts of reasons. Just for a start, it wouldn't look right on her; that sort of nonsense requires a bit of self-confidence (even if she hates it, Zii is someone who will always look cocky in a weird costume), and anyway, Ruby doesn't have the hair for the job. She wore a short skirt, but the whole point there was that it was wrong for her. Jung would hate to see his handiwork being worn badly.

On top of which, Ruby would know she was being humiliated, and would quite likely either rip Jung a new one verbally or head home in tears. Persuading her to put up with the idea would be too delicate a balancing act. Anyhow, if she got a job with Jung, you know she'd be punctual and do the job well to the limits of her ability, and not give Jung any handle for blackmail if she could possibly help it.

Though if she did end up wearing a weird outfit for some bizarre reason, I suspect that she'd carry it off somehow, and then worry herself sick about Amber finding out - as happened when she became Rudy.

Toot toot make way for the Gary-Ruby ship!

Working hours. Gary is unlikely to come by. Anyway, after their last encounter, Ruby might be embarrassed enough to see him that she'd hide. A Zii-Ruby showdown (with geek chorus) seems much more likely. Apart from anything else, it gives some point to that strip where Ruby discovered the nature of Zii's relationship with Amber.

Anyway, bets on what does come next? Assuming that Ruby does collide with Zii...

• A best possible result for Ruby involves finding out somehow that Amber has said respectful things about her to Zii, giving her a start on rebuilding that relationship.
• Worst possible might be, oh, Ruby discovering that Zii is reading the shop's last copy of some yaoi she wants, a catfight (verbal or even physical) breaking out, and Ruby giving away her identity by saying something about Zii's relationship with Amber, in front of the entire shop.
• Weirdest might be Ruby and Zii bonding over cats and yaoi, Ruby still being in the shop chatting at lunchtime, and then her seeing Amber coming in and hiding in the storeroom, only for Amber to drag Zii in there for a FWB session...

(Also, I assume it's not just me thinking that Ruby is looking gorgeous in this strip?)

[cellabella]

Toot toot make way for the Gary-Ruby ship!

While this is not outside the realm of possibility, I find it unlikely for the following reasons:

* Ruby would be guilty of doing what she ripped Amber a new one over - pilfering Dillon's "crush." There's no indication that she absorbed anything of the conversation between Dillon and Amber about that other than the takeaway that Dillon is, in fact, gay.

* I actually don't think Gary is Ruby's type, and vice versa.

* It would require a super-amount of cross-overage that I don't think would work overall for the strip.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if Ruby gets sucked into reading yaoi and either through Jung or a customer gets a tip on a suitable job. Hijinks may ensue, but I can't see Ruby actually working at the store.

[Spidrift]

Hmm. If Ruby sees Zii and Gary together - in the store or elsewhere, whenever it might happen - is she likely to think this is a conspiracy of Amber's skeevy exes?

Also, can anyone think of any reason why Ruby should carry Minew around with her, when job hunting or yaoi shopping or for any other reason, other than to set up a joke (or a bonding sequence with Zii)? It feels like arbitrary comedy wackiness to me.

Also, fun trivia to note; if you work it out, this must be the Monday after the Saturday night of the gig. However, over in Ma3, several days seem to have passed - very likely more than a full week. So if Ruby does encounter Zii or Gary, it'll be before their recent experiences with Yvan and Isabelle.