27-03-15 Try new things

[Spidrift]

Given Ruby's instinctive hostility to Amber, I think she'd just take "I could never get Amber into this stuff" as proof that Amber was illiterate as well as everything else. Anyway, I don't think that she wants to be compared to Amber in any way. Plus, so far, she's not had much chance to remember what she learned about Zii and Amber at the concert; she's going to do so eventually, but however it happens, it's going to be a speed bump on her road to any sort of friendship with Zii.

As to Zii - no, she's never going to make fun of someone for liking yaoi. What she might do is make fun of someone for lying about it, and doing so very incompetently at that. She could see Ruby as a bit of a hypocritical prude after this strip, and I doubt that's a type Zii has much time for. She might see what she was doing as no more than gentle (and frankly justified) teasing, but given Ruby's sub-basement-level embarrassment threshold, that could make Ruby see her as just as bad as Amber and generally someone to run away from.

But, despite all of that, I think that we will see some kind of tentative bond forming. On the one hand, Zii is playing the saleswoman (and the seductress) here, and if you want to close this sort of deal, your aim is to get the target to agree with you, not to humiliate them - especially if you hope for repeat business. And Ruby has made it abundantly clear that she's very embarrassed by this situation, and scared of being laughed at. And to be less cynical about Zii, she isn't usually casually spiteful, she's said that she likes the look of Ruby, and Ruby is her friend's sister, and she may know that the Larose family are a mutually loyal bunch in their way. Kicking Ruby while she's down would be a bit cheap.

And on Ruby's side, well, she's had her cover completely blown now, but she'd already admitted a possible interest in yaoi to Zii; her mistake was lying about her prior interest, and given her hyperdeveloped conscience, she may just blame herself for that and apologise to Zii. Plus, her main concern, when she has time to think, will likely be to persuade Zii not to tell Amber about any of this. Zii may end up wondering why Ruby is being quite so abject.

Plus, cute kitten.

So I'm pretty sure that these two will work up from this point to a more friendly conversation in the next couple of strips.

(And if we're both wrong, Ruby flees sobbing in Tuesday frame 1, and Zii recounts the whole incident to Amber... Well, there'll be some weird conversations back at the apartment. That's not really this comic's style, though.)

[brasca]

I think Ruby could be more convinced that there is nothing wrong with liking yaoi if it is something Amber was never into. If Zii sells this as some kind of adult romance for sophisticated and intellectual people then her resistance might disappear completely. Of course that would not explain why Dillon likes it, but as long as that thought never crosses her mind before the sale is made Zii will make a sale and then some.

[wi1dfire]

Given Ruby's instinctive hostility to Amber, I think she'd just take "I could never get Amber into this stuff" as proof that Amber was illiterate as well as everything else. Anyway, I don't think that she wants to be compared to Amber in any way. Plus, so far, she's not had much chance to remember what she learned about Zii and Amber at the concert; she's going to do so eventually, but however it happens, it's going to be a speed bump on her road to any sort of friendship with Zii.

I think you underestimate how hostility can be used as a lever. Yes, its a comparison to Amber, but it would be a comparison in which Ruby clearly comes out ahead in Zii's estimation. Further, this could be something her and Zii could bond over that is completely separate from any prior relationship they had before, and completely separate from the relationship Zii had with Amber. Think about how Dillon and Ruby originally started to get to know one another over acting like business women. It became something that Dillon and Ruby had together, that allowed her to mentally shift Dillon from "Amber's pervy roommate" to "my temporary pervy roommate." So to, can yaoi make Zii go from "Amber's friend in perversion" to "my friend in perversion."

[Spidrift]

I guess there's a good broader point here. Ruby probably needs to start thinking of her sexual and erotic tastes as sophisticated and subtle; artistic yaoi, a measured sort of relationship with a single boyfriend at a time, and sex as a private matter that's no less fun for being taken seriously by both people involved. That way, she can get rid of some of the repression without sinking to Amber's level. And as Amber seems to be approaching a similar idea from the opposite direction, one day they can meet in the middle and respect each other.

And I don't think that Dillon's taste for yaoi makes that part impossible. Ruby may see him as a bit of a promiscuous idiot, but she admits that he has good taste in stuff like women's fashion; he's not totally crass. (And he's not Amber.)

If Zii threw out that line now, well, it'd be a start. Calling things "deliciously naughty" isn't the best start, but it isn't too bad either; it could segue into "sophisticated" without too much trouble. I think she needs to avoid the word "perversion" or "pervy", though; Ruby uses those as a negative. "Naughty" should be okay, "sophisticated" would be great (although it's a bit of a dirty-old-man euphemism).

[TCampbell]

Oh, and somebody remembered to write Ruby with a college-level vocabulary. I don't think many Ma3/SDB characters would use the words "in media res" in casual conversation. Also, does anyone else get the feeling that Giz is really enjoying drawing Ruby's facial expressions these days?

I had a moment's panic when I read this comment, but thankfully, in medias res is the correct spelling and I didn't screw that one up when I suggested it. WHEW.

And I can't speak for anyone else, but "Rubyfaces" has been part of my vocabulary for quite a while now and Gisele knows it. She started showing off some expressive range with the character pretty early, as I recall.

[Spidrift]

I tend to assume that these scripts are spell-checked...

Regarding the faces - yes, Ruby's expressions have been all over the place since early on, but I think that there's been a subtle evolution in the style, and much for the better. Early on, every time Ruby got angry or panicky or desperate, I'd wince and wish for her to calm down. She looked like a realistic (and attractive) young woman when her face was in repose, but she turned into a gurning cartoon when she experienced extreme emotion. Recently, though, she's looked reasonably naturalistic in almost every frame. Stress no longer turns her into a cartoon person in a realistic world. She still looks better (in the sense of "more attractive") in repose, but that's just realism too; few people look cute when they're panicking.

Strips 202 and 203 were real high points for me; eight panels with eight different emotions, each done with just a handful of pencil strokes.

[The Omnipotent One]

Ruby looks defeated AND embarrassed with that slump of hers

[Artemisia]

Ruby looks like she's defeated...at least she has a friend who supports her interests.

[Tako]

Jung, asshole, aren't you supposed to try to sell stuff? Yes? Why do you drive your clients away, then? There are other shops in Montreal, you know...

[The Omnipotent One]

Because Word of God demands it

Or at least just For The Lulz

...I need to get out more

Quote removed. Also, WARNING: TvTropes Links! The DAMNed

[Collarnorcrown]

Oh man. Jung from the top rope with a finish move!

[Spidrift]

Actually, we don't really know whether Jung is trolling Ruby deliberately or not (if it even matters). If he's heard a bit of the preceding conversation, then yes he is, and it's entirely in character for him. On the other hand, if he's literally just walked into the scene as he crosses the last frame, he could have seen what was going on, taken in what the women were talking about, heard just the exchange in panel 4a, and decided to throw in that comment by way of saying hello to Ruby and because he's the sort to butt into every conversation going.

[brasca]

Oh man. Jung from the top rope with a finish move!

Not really. She can say that the first 2 volumes were for her roommate to replace the ones she accidentally damaged which is true. And the only reason she read those was so she could find an exact replacement which is partially true.

Of course that could lead to the revelation that her roommate is Dillon which may or may not be a good way to change the conversation. Having read some of the older strips again it seems quite plausible that Amber may never have mentioned her sister is temporarily living with her during previous rendezvous.

[wiseguy]

smh, as I showed before, Jung might have decided to save Ruby from trying to lie her way out of why she does not need to buy volumes 1 and 2 and at the end both Zii and Ruby end up exactly as they are in the last panel

[Azrael]

Judy? Have the Jetsons moved to Montreal, then?